Sailfish X: would you spend €50 an alternative, incomplete mobile platform?

Don’t care for Android, iOS or the comatose Windows 10 Mobile? Then what about Sailfish X? Yep, the mobile platform, coming from former Nokia employees, is now available for the Sony Xperia X.

Bringing Android app support, a Meego/BlackBerry 10-style multitasking screen and a dedicated screen for social media, it’s certainly different, to say the least.

However, there are a few caveats that only make Sailfish X a curiosity at this stage…

For starters, platform holder Jolla is charging an eye-watering €49.90 for this particular flavour of operating system — you can get full-fledged smartphones at that price.

“The basic image of Sailfish OS is free, but with the price you get a supported commercial version that includes commercial components like Android runtime, and Exchange support,” Jolla explains. “You also get support and updates for your OS from Jolla, and you can support the Sailfish OS development.”

Want to tinker with Sailfish X? Well, it ideally requires an unlocked Sony Xperia X and €50

Jolla also says that by purchasing Sailfish X, you’re getting at least a year of updates from the time of release (October). After this period has elapsed, the firm says customers will still receive “standard” Sailfish updates, but they may add more software to the platform, which could necessitate a separate price tag.

Finally, the other big concern over Sailfish X is the fact that quite a few standard smartphone features are missing from the current release. The company admits that in the first release, features such as Bluetooth, fingerprint scanning and the FM radio are missing, to name a few.

Anyway, if the idea of changing your phone’s operating system appeals to you (and you don’t care for Android ROMs), it might be worth a look.