Verdict
Privacy is something that is hard to put a price on , but the Volla Phone 22 tries . It pop the question the chance to keep your data out of the hand of Google , but with a useableness craft - off . That this trade - off is n’t as steep as might be expected is a big victory . But for good cameras , a more muscular processor and a more modern display , the Volla Phone might have been an unexpected recommendation .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
take a phone dweeb what their ideal twist would look like and the wish list is commonly quite similar . Most will say , a MicroSD card slot and a headphone jack , while others might add a obliterable battery and a replaceable back cover .
There are some still who might also say , noGoogle , noApple , something dissimilar .
The Volla Phone 22 , released by German companionship Volla Systeme , is everything on that lean . Though it has a modern marvelous / tenuous design and a teardrop notch , it also has expandable storage , a obliterable back and a replaceable bombardment . For some readers , that will be reason enough to spark interest , but that is n’t all it declare oneself . This is a rare gadget that fare with Android sans Google , all scrubbed of every production offered by Mountain View , act only with subject - source software .
That signify no Gmail , no YouTube , no shimmer Store and more – a bold stratagem , but then Volla ’s goal is n’t to make a mainstream smartphone , instead it is to make one focussed on a single lineament alone : Privacy .
Where it is placed in the market is then debatable , as you will either have understand the above and think “ that ’s the phone for me ! ” or “ not concerned ” . It is for you or it is n’t , and so for the former , the question then is unsubdivided : is it as adept a phone as it is interesting as a construct ?
Read on for the full revue .
Design and screen
A single looking at at the Volla Phone 22 reveals one thing ; intent was not a major focus . That is n’t to deny that it look modern or good , but simply that there is n’t much interesting about it at first glimpse .
Coming in either bleak or snowy , it has a certain boardroom voguish about it , and is an interesting atavism in some way . It is quite stumpy , but that allows it the exemption of hold camera lenses flush with the back . The earpiece is made entirely of plastic ( apart from a ice instrument panel on the back ) , and though this does n’t feel peculiarly exchange premium , it does have some positive trade - offs when it come to durability .
A lot about the Volla ’s utilitarian purpose becomes plain when considering its blood line as a Kickstarter undertaking that raised £ 100,000 in 2022 . This financed the purchase of white - recording label Gigaset GS5 devices , which were then customise with a backplate and software ( Volla OS ) . This is standard practice for smaller manufacturing business , but it explains a lot .
Regardless , what is really interesting about the gadget is n’t on the surface , but underneath . On the bottom right hand of the Volla Phone 22 there ’s a little fingernail hole to prise off the back panel ( something this author has n’t done with a unexampled phone since 2016 ) , revealing a obliterable battery , two nano - SIM slots and a MicroSD card slot underneath .
Being capable to remove the barrage open up up the option to ‘ hot swap ’ in a charged battery , handy for traveller , and the three-fold - SIM slots will be useful for the same . The MicroSD card time slot allows for another of the Volla Phone 22 ’s unique feature , the ability to change the operating organization – more on that later .
Taken against other smartphones , it does n’t await regretful but maybe a little irksome . At 10 mm , it is thick , and at 210 gigabyte it is a second stumpy , though those are tradeoffs that total with having a removable back .
come to the exhibit , there ’s not a passel to say . Normally companies would have attached a boatload of marketing acronym here to stress and drum up interest , but not so with the Volla Phone 22 . Here we know the screen is 6.3 in , 1080p in closure and that ’s rough it . There ’s clear nohigh refresh ratein use , so it is 60Hz , and the black levels are more evocative of LCD tech thanOLED .
All of these metrics live to pit speech sound against one another , but as before the Volla is n’t anormal phone . By most stretch its exhibit gets the line done , no more . It is color - exact , high enough resolving power , gets just about hopeful enough to apply in strong sun and slur enough to say in bed . That ’s it ; no records broken .
Cameras
What is the event for the screen is also much the same for the cameras . On the tooshie there ’s a 48MP main sensing element , flanked by a 8MP ultrawide Chelydra serpentina and a 16MP selfie tv camera on the front . There are no claims of awful camera public presentation , instead we are simply tell they exist .
This approach take hold true with the camera app . It ’s a small slow , and entrance HDR images causes a fair mo of shutter lag , though this improved with an update during the reappraisal process . There are two modes , photo and telecasting , and nothing like a Night mode or a Portrait mode . This is the bare lower limit of a television camera app , here to exist and nothing more .
astonishingly , images enamor in honorable light are decorous , showcasing gracious people of color and enough detail for the most part . A big problem is with the dynamical range . The HDR subprogram is trudge and inaccurate , in the same way thing normally were before thePixel lineshook the smartphone market up . downcast - light is n’t deserving discussion , here the Volla Phone 22 exhibits execution reminiscent of a gadget from 2013 .
The above is dependable of figure taken with the selfie camera and ultra - wide slant sensor . The Volla Phone 22 ’s weakness are in software processing and can improve with clip ( no promises ) , but it is not a tv camera - first smartphone .
Performance
For all that ’s been said in this review about the Volla Phone 22 , I still have n’t inscribe the surface of its most interesting feature : this phone can swap operating systems .
What that means is , using an integrate software program instrument , it is easy enough to zone a MicroSD card , download a commend package persona , install it and then use it nearly immediately . Indeed the sound is sold with a selection in operating organization – you may get it either with ‘ Volla OS ’ or Ubuntu Touch .
This is sold as a boon for business buyers who maybe want this tractableness , for tinkerers and developer , and for those who are simply curious . When I tried it the process was dewy-eyed enough and there were prompts to serve me through the process , though I still had a match of sour showtime .
For the purposes of this review I tested Ubuntu Touch and Sailfish OS , among the most ‘ mainstream ’ of the options available , though more are on crack .
Starting with the experience of using Ubuntu Touch , everything you have sex about navigating a earpiece is upend , sometimes in confusing ways . There ’s an app computer storage , but as might be expected given this is a resuscitate version of a ten - year - honest-to-god Canonical project , there are only some trial apps and no prominent name . There are some neat UI elements , but as a whole , it feel like it would be happy on atabletthan on a smartphone .
Sailfish OS is maybe more interesting , bunk by Jolla and craft from the bones of MeeGo , developed and abandoned more than a decade ago by Nokia and Intel . This is a mobile - first OS and is work up entirely around gestures . A few approximation have leg , include a thole screenland with all currently die hard apps , a unified message hub and more . The trouble of no apps stay , and in the version offered , there is n’t compatibility with Android apps as there is with Xperia devices running Sailfish OS .
Neither of these have any aspiration to refashion the fluid world . In a monoglot market of only Android and iOS , there ’s no O left for different operating systems . They ’re alternatively curious toys to tinker with , interesting but sometimes punishing to apply for every purpose .
An take with operate them from MicroSD cards is that even with a fast poster , the memory speeds do n’t match those of internal entrepot , so performance can be quite slow when using an ‘ alternative ’ atomic number 8 …
Coming to Volla OS and general performance , the Volla Phone 22 course a MediaTek Helio G85 , and sports 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of memory by default .
As before , Volla OS is a fork of Android , specifically Lineage OS , the inheritor of Cyanogen OS ’s mantle . The thou suite of apps is completely absent , and this is a selling power point of the phone . If you are implicated about incorporated overreach , this gadget is a small potential counterpoison .
In usage , it is interesting . The UI centres around ‘ Springboard ’ , which works like a ecumenical search function . There ’s an app draftsman that looks at your most used apps , exhibit them first , a built - in RSS feed and more . Everything apply the Volla colour scheme , monochromatic first with an occasional splash of red .
abstract through the operating system and worldwide canonical tasks proved to be no issue , as you might expect of a innovative smartphone . Then we come to the interrogation of apps .
Typically , this is where any ‘ alternate ’ operating scheme expire a death , unable to offer anything close to the overwhelming quantity and quality of offerings on the frolic Store or the App Store . Volla does n’t really need to essay , loading two app stock onto the phone by default , F - Droid and Aurora .
The former is an odd creature , hold a farrago of open - generator apps , some of which have picture recent updates , many of which wo n’t .
Most will channelise or else to the Aurora app store , which has every app you might need , from enceinte names to belittled name , including all societal medium apps , banking apps and more . There ’s the decisive factor that many of these want the Google Services Framework , which runs counter to the spirit of the equipment , but at least the selection is there for those who want it .
Interestingly , through the reexamination period an update arrived , submit the nitty-gritty of the experience from Android 11 to Android 12 , ameliorate the face and the experience of Volla OS . What this also did was engraft MicroG in the oculus sinister , an open - source replica of Google fluid overhaul . This intend that where previously a Google app would n’t work on the phone ( i.e. YouTube ) , it now can , though what you will make of that is up to you .
One slight hiccough is the chipset used for the gimmick , which is an sure-enough one . The Volla Phone turn tail a MediaTek Helio G85 , a 12 nm SoC first announce in 2020 , and it is a niggling gerontological for some purposes . This is mostly bear out in benchmarks , where the twist reach a single - core sexual conquest of 413 and a multi - core score of 1334 . In other benchmarks the store proved to be the same ; the Volla Phone 22 is n’t a powerhouse .
play performance was a moot point , this is n’t a hefty play equipment , but then there are few game available for it to run . If you want agaming phone , there are much better selection available elsewhere .
Battery life
Battery lifetime on a gadget like the Volla Phone 22 is difficult to assess when compare to other earpiece . Regardless of how it is used , it wo n’t have the same checks and residuum go on in the background signal as an Android or iOS gimmick . It is in a competition against itself .
postulate a standard day , reading online , necessitate calls and listening to medicine from the Mount Rushmore State circuit board during the solar day , by 5 pm I had 70 % allow , with enough juice to then make it to 5 pm the following twenty-four hours . So far so upright .
This is with the caveat that the above did n’t include video recording or other more enfeeble activeness , due to the sometimes incompatibility with sure apps . So with the provision that you might not be capable to conform to a normal use pattern , the Volla Phone 22 is capable of peachy battery spirit .
With MicroG active and come after a more ‘ typical ’ use pattern of YouTube , WhatsApp , Spotify and more , this saw us reach 60 % at 5 pm the first sidereal day , needing a charge by 5 postmortem the next day . So disregardless of how you use the Volla Phone 22 , you should reach a second day .
Fast charging is a separate proceeds ; there is n’t any , certainly that I was able to activate . A full charge from flat therefore took over three and a one-half hours , which wo n’t be an issue for those who charge overnight , but for others , it may be a dealbreaker . There is wireless charging at 5W , though that suffer from the same speed issues .
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Should you buy it?
- : The ability to run a range of a function of nomadic operating scheme gives the Volla Phone 22 unmatched customisation .
The MediaTek Helio G85 is showing its eld in 2023 and is well outshone bybudget alternatives .
Final Thoughts
The pursuance for a ‘ concealment first ’ phone is an old one , mayhap starting with the liberation of the Black Phone by Silent Circle in 2014 . Volla is definitely a far superior phone to most of these option , at least give exploiter the option of usingsomeGoogle serve if they want to .
It has looks straight from 2016 , functionality that will get the pulse of some racing , not others , and a relatively eminent price tatter at £ 389/€452 . The competitor , if it can be called that , pop the question more serviceability and potentiality across the instrument panel , but this is not a equipment designate to contend .
If you are someone who like to monkey around and likes the idea of less Google in their life sentence , the Volla Phone 22 is about as useable as a privateness - focussed smartphone that has been produced for some time . For most masses , it wo n’t be an option due to its quirks , though for business travellers the combination of great assault and battery life and hot - swappable battery might be a compelling one .
The Volla Phone 22 does n’t have the best screen , great performance , powerful speakers or any of the hallmarks of a usual ‘ recommend gadget ’ . What it does have is interesting computer software , deal of potential for tinkering and truly great barrage living . While it might not follow in being a perfect modern smartphone , it offers a variety of pace and instruction that most ca n’t – if that entertain your interest then this might be the machine for you .
If not , you ’d be better serviced by train a look at our pick of thetop cheap smartphones .
Trusted Score
How we test
We essay every fluid phone we look back thoroughly . We apply industry - standard tryout to compare features properly and we use the headphone as our main machine over the review article period . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , bear money to brush up a mathematical product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
A charger is not included with this phone .
It does have a headphone gob .
It does have 5W receiving set charging .
Test Data
Full Specs
