If you could build your own smartphone, what would it include? From a consumer perspective, the answer would most likely center around camera technology, AI features, and fun colors.
But for a business phone, the requirements would focus more on data privacy, security, and cost. This is where the Jolla Phone hopes to find its market. The European smartphone, built in Finland and announced at MWC 2026, has already reached 10,000 pre-orders.
The company CEO and co-founder, Sami Pienimäki is a smartphone veteran who spent ten years with Nokia on the product side of the business. Before spinning off in 2012 to establish Jolla with 25 core engineers.
There was a first initial handset launched in 2013, with some success – around six-figure numbers.
“Back then, nobody cared about data privacy, and GDPR didn’t even exist,” Pienimäki told ITPro. “People were more concerned about megapixels and RAM sizes.”
However, today the needs are a lot more complex, especially in the business world where there is some pushback against the US tech giants and their data practices. A pro-European tech movement is growing, and for Jolla, it is all about tapping into that sentiment.
Back in August after a summer holiday, Pienimäki and his team went to the Jolla forum and asked its community and pitched the idea of a new handset. But they specifically asked the community to tell them what kind of phone they wanted.
What specifications do they want, what size it should be, what about cameras, or RAM size, and, crucially, how much would you be willing to pay?
(Image credit: ITPro/Bobby Hellard)
In ten days, Pienimäki was inundated with replies from 20,000 site visitors keen to help build a European smartphone. So the demand was there and, seemingly, all the motivation Pienimäki and his team needed.
Fast forward to MWC 2026, and Jolla pre-orders closed at 10,000 units for its newest model, which will cost €649 (£566) including VAT.
“For the first pre-order, we announced in our forum, ‘if 2,000 of you in the community commit to it, we will commit to making it,” Pienimäki told ITPro. “And then it hit us like a lightning strike, 47hrs we had sold the first 2,000.”
What to expect with the Jolla Phone
The Jolla Phone (2026) has a square design, with a bright orange back cover and a 6.36in AMOLED display with minimal black bezels and flat edges.
It houses a MediaTek 7100 5G chip, comes with either 8 or 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of microSDXC storage – upgradable to 2TB.
The 5450mAh battery is user-replaceable, and it also has a privacy switch. On the rear, you have a 50MP main camera and a 13MP ultra-wide lens on the front – both of which are developed by Sony.
Image 1 of 3
A key area of differentiation is its software. Jolla uses its own operating system, called Sailfish, which is based on Linux. Pienimäki calls it a ‘respectful’ platform; it’s both open source throughout its software layers, and they also don’t collect end-user data or load it with hidden analytics.
You don’t need a Google account for it, but interestingly, it is still capable of running Android applications.
“We actually care about the end users, because we put you in control of the device,” Pienimäki added.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow ITPro on Google News to keep tabs on all our latest news, analysis, and reviews.
You can also follow ITPro on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and BlueSky.
