Volla Phone
Shares rank 38 of 46 smartphones by recommenders
Recommended for running Linux or Ubuntu Touch alongside Android, and for decent specs at the price. Critics say updates lag and some models are rebadged phones at a markup.
5 people recommended Volla Phone in Hacker News comments and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 16 comments.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- mixed feelings
- 0
- warn against or regret it
- 4
The record
Recommended in 4 of 12 months
In 5 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 4 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 5 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 40% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 16 of the 17 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Officially supports running Linux
“it's worth pointing out to potential buyers as a bonus on top of running Android only”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” “Volla phones are cool in that they officially support running proper Linux”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” “You can also buy a used Volla phone on ebay and install Ubuntu Touch.”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?” Decent specs for the price
“they all have decent specs for the price”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Fairphone 6 and PostmarketOS working main camera” “pretty good daily drivers”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Fairphone 6 and PostmarketOS working main camera” Quality from a German company
“Germans wants quality, so they cannot afford to sell crap”
Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Real Linux for your smartphone: Ubuntu Touch release 24.04-2.0 and 24.04-1.4” “Volla have achieved that with their phones”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” Handles everyday daily use
“Everything I need for my daily life.”
Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Apple's App Tracking Transparency treated its own apps better than rivals”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Outdated kernel and firmware updates
“cheap phones that the ODM does not really care about with Linux kernel and firmware trees that haven't seen any (security) updates in years”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 in “GrapheneOS project: pixel 11 no longer supports hardware memory tagging (MTE)” “Volla's devices don't come anywhere close to meeting the update and security requirements for GrapheneOS.”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” “Ancient kernel trees, ancient firmware bundles, etc.”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” Rebadged phones at a huge markup
“Volla just Eurowashes/rebadges other low to midrange phones at a huge markup”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon”
Other smartphones people recommend
The four most recommended other smartphones, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone | 438 | 190 | 789 | 36% | 12 | 7 yrs97 people | — |
| Fairphone | 110 | 42 | 94 | 54% | 12 | 3 yrs14 people | — |
| iPhone 13 mini | 105 | 32 | 44 | 70% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Apple iPhone Pro | 90 | 45 | 138 | 39% | 12 | 4 yrs24 people | — |
| Volla PhoneThis page | 5 | 0 | 4 | 56% | 4 | — | — |
Also compared with iPhone SE, Jolla Phone, Nokia N900 and Apple iPhone 12 mini.
What people said
16 of the 17 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“You can also buy a used Volla phone on ebay and install Ubuntu Touch.”
“cheap phones that the ODM does not really care about with Linux kernel and firmware trees that haven't seen any (security) updates in years”
“they all have decent specs for the price”
“pretty good daily drivers”
“Everything I need for my daily life.”
“Germans wants quality, so they cannot afford to sell crap”
“it's worth pointing out to potential buyers as a bonus on top of running Android only”
“that is neat indeed and quite a unique selling point among mobile vendors”
“Sounds like the kind of company that Worse On Purpose would love!”
“Volla's devices don't come anywhere close to meeting the update and security requirements for GrapheneOS.”
“Volla have achieved that with their phones”
“Volla just Eurowashes/rebadges other low to midrange phones at a huge markup”
“Ancient kernel trees, ancient firmware bundles, etc.”
“Volla phones are cool in that they officially support running proper Linux”
“Volla Phone Quintus is a smartphone designed by an Emirates company, largely produced in China”
“One doesn't need to ask for consent when you're not collecting personal data”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.