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The Volla Tablet is a 12.3 inch tablet with a 2560 x 1600 pixel display, a MediaTek Helio G99 processor, 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, quad speakers, and support for WiFi, Bluetooth and 4G LTE.
What makes it unusual though is the software: the tablet ships wither either an Android-based operating system called Volla OS or the Linux-based Ubuntu Touch. After running a crowdfunding campaign for the Volla Tablet in 2024, Volla has announced it’s now begun shipping models with Volla OS and plans to begin shipping Ubuntu Touch models by the end of January.
With a €698 ($733) retail price, the Volla Tablet is priced like a premium tablet, and it has some specs to help justify that price, like plenty of memory and storage. But it also has a 3-year old processor and an underwhelming camera system (13MP + 5MP rear cameras and a 5MP front camera) that make it hard to justify spending full price on this tablet when you could get a Samsung Galaxy S9 FE or OnePlus Pad 2 for less.
But again, it’s the software that makes this niche device stand out.
Volla OS has a custom launcher and user interface and features tracker blocking and other features that highlight privacy and security… potentially at the cost of convenience. The tablet ships without the Google Play Store or other Google apps and services like Google Maps, Gmail, or Chrome. While that means you’ll need to look elsewhere for any third-party apps you may want to install, it also means that you’re handing less of your data to Google.
And the tablet does support alternate app stores including F-Droid (a repository of free and open source applications for Android), and Aurora Store (a third-party client that lets you download apps from the Google Play Store either anonymously or with a Google account).
The latest version of Volla OS is based on Android 13.
Ubuntu Touch, meanwhile, is a Linux distribution that’s designed to bring a version of the popular desktop GNU/Linux distro to mobile devices. It’s an independent project maintained that was originally developed by Canonical (the folks who make Ubuntu for desktops, servers, and other platforms), but it’s been maintained by the folks at UBports since Canonical abandoned the project in 2017. The latest version that’s compatible with the Volla Tablet is based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
Now that the Volla Tablet has begun shipping, customers can choose one of these two operating systems at time of purchase. But you can also install Ubuntu Touch on a Volla Tablet that ships with Volla OS.
The company is also developing an official Volla Keyboard accessory that should begin shipping in March, 2025 to backers of last year’s crowdfunding campaign.
