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Satellites: the latest smartphone trend is doing the rounds

Some smartphones can now connect to satellites – until now only for emergency calls. At Mobile World Congress, the industry showcases how it plans to bring daily satellite connection to as many smartphones as possible.

Two outdoor smartphones and a dongle for everyone

MediaTek showcased its first demonstrations of the smartphone satellite connection at CES in Las Vegas at the start of 2023. Following on from that, MWC in Barcelona saw the first devices that could harness this technology. The chip manufacturer collaborated with the Bullitt Group on this, as they’ve been producing outdoor smartphones for various brands for years.

Before sending any message, the app checks if regular Internet connection is available. That’s because delivery via satellite isn’t free, apart from the complimentary months included when you buy the device. Bullitt charges 4.99 per month for the lowest tariff, which includes 30 messages. That equates to 16.63 cents per satellite SMS. The emergency call feature is always meant to stay free of charge.

Sending messages over satellite can take several minutes, as I noticed during the demonstration at the trade fair in Barcelona. It feels like a really long time when the sender and receiver are stood right in front of you.

But you don’t necessarily have to go out and buy a new smartphone in order to transmit messages or emergency calls via satellites. The Motorola Defy satellite link connects to Android smartphones and iPhones via Bluetooth. This lets you carry around MediaTek’s satellite modem as an external dongle. It’s meant to be available from April at 119 euros. For text messages, you also have to pay a monthly fee.

Snapdragon Satellite is due to launch in 2023

Qualcomm used MWC to present Snapdragon Satellite. This service can also be used for emergency calls and to send SMS-length text messages. The chip manufacturer announced Honor, Motorola, Nothing, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi as the initial partners who want to use the service.

The first corresponding modem is meant to be included in introductory processors from the second half of this year. But for the time being, the Snapdragon 8 series, and therefore only top-of-the-range smartphones, are getting it. Timeframes point towards a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 in July, but the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is also rumoured. Qualcomm is likely to present the latter in November at its yearly Qualcomm Summit.

Next steps: video calls via satellite

MediaTek didn’t want to make any predictions about when real video calls via satellite connection will become possible.

Header image: Jan Johannsen

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When I was but a young student, I'd sit in my friend's living room with all my classmates and play on his SuperNES. Since then I've had the opportunity to test out all the newest technology for you. I've done reviews at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, and have now arrived at Galaxus.de. 


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