Satellites: the latest smartphone trend is doing the rounds

Huawei and Apple began the first phase of smartphone-satellite communication in autumn 2022. While Huawei’s service on the Mate 50 Pro only works in China, Apple’s emergency call feature has been active in Europe since December 2022. Thanks to new chips from MediaTek and Qualcomm, other manufacturers can also connect their smartphones to satellites. The first outdoor smartphones already use them. And with the help of a dongle, almost every smartphone will soon be able to head into orbit – and not just for emergency calls.

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.

The CAT S75 and Motorola Defy 2 are the first Bullitt smartphones with satellite connection. Unlike the iPhone, these allow more than just emergency calls via satellite. With an extra app, the devices are able to send text messages this way. Without the app, they arrive on your smartphone as traditional SMS messages. In order to reply, though, you need to have the Bullitt app installed.

Smartphones

EUR409,38

Cat S75

128 GB, Black, 6.58", Dual SIM, 50 Mpx, 5G

68

Smartphones

EUR409,38

Cat S75

128 GB, Black, 6.58", Dual SIM, 50 Mpx, 5G

68

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.

Snapdragon Satellite harnesses 66 satellites in the Iridium network. They fly about 780 km above the surface in what’s known as low Earth orbit. The geostationary satellites that MediaTek, and therefore Bullit, use fly higher. Smartphones don’t have to be as precisely aligned for these. Conversely, latency in message transmission is longer than with Qualcomm’s technology. The same also goes for the satellites Apple uses – 24 of Globalstar’s finest at a height of 1,400 km.

Next steps: video calls via satellite

Companies aren’t happy to content themselves with text messages via satellite. In Barcelona, chip manufacturer MediaTek demonstrated a video call using satellite connection. Having said that, it was only a simulation via a «satellite» in a cupboard at the booth. But the connection also worked unprompted with visitors’ smartphones. Even if the video was very pixelated and far from the Internet standard we’re used to. However, the whole point is satellites stepping in when there’s no Wi-Fi or mobile network.

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