Apple was the first company to introduce emergency satellite communications on its latest iPhone. Chinese smartphone makers are now also bringing similar features to their phones.

Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Motorola and Honor will launch satellite-connected smartphones. That’s what Qualcomm says. Qualcomm integrated satellite technology into its latest Snapdragon chip, which will become the heart of many new phones. The chip designer works with Iridium for this.

Chinese manufacturers are the first to bring such connectivity to Android devices. However, the scoop for the technology belongs to Apple. With the latest iPhones, Apple is already allowing users to send emergency calls via satellite. This functionality is called Not-SOS. Samsung, Apple’s biggest competitor in the smartphone market, surprisingly omits the option for its S23 series.

unclear details

Exactly what the connectivity will look like for Android is unclear. Emergency messaging is certainly one of the options, although it seems customers can also send regular messages to friends and family. We don’t yet know which device you need for this. The trading formula behind it is also unclear. It’s very likely that you’ll need some sort of subscription to Iridium for most features, affiliate or not.

In any case, communication via satellite seems to be becoming mainstream. After all, MediaTek, Qualcomm’s biggest competitor in the field of mobile phone chips for mobile phone manufacturers, is presenting its own solution at the MWC.

However, some caveats are important. For example, sending a satellite message is not as easy as sending a text message. It takes quite a long time, you need an uninterrupted line of communication to the satellite, and you need to align your device properly. Apple provides an app in the iPhone to help you with this.