What you need to recognize
- The HMD OffGrid satellite accessory sustains 2 -method SMS messaging, live monitoring, check-in messages, and SOS demands through an Android or iphone phone.
- It sustains insurance coverage in North America, Europe, and Austalia/ New Zealand.
- It sets you back $ 199 for the gadget, plus either $ 79/ year or $ 15/ month for satellite relying on the degree of service.
- It has three-day battery life, MIL-STD- 810 H longevity, and a friend application for messaging.
HMD Global, the brand name behind current Nokia smart devices, is branching off to satellite messaging. It announced the HMD OffGrid at CES 2025, a satellite accessory for smart devices that looks and carries out comparable to the Motorola Defy satellite link launched in 2023
The HMD OffGrid utilizes L Band satellite through Viasat and Skylo (the Defy makes use of the latter service). It sends messages, voice notes, and check-ins to family and friends from the OffGrid application.
Your SMS messages will be sent from your phone number, so no person else needs to download an application to connect with you. And real-time monitoring will certainly let you share your GPS-based place with as much as 5 calls– through a common web link– by pushing a switch on the OffGrid.
While the HMD OffGrid is rated to last 3 or four days per cost, that’s just with messages and check-ins at normal 30 -minute intervals. While it has 10 -day standby battery, it will last only a day or more if you’re constantly utilizing GPS and satellite for automatic 3 -min check-ins.
Most importantly for anyone using this satellite dongle in signal-free locations, it supports SOS signals by means of the tool’s committed SOS switch. Pressing it activates a series of inquiries through Focus Factor International, the 24/ 7 emergency solution, such as “Are you alone?”, “Where are you?”, and “What took place?”
If required, Emphasis Factor will certainly send Overwatch x Rescue services to provide aid as required and pay the bill to save you– though you’ll have to pay your own clinical expenses.
The satellite solution covers the landmass and approximately 70 miles far from the coastline in getting involved locations like the Americas, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand– with even more regions coming “throughout 2025,” HMD states.
“HMD OffGrid is a new, affordable, mobile and user friendly offering that’s both empoweing and trustworthy– specifically when it matters one of the most,” says HMD Chairman and CEO Jean-Francis Baril. “Whether you’re treking in the mountains or winter sports off-piste, HMD OffGrid ensures you’re never truly off grid.”
The HMD OffGrid is IP 68 dust- and water-resistant, as well as rated for MIL-STD- 810 H ruggedness. It evaluates 60 g (2 1 oz) and has a dedicated place for a carabiner, if you wish to hang it off of a backpack. It appears extremely hassle-free to prompt an overland trip, though we have the very same design problem as we made with the Defy: the revealed SOS switch seems a bit also easy to push without a cover. Various other satellite gadgets we have actually tested like the Garmin GPSMAP 67 i make you eliminate a safety cover from the SOS button.
Apart from the $ 199 in advance price for the OffGrid, you’ll need to spend for HMD Unlimited or HMD Flexibility to make this more than a paperweight. Endless costs $ 14 99/ month for endless texts and check-ins, while Liberty costs $ 79 99/ year with a 350 -personality limit for messages, $0. 10 per location check-in, and a $ 20 activation charge.
HMD additionally discussed that it would provide some kind of venture program for the OffGrid with unique features, though it didn’t enter into way too much detail.
While more phones and service providers are including satellite messaging or SOS services, from the apple iphone 14 and Pixel 9 Pro to Verizon phones, something like the HMD OffGrid or Motorola Defy provides you satellite access without connecting it to a certain tool.
Considered that the Defy has actually typically received middling reviews and needed to weather the bankrupcy of Bullitt Satellite Messaging– which was obtained by one more business in 2024– I make sure outdoorsy people will certainly appreciate the HMD OffGrid as a prospective option. The major question will be whether the satellite coverage and messaging functions as intended.
For more info, or to preorder the HMD OffGrid, you can acquire the satellite device on HMD’s site
