HMD, the manufacturer behind the Barbie Flip Phone and many Nokia-branded smartphones, just released the HMD OffGrid. It’s designed to add two-way satellite messaging capabilities to any phone or tablet.
The HMD OffGrid is a small device, measuring just 3.7 inches tall and 2.32 inches across, with the ability to connect to satellites in Earth orbit for communication. It’s using Skylo’s network infrastructure, just like the Google Pixel 9 series, the Motorola Defy Satellite Link, and some other phones and adapters. The HMD OffGrid acts like a relay—you connect your phone to it using Bluetooth, and the OffGrid connects to satellites in the sky.
The device is paired to your phone or tablet using the HMD OffGrid app, which is available for Android and iPhone. The iPhone app requires iOS 16.0 or later, and the Android version currently needs Android 10 or newer. The Apple App Store listing also mentions it can be installed on Mac computers and Vision Pro headsets, but that might just be an accident that gets changed at some point.
When paired to the OffGrid device, the OffGrid app gives you the ability to send and receive messages from trusted contacts with a 140 character limit. Presumably, your contacts also need the OffGrid app installed, since this isn’t using iMessage or SMS like Apple’s satellite texting. It can also automatically send regular location updates to your contacts. If you press and hold the SOS button, it will send your current location and other information to Overwatch x Rescue, which in turn is supposed to coordinate with local search-and-rescue agencies. The SOS functionality works even without a connected smartphone.
The actual OffGrid device has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, a USB Type-C port for recharging, and an estimated battery life of three days. That doesn’t seem like a long battery life for something like this—you might be in trouble if you get lost on the last day of a weekend hike. It should be chargeable with any power bank, though.
Those satellites and rescue services don’t grow on trees, unfortunately, so there is a required subscription service. The base ‘HMD Freedom’ plan is $80/year with a one-time $20 activation fee, and it gives you SOS access and up to 350 text and check-in messages every month. That limit is “based on an average message size of 50 bytes,” so if you’re sending essays in texts, you’ll have fewer messages available.
The ‘HMD Unlimited plan’ is $140/year when you pay yearly (otherwise it’s $15/mo and $180/yr) with a $10 activation fee, but it has no maximum on text and check-in messages. Both plans have an optional $5/month fee for unlimited live tracking.
You can buy the HMD OffGrid today for $200 from HMD’s online store. The device, a year of the basic Freedom plan, and the associated activation fee comes out to $300, so this will likely only be interesting for hikers or anyone else frequently out of cell tower range. Apple’s satellite texting is still free for now, but only works with select iPhone models, and communication is limited to supported SMS numbers and iMessage contacts.
Source: HMD
