Last year, there was much speculation that the Samsung Galaxy S23, like the iPhone 14, would have satellite connectivity for emergency calls and texts. However, the Galaxy S23 series, which launched in February this year, disappointed those hopes by not having the expected feature.
Lee Jong-ho, the minister of science, technology, and ICT, revealed to Yonhap News that local smartphone brands are planning to launch a new service next year that will allow data transfer between 5G phones and satellites. That’s not difficult to guess that we are talking about Samsung, which has become the leader after LG’s departure. We guess Samsung will add the satellite support feature to phones next year.
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The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip can work with Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. It brings support for emergency calls and texts. But the Galaxy S23 series lacks this capability. Samsung explained this because satellites are still new. As a result, they stated that they wanted to wait for the ecosystem to mature before including this innovative feature. Samsung is collaborating with Iridium, a company with low-orbit satellites for emergencies.
Satellite Connectivity on the Horizon
The Galaxy S24 series should arrive this year in the first quarter. This series will include the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra models, each of which will have two variants: one powered by the Exynos 2400 chip and the other by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU. If Galaxy S24 gets satellite ability, Exynos 2400 needs the same support.
There are still many areas where networks are weak. That’s why two-way satellite linking could be vital in such regions. Phones connect to low-orbit satellites for emergencies and sharing data. This feature is useful in times of crisis, helping people who are lost or in danger. At the moment, only a few Android phone brands offer similar features. Plus, Apple has joined the club with the iPhone 14. But we think more brands will offer such a functionality in the future.
