Qualcomm Says Motorola, Oppo, and More Will Add Satellite Tech to Phones

BARCELONA—Qualcomm says Honor, Motorola, Nothing, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi are all working with the company to bring satellite connectivity to their smartphones. Specifically, the phone makers have begun developing devices with Snapdragon Satellite on board. Qualcomm announced Snapdragon Satellite at CES earlier this year, but hasn’t named any hardware partners until now at MWC.

Qualcomm worked with Iridium to bring Snapdragon Satellite to life. It’s a global two-way messaging system that will allow capable devices to send text messages back and forth when off the grid. It relies on Iridium’s network of low-earth orbit satellites using L-band spectrum between 1GHz and 2.1GHz.

(Credit: Qualcomm)

Snapdragon Satellite is similar in nature to Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite on the iPhone 14 family. Emergency SOS lets you use your iPhone 14 to connect to satellites when no cellular or Wi-Fi is available. Using a dedicated iPhone app, people who need assistance can send text messages as well as location coordinates to facilitate rescues.

Qualcomm says its service works pole-to-pole, while Apple’s Emergency SOS is available in the US, Canada, and several European countries. Snapdragon Satellite will work on devices based on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which is available in just a handful of phones right now, including the Galaxy S23 and the OnePlus 11 5G.

None of Qualcomm’s hardware partners have made specific announcements about bringing emergency messaging features to their phones.