HMD OFFGRID – satellite connection to all mobiles

Offgrid is a mobile accessory from Finnish HMD. It is a box with a satellite receiver that you connect wirelessly to your mobile, whether it is an iPhone or Android, via Bluetooth. On your mobile, you install the HMD Offgrid app, and you will need a subscription, which you can order in the app if you want.

The box is light and large as a third mobile phone approximately. The execution on the box feels very familiar, and when I log in to the app it thinks I have had a subscription before. The reason is that I tested the Motorola Defy Satellite Link that used Bullitt Messenger as a satellite service. Compare the box to HMD offgrid with my pictures of the box for the Motorola Defy Satellite Link I see that buttons, lamps and screws are in exactly the same places.

It may not play such a big role, Bullitt has gone bankrupt and the Motorola Defy Satellite Link is no longer available, but the satellite service lives on and is used, among other things, by some of Ulefonde's phones, and for those who are interested in connecting their usual mobile, it is good that HMD picked up the mantle.

If you are interested, it should be for you to go somewhere far from mobile coverage, for example at sea or in the mountains. If you have mobile coverage, HMD offgid's satellite reception gives no real advantage, and the fact is that the messages are sent via the regular mobile network if connection is available, to save you consumption on your satellite subscription's pot.

Send SMS and your position

The features you get via HMD Offgrid are partly the opportunity to send text messages of the same length as SMS and partly you can check in. You can do this in the app or just by pressing a button on the box. Then your current position, taken from the unit's GPS, is sent as a map needle to the one you have chosen to send to. You can also turn on log in the app so that your position is sent continuously without having to do anything, and you can choose for yourself how long and at what intervals it should happen. Finally, there is an SOS feature, a large button that you hold in and then a message about alarms with your position is sent to an alarm center. Alarms via satellite should only work in some countries in North America, Europe and Oceania, but the link to the page over which countries support the function is broken on HMD's website.

The one you send messages and checks to receives them as SMS, but can choose to install the HMD Offgrid app without having a subscription to send you a response via satellite.

The satellite reception can be a bit stings. HMD recommends that you are not close to high buildings, and in general you need to be outdoors with quite a lot of free sky to get connection. Getting up a bit from surrounding landscapes often helps, but in the forest it can be difficult to get any signal. If you have been out of reception and get in touch with the satellites, the device buzzes so you don't have to walk around and look at its connection lamp all the time. If you have a good connection, your messages will arrive at the recipient in a few seconds.

The box has a battery life of three days during normal use according to HMD, so just like your mobile it needs to be loaded continuously if you are out in the wilderness.

HMD offers two different subscriptions, for approximately SEK 1000 per year you get up to 350 messages, while for SEK 1800 a year you get unlimited with messages. To this should be added a starting fee of SEK 150-250 and then of course the cost of the box itself of about SEK 2000.

If connection without mobile networks is critical, HMD offgrid is a relatively inexpensive alternative for satellite communication. The short battery life in the box is something of an obstacle if you, for example, mountain hikes, and it may be best if you are going out by boat on the open sea. Then it is also not something that disturbs the reception.