There's another benefit. Since the coverage includes much of Europe, you could use it while traveling from country to country. No need to have a SIM for each country you plan to visit. It's texting only, but you can use a text to set up a later phone call via WiFi. There are also plans to include South America, Africa, SE Asia and Australia.
Great point! I personally spend most of my time adventuring in the US, but if I ever did branch out to Europe or elsewhere, this would make a good primary means of communication without having to setup new wireless plans. Also, if you are in an area without satellite coverage but have an open wifi network, you can message via the Bullitt app no problem!
Great video and break down of the Motorola Defy Satellite Link! You’ve got an excellent understanding of satellite networks, Christian, and thanks for not hitting the SOS button when not needed haha Overwatch & Rescue, by FocusPoint International is proud to be partnered with Bullitt to support the Defy SOS function. We coordinate rescues globally, fielding daily emergency SOS calls from hikers, boaters and adventurers that live, work or play out of cellular connectivity. Travel safe!
Thanks for watching! That's very interesting to know your group works alongside Bullitt for SOS response. That actually answers a few questions on my end regarding the rescue process!
Great content and presentation skills! I learned more from your video about this new device than I have from other, larger RU-vidrs. I subscribed and will look forward to future videos whenever possible.
A great video. Thanks for sharing this with us right now I use a personal locator beacon made by ACR and I really like it for a lot of reasons like the five-year battery and it’s got a lot of power much more power than most satellite communicators, but I am shopping for a satellite communicator to go along with it so I can have that to a communication. One thing I would recommend after listening to your video with any device like this you don’t want to keep it in your backpack or clipped to your backpack because what if you trip and fall and your backpack goes over a cliff or what if the backpack just gets 15 or 20 feet away from you, but you’ve broken your leg and you cannot move. You cannot even crawl to your backpack. What I do is I clipped these to my body I basically clipped mine to my belt that way it’s not getting off my personal Mehta matter what happens. I would highly suggest that because the best beacon in the world is not gonna work if you can’t get to it next. Thanks for the video again and I look forward to watching your other videos.
Thanks for sharing this. I wonder if this would work as an in car emergency device that would be shared with anybody who happened to be driving? Just throw it in the glove box fully charged, but turned off. Then in the case of emergency it would hopefully still be fully charged. This would require it to be paired with multiple phones. Mother, Father, Teenager1, Teenager2. Would that be a problem?
That sounds like a really good idea, especially if the vehicle doesn't have any sort of native comm like OnStar. I'm not 100% sure on the ability to pair to multiple phones and/or share the same plan for each. I should be testing that out myself soon and will update you once I find out!
@timradbourne5057 I just wanted to update you and let you know that I've tried connecting the Defy link to multiple different phones, and it does in fact work! As long as you share your plan with each additional line you would like to setup, they can all send messages once paired to the Defy. Only caveat is that just one device can connect at a time, but switching between connections is pretty straight forward. Besides, I would think only one person needs to contact help during an emergency situation for the entire party. Long story short, it should work for the scenario you described with you family needing to share in an emergency! Just be sure they have the app downloaded, subscription shared, and know how to use it!
I would think that if you were in an area where there is little to no cell coverage, you could put your phone in airplane mode to save battery and let the Motorola do the work. Is this how it works?
Yes, I can see putting your phone into airplane mode to save battery life (searching for towers is a big power consumer), but then turning on Bluetooth which is required for a connection to the Motorola. The only catch is you must use the Bullitt app to send and receive messages. That means your native messages app won't work if you have someone trying to text you via traditional SMS/MMS until you take it off of airplane mode and enable cellular. As far as battery life on the Motorola, I should be getting a feel for that here soon when I take it out into the backcountry. My first impressions on battery life are good though, as it really seems to try to conserve power.
Did you find that when you link an account, like the example you showed with your mom, that when/if she responds that it says “it’s not possible to send messages to your own number”. So, I’m thinking that the recipient needs to download the app and create their own account, if we want to have 2 way messaging. As opposed to linking the account w someone we truly do want to have messaging with. Thanks.
Yes, sorry if that wasn't clear. The recipient will need to create their own account tied to their own number to respond to you. However, you can link/share your subscription plan so that they don't have to pay a separate fee for texting you. Of course, you can always just one-way text them without them needing an account, but that is probably not ideal in most cases
I bought one and find if I allow it to use my location at all times as it suggests (otherwise it will not allow the SOS feature to work) it drains my phone fast about 4 to 5 percent an hour. I have it in airplane mode as well. So it is not searching for wifi or cell towers. Having to recharge a phone everyday in the backcountry is a bit much.
That's interesting to know.I personally don't keep the device powered on the entire time I'm hiking, just when I'm taking breaks along the trail or at camp to send messages. I suppose my way is probably more risky if an accident were to occur and the device wasn't already on. However, I figure that since I need to be in reach of the device in order to trigger it, I would also be able to power it on. Does my strategy make sense, or do you think it could backfire on me? 😅
Great question! I haven't personally experienced this situation (yet), but I did some research on their website and came across this: "If you go over your subscribed allowance we will allow you to continue to use the service. Bolt on and overage packages will be available within the app... If you use all your data early and require more, you can upgrade your subscription package or buy an add on, all within the manage subscription area of your profile within the app." From my understanding, this means that they will allow you to continue sending messages rather than completely cutting you off, and you will then be charged for a higher-tier plan or some sort of add-on for that billing cycle. Unfortunately, I don't have specifics on what the prices may be.
Does the service require an activation fee? Also, is the subscription yearly, or can it be started and stopped at will? Meaning can you just start it for a month if you have a trip planned then stop it later?
No activation fee! Once you purchase the device, you're good to go start the monthly service on whichever tier you prefer. If the device is $150 (rather than $100), it probably includes a year's worth of the essentials plan for free, regularly $4.99/mo for 12 mo. It appears most plans require a 12 month contract, except for the freedom plan which is $60 annually and allows 250 messages per year, regardless of monthly usage. I would appreciate an option to pause the plan, but it looks like that isn't possible at this time. Either way, I think it's still a really good rate compared to similar GPS communicators like Garmin/Iridium.
Keep in mind, a true personal locator beacon, which is a much different device has no monthly fee. You might want to consider one of those if you don’t want to pay a monthly fee. There’s also other advantages to them like they have a five-year battery. They also have a lot more power so if you’re stranded deep in a canyon or you’re under a tree canopy that might be covered in snow, your signal will be able to get out. They also work on three separate satellite, constellations and the entire system, including the satellites. The devices the ground stations were all designed for search and rescue. Almost all of the governments of the world subscribe to the system so even if you’re in a different country even say your in Russia and you need to be rescued they’re gonna come for you. Now the downside to the personal locator beacon it is it’s only one way you cannot have two way communication. You just press the button and that since I was a signal for help. Of course it send your GPS coordinates but you cannot have two way communication with him at least not the ones I’ve seen. I do believe some of the newer, newer ones offer to a communication. The brand that I use is called ACR you might look it up. They have a whole survivors club where they have the survivors tell a story about using device to get rescued. If you do use the device, the company will provide you with a brand new one as well. These devices run about $300-$350 but it’s a one time fee no monthly service fees at all. No activation fees. You do need to register them, which involves giving your name Contact information some emergency contacts and some personal information that you can fill in for instants normally when you’re out and about you’re a hiker you’re in a small plane you’re on water you are not a risk taker, you know all kinds of information they can add them in your rescue. Maybe you noted that you have a medical condition and you need certain medicines etc.
