(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
The Galaxy S25 series supports satellite connectivity for SMS messages while in cellular dead zones, though Samsung didn't hype up the feature at its Unpacked event this week.
Instead, the news comes from Samsung's S25 partners—chip vendor Qualcomm and wireless carrier Verizon, which have been working on satellite capability for today’s smartphones.
The S25 phones communicate with satellites via the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor inside, which features the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System, Qualcomm tells PCMag. The modem has been designed to connect through "Snapdragon Satellite," which the company introduced in January 2023, a few months after Apple launched its own Emergency SOS satellite feature.
Qualcomm notes that Galaxy S25 phones "are the first commercial devices to feature Snapdragon Satellite which allows consumers to send and receive messages via satellite (narrowband NTN) natively supported in Android OS." This comes as Qualcomm revised the Snapdragon Satellite program so that phone makers could connect to satellite providers of their choosing after a partnership between Qualcomm and Iridium fell apart in late 2023.
For now, Qualcomm says the Galaxy S25 phones can only connect through one satellite communications provider, Skylo, which also powers emergency satellite-based SMS messaging on Google's Pixel 9 phones. Qualcomm adds: “We continue to collaborate with other satellite providers as they build out their constellations and offerings.”
It's unclear why Samsung didn't mention the S25's satellite messaging, but it may be related to the messy nature of today’s fledgling satellite services. Case in point: Verizon appears to be the only US carrier offering satellite capability on S25 phones. It entered into a deal with Skylo last year to power the carrier’s own satellite SOS service.
The S25 phones are also available for AT&T and T-Mobile. But in AT&T’s case, the company is partnering with a startup called AST SpaceMobile to power satellite services for phones — which could take over a year to begin rolling out.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile has tapped SpaceX’s cellular Starlink program for satellite connectivity to consumer phones. Earlier this month, the carrier began offering satellite-powered SMS to customers with S24 phones and the latest foldable Samsung phones. But for now, it's confined to select users in a beta program.
Still, one satellite industry consultant, Christian Freiherr von der Ropp, found Samsung’s silence on the satellite connectivity feature “baffling. But it shows the company has settled on letting mobile network operators figure out satellite services, he wrote in a post.
“It’s hard to blame Samsung for wanting to avoid stepping on the MNOs' [mobile network operators'] toes, but this half-baked approach has left everyone worse off,” he wrote. “Whether it’s Skylo’s pricing or the MNOs’ reluctance to establish roaming agreements for what might still be a niche service or own plans for D2D services, the result is the same: S25 owners outside the US and not on Verizon are left high and dry, with no satellite connectivity to speak of.”
As for Verizon customers, the satellite SOS service is designed to help users connect to emergency services or share their location if they're in a cellular dead zone. "Must be outside w/line of sight to satellite; might not work in parts of Alaska," the company says. Verizon plans on adding satellite-based SMS messaging later this year.