One of the first consumer-focused smartphones, Huawei’s latest flagship device, the Pura 70 Ultra, is powered by the Kirin 9010 chipset and can share photographs via satellite communication using the Changlian app. Following US sanctions on the firm, Huawei just launched the Pura 70 Ultra, a flagship smartphone designed for the Chinese market that replaces the P series. This is the company’s second flagship device to be powered by an in-house chipset manufactured in China.

The other person must also have the Changlian app, which functions similarly to WeChat and allows for texting and video conferencing, in order to get an image. Currently, the Huawei software Market offers the software for a few different Huawei devices.

The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is the first smartphone that can send photos over a satellite network, even though it is not the first smartphone with satellite connectivity.

Since the iPhone 14 series, Apple has provided satellite connectivity in a few markets; however, at this time, users can only share their current location and text emergency agencies for assistance. With the introduction of the Mate 50 series of smartphones, Huawei also included satellite connectivity. The Mate 60 Pro last year improved the same to audio calls and supported short text messages over the BeiDou satellite network.

Using a satellite network, Huawei Pura 70 Ultra users can share photographs, send text messages, and make emergency calls. Images shared via satellite connectivity will be compressed and may appear fuzzy due to the reduced network bandwidth.

In the upcoming days, more Android smartphones—including the upcoming Pixel series—should get satellite connectivity. In the second half of 2024, Google is bringing native satellite connectivity to the Android 15 OS, which will be accessible for handsets that meet the requirements.