Actual test results of Huawei satellite calls: the sound quality exceeds that of professional satellite phones

It has been 24 days since Xiaolei met Huawei Mate 60 Pro. I still remember that I was "exploring the store" in a high-priced luxury mobile phone store and took a photo of the "New XX 4G Series" promotional slogan in the store. I plan to write a topic rant. A second later, I saw the news on my phone that the new Huawei Mate 60 Pro series suddenly went on sale offline. This experience of being on a 4G phone one second and then entering a satellite call the next gave me a great shock, and made me even more curious about the Mate 60 Pro phone.

Picture source: Lei Technology

So in the past For more than half a month, Xiaolei "expedited" to bring you the Huawei Mate 60 Pro hands-on experience, performance test and signal test. In addition to the camera test, which still needs to wait for the official firmware update, almost all the tests that can be done are covered for everyone. . However, since China Telecom has closed the entrance for satellite calls, I have not had the opportunity to test the "satellite call" feature that attracts me the most.

On September 8, China Telecom finally launched the "mobile phone direct connection satellite service", and the test of satellite calls saw the light of day. After the typhoon and rain, Xiaolei finally had the opportunity to go up the mountain to experience this "sky-piercing" function.

How is it different from other satellite communications?

Although the name of this function is called mobile phone direct connection to satellite service, before everyone really dives into the ravine, there is still some preparation work to be done before experiencing it. .

First of all, if we want to experience the satellite direct connection function of Huawei Mate 60 Pro, we need to apply for the relevant package in advance. Due to the high cost, direct satellite service cannot be turned on automatically like international roaming. Mate 60 Pro currently only supports Tiantong satellite communication service. The relevant telecommunications packages have 4 levels of charging to choose from. The cheapest 10 yuan package only includes 2 minutes of call time. After two minutes, the price of the satellite call will be deducted. .

Picture source: China Telecom

And this "call", In fact, this is the biggest difference between Huawei Mate 60 Pro and iPhone’s “traditional satellite communication”. Take the iPhone's satellite call as an example. In order to compress the amount of information sent to a minimum and ensure the success rate of information transmission, the iPhone does not allow users to make real satellite calls: the user can only select the corresponding information option in the interface. iPhone The code of the corresponding option will be sent to the response center, which will then decode and respond.

Image source: Apple

And Huawei Mate 60 Pro is The technical difficulty behind directly allowing users to connect to the satellite network and make calls and send and receive text messages through the satellite network is obviously higher. In the past, only specialized satellite phones could achieve this.

So this time Xiaolei specially prepared another satellite phone before going up the mountain. In addition to being a backup, it can also be used for comparison. Let’s take a look at the Huawei Mate 60 Pro How advanced is satellite direct connection?

Picture source: Lei Technology

Open area

The route Xiaolei chose this time is the hiking route from Dongxing Village to Xitou Village, passing through Fei Shou Rock, Wakeng, Zhongxin Village, Maokengping, and Jincun. When setting off from Dongxing Village, all mobile phones, including iPhones, still had signals. However, after about one kilometer into the mountain path, the mobile network signal almost disappeared.

This also means it’s time for us to test satellite calls.

First of all, we tested the professional satellite phone LeSat F2. The phone uses an external detachable antenna design. Although the antenna can be removed when not in use, the antenna itself cannot be folded and is not convenient to carry. Although the screen size is a bit smaller, the F2 uses the Android system and its operation is relatively similar to that of a regular phone.

Image source: Lei Technology

Different from common mobile cellular Network, the satellite phone will not automatically connect to the network, we need to manually align the satellite to complete the network access operation. Open the network access app on the F2 desktop. After calibrating the GPS and gyroscope with a figure-8 shake, the app will prompt you with the approximate directions of nearby available communication satellites. We need to follow the on-screen prompts to turn to the direction facing the satellite and adjust the pitch angle of the phone.

I must praise here. Even for this kind of professional satellite phone, their user guidance is very complete. The graphical star pointing interface is like playing a somatosensory shooting game on a mobile phone. Just make sure that the satellite icon appears on the screen. In the middle of the "crosshair", the phone will automatically complete the network access operation. For reference, it takes about 20 seconds for LeSat F2 to connect to the network using an external antenna solution.

Although F2 requires the mobile phone to remain motionless at a specific angle, according to Xiaolei’s experience, if the mobile phone turns around in a small area after being connected to the network, F2 can still ensure satellite connection and make calls. Telephone.

Picture source: Lei Technology

There is no need to explain the dialing process. , just make a normal mobile phone call directly. Judging from feedback from colleagues, even if complex satellite call technology is used, the call delay between the two is only about 2 seconds. In terms of call quality, the LeSat F2's microphone seems to have poor pickup capabilities, both in terms of sound volume and background noise.

The network access process of Huawei Mate 60 Pro is similar to that of F2, but there is an additional prompt to automatically turn off Wi-Fi, cellular data and other wireless transceiver functions. Considering that satellite calls are only emergency tools for most users, Huawei does not display specific signal values ​​and network status on the satellite communication interface like F2, but only provides a signal bar composed of four-segment signals.

As a mobile phone brand, Huawei's network access interface is obviously much more refined than F2, but from an experience point of view, both are essentially "body-sensing games" access to the network. In terms of network access time, Huawei Mate 60 Pro takes 32 seconds, although it is slower than F2. Considering that Huawei Mate 60 Pro does not use a dedicated external antenna, it is understandable that it takes longer.

Picture source: Lei Technology

But in terms of call quality, The advantages of Huawei Mate 60 Pro are reflected here. According to feedback from colleagues, Huawei Mate 60 Pro is significantly ahead of the F2 in terms of sound reproduction and noise immunity. The call quality here is not just the radio quality of the mobile phone, but also the transmission quality is more stable, with a two-way delay of about 1.5 seconds.

There is another small detail when Huawei Mate 60 Pro performs satellite calls: In order to ensure a stable signal connection between the mobile phone and the satellite, Mate 60 Pro will force the use of Hands-free calls avoid signal loss caused by placing the phone against your ear. It can be said to be the best embodiment of Huawei's research in the field of satellite communications.

Forest path

As he went deeper, Xiao Lei came to a bamboo forest path that fit the description of "mountain ditch" middle. Satellite phones require you to avoid buildings, trees and other obstructions when using them, but in special circumstances, such as when you slip and fall, we may not be able to escape from the surrounding sheltered environment.

The advantages of F2’s dedicated antenna are now revealed. Under the cover of bamboo forest, F2 can still complete network access and make calls at a faster speed. However, the signal display has changed from "strong" to "weak" at this time, hovering around -140dBm. In addition, the originally poor call quality has become even worse, and the sound has become intermittent, like making a phone call while the high-speed train is passing through a tunnel in the 3G era.

Picture source: Lei Technology

The same interference also appears in On the Huawei Mate 60 Pro, the time it takes to access the satellite network is significantly longer than in open areas. The signal is also reduced from the original 4 bars to 1 bar. The compression and deformation of the call sound is more obvious. However, in the radio link, Huawei's The performance is still better.

But what should we do if we are really in danger at this time, but cannot communicate with the outside world through intermittent phone calls?

# Then send the location via text message.

Image source: Lei Technology

F2 and Huawei Mate 60 Pro Both support the function of sending text messages via satellite. The operation of F2 is the same as that of ordinary Android phones, but Mate 60 Pro humanizes it to "go one more step" for users:

Huawei's interface for sending satellite text messages, Mate 60 Pro adds a "one-click to send positioning" option box above the text input box. As long as it is checked, Mate 60 Pro will automatically add the latest specific GPS location obtained to the text message content, which is extremely convenient to use.

Summary

In fact, judging from the small details of Huawei Mate 60 Pro’s use of satellite calls, “mobile phone direct connection to satellite” is not a “rushed” feature. From the pre-activation function introduction to user guidance during the satellite search process, to optimization and small functions during use, it is not difficult to see that Huawei has indeed made satellite calls a practical function, rather than a "way ahead" function. "gimmick.

#In fact, satellite calls, which are usually of little use, can indeed play an extremely important role when necessary. At the beginning of this year, Beijiang News Network reported that a traveler broke away from the team in the Gongger Grassland of Inner Mongolia and got lost in a heavy snowstorm. He sent the location coordinates and distress information through the satellite communication function on Huawei Mate50, and was successfully rescued.

Picture source: Lei Technology

As an ordinary user , we are far away from ocean voyages, wild adventures and other projects, but that does not mean that we can completely avoid the risk of losing contact. Therefore, when most mobile phones do not support satellite communication functions, Huawei Mate50 and iPhone 14 have attractive selling points. Huawei Mate 60 Pro upgrades the satellite information on the smartphone to a satellite phone, which makes its emergency functions richer.

As for whether users should purchase corresponding products for satellite information or satellite phone functions? I think this issue may not need to be discussed in the future: as costs decrease and the industry chain matures, satellite communications will eventually be fully popularized on mobile phones. By then, satellite calls will also become a "function" like Wi-Fi rather than a specialized selling point.

But judging from the current situation, considering that the price of purchasing a new satellite phone is much lower than that of buying a Mate 60 Pro, Xiao Lei personally prefers Prefer a combination like "mobile phone and satellite phone". But if you want to buy Mate 60 Pro, you might as well open a satellite access package for 10 yuan a month before traveling in the wild. After all, we don’t need to add other qualifiers for this kind of “sky-breaking” ability. It is indeed "Far ahead".

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