Motorola Defy Satellite Link - Rugged GPS Communicator, Two-Way SMS, SOS Alert

I got this device for the backcountry trips where mobile phone coverage doesn't exist. I used this extensively during a backpacking trip recently and was very impressed with it. I'll break it down in terms of the functions: - Battery life - I used this for 3 days and 2 nights and had enough battery life to leave it on for most of that time (I shut it off in the evenings). I sent and received about 50 messages including about 2 hours of SOS usage. The battery was low at the end but I'm really happy with that performance - Satellite acquisition: pretty quick, within 5 minutes or less. - Message performance: Each message took about 1 to 2 minutes to get received and a message back, I was impressed with this as I was expecting 5 minutes per message or more. - SOS function: The difference here was the call center and ability to describe your exact situation. Unfortunately one of the backpackers we were with was having trouble breathing and couldn't make it back out on his own. I pushed and held the SOS button on the phone and answered a few questions. Within a few minutes I was chatting with an agent. The agent was very helpful and figured out who to contact for the fastest rescue in the area. All this took less than 10 minutes and the rescuers were on their way. Great service and professionalism from the call center. The whole group of backpackers from this trip went out and bought the same device as they were as impressed with it as I was. the Motorola Defy will always be with me when I think I'll be out of cellular coverage.

UPDATE#1 Horrible user experience, unreliable. Today was my best day - 3 of 5 tries delivered a message. 2 of 2 worked when checking in from the device (with a green light confirmation from the device). 1 of 1 "message" from the phone went thru (with no green light confirmation from the device). How am I supposed to know that the message went thru?. 0 of 2 "Check-in" from the phone went thru (even after using the undocumented trick tech support told me about) (with no green light confirmation from the device). I'm supposed to trust my life to this device? Fortunately I can still send it back to Amazon. When looking at the Bullitt app on the phone, all messages are listed, but without any indication that they did or didn't go thru. Original review: This device seems to have been rushed into production. It is not ready for prime time. It has glitches that impede its operation. In my opinion, almost everything about the user manual is either missing, wrong, misleading, contradictory, or incomplete. Tech support is hit or miss - some are good and others haven't been trained enough. Actually a good manual might describe what I call glitches, as "features", thus making it unnecessary to fix them. CONS: 1. If your phone breaks (lost, left behind) you can't do check-ins or send messages except for using the SOS feature. The SOS feature would be limited because you can't send additional information. 2. I think there is only one satellite over the US, so don't get stuck on the North side of a mountain as you may not be able to see the satellite. Its possible this is a non-issue. 3. Although the documentation sucks, they are aware and working on better documentation. 4. One tech support person seemed to think buildings, trees, rain, clouds and other things might interfere with a clear view of the sky and block the signal. Good to know it will work on nice sunny days if you're in the middle of nowhere. 5. The Bullitt app has to run all the time, sucking up battery life at a prodigious rate, If you logout, it forgets the contact info you entered, so you MUST re-enter it it before check-in will work. The app runs in the background, so you need to "force stop" it to stop the battery suck. 6. The device has a rated battery life of "4" days which I haven't verified, but the way the app sucks battery life your phone might not make it thru one daylight unless you have a battery pack to recharge it. PROS: 1. Once you figure out how to get it working (I needed two calls to tech support because the first didn't know how the thing worked). 2. If your phone has working Internet or Texting, operations skip the satellite and go directly to the phone company (maybe - experience has indicated it may also go nowhere). Of course if you had Texting or Internet, why would you need the device. ???: If you have Internet or Texting available, the device may show as connected to the satellite, even if it isn't. I don't know if this is good or bad (or even if my observation is correct.). Without a usable manual, who can tell what's supposed to happen. I did finally get Text and Satellite messages through, but some never went through, without any indication. I haven't fully tested battery life yet, but it definitely lasts more than a day. I would welcome the manufacturer commenting on this review, and/or providing a link to a better manual.

First off, this thing works amazingly well(the sending messages part). It sends messages faster than any other satellite communicator I have ever used. I haven't had issues with messages failing to send even in thick foliage(I am in SE US). But, here's the catch: if the person you are trying to message has the Bullitt app on iOS, they will not know you have messaged them unless they specifically go open the app..... I found that the android app does not have this issue, so if everyone you want to message has an android, this thing would work very well. It's a shame honestly because the app's interface isn't too shabby at all.. but seriously the main point of me having this is to quickly get in touch with family in an emergency, and if I cannot be confident that they will receive the message, this doesn't really have any use for me. TLDR if the people you are trying to message with this have iPhones, get something else.