Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Strings in the latest Android 15 Beta preview for the OnePlus 12 contain a reference to a satellite mobile phone.
- This indicates that the company is interested in a smartphone with satellite connectivity, although this could be limited to China.
Apple can be credited with sparking mainstream interest in it smartphone satellite connectivity with the launch of the feature on the iPhone 14 series. Although Apple has been doing this for over a year and a half, adoption of satellite connectivity for smartphones has been surprisingly weak Android flagships launched outside China. This could change in the future, as we've noticed some indications that OnePlus may be looking to bring satellite connectivity to a future smartphone.
Trusted smartphone enthusiast 1Normal username I have seen some interesting strings in the Settings app present in the latest Android 15 beta on the OnePlus 12:
Code
<string name="oplus_authentication_model_new_name_satellite">"Satellite mobile phone Made in China OnePlus Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. Model: %s"</string>As you can see, the string mentions OnePlus' company name in the same breath as “Satellite mobile phone” and is part of the _satellite fragment of the string file. While the string doesn't explicitly say that OnePlus is working on a satellite edition phone, it does point in that direction.
You can say that the string could be a carryover from OPPO's Color OS base, as both Oxygen OS and Color OS share the same base. OPPO released the Find X7 Ultra Satellite Edition in China a few weeks ago, so this is certainly plausible. However, the corresponding string in the Settings app present in the latest Android 15 Beta release for OPPO Find N3 mentions OPPO's company name:
Code
<string name="oplus_authentication_model_new_name_satellite">"Satellite mobile phone Made in China Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd. Model: %s"</string>The mix-up of company names in Color OS and Oxygen OS indicates an intentional change rather than a port error from their shared code base.
As mentioned, Android smartphones with satellite connectivity are limited to China. There is a chance that if OnePlus is working on a smartphone with satellite connectivity features, it will be limited to China. But since Android 15 comes with support for smartphone satellite connectivity, there is also a possibility that more OEMs than Google are considering launching the feature in the global market.
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