If you spend a lot of time outdoors and away from mobile reception, the odds are you have some form of emergency beacon. There’s plenty out there, largely falling under the banner of an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) that can send SOS signals in the event your day goes really badly.
It’s good to know you can signal for help if needed…
What about quickly checking in to let your family and friends know you’re ok?
For the last month, I’ve had an HMD Offgrid in my bag, and it’s been a game changer, particularly in emergency response situations.
More about the device
The basics are covered in our release article, but here’s the basics:
- Measuring 93.88 x 60.16 x 12 mm
- Weighs just 60g
- Connection via Bluetooth 5.1
- Charges via USB-C and has 3 days battery life
- Compatible with Android and iOS devices
- IP68 water and dustproof rating
This ultimately results in a device that could be a building access card or oversized keyring, fits in your hand, and has the very real potential to save your life.
Setup and Configuration
You’ll need to have the HMD Offgrid app installed — available on Android or iOS — on your phone for all of this to come together and the first step is to sign up for an account. The information you need to provide is your mobile number and a Google account to sync your chat history with.
From there it’s as simple as turning on your unit, pairing it to your phone and following the bouncing ball. As part of this, you’ll need to select a plan (essentially a subscription service) of either Unlimited ($24.99 a month or $239.99 per year) or a base plan that provides you with 350 messages for $112.00 a year. I can’t help but feel like that’s pretty well thought out flexibility for regular adventurers, or those who simply want a failsafe for their occasional adventures.
Tracking, SOS and Check in
While you can send chats back and forth, it’s far more important to look at the three listed features regarding the safety functionality of the HMD Offgrid. Starting with tracking, you can provide selected contacts with the capacity to track your location (provided you’re on the unlimited plan) in real time. For serious adventures, this could be a key safety measure to make sure you’re at agreed checkpoints, or just ensuring you’re still moving.
SOS functionality needs to be configured, and comes with two triggers: The first and fastest being to press and hold the SOS button on the device. The second is to press and hold the button within the app, either will send emergency services your name, phone number (although this is a little redundant if you’re sending a satellite SOS) and GPS location.
I already mentioned the check in earlier, but it’s as easy as pressing and holding the check in button and it will send your pre-configured message to your chosen contact or contacts.
As basic as it is, the communications set up is well thought out and delivers what off the grid users would need to ensure safety, and allow some basic communications with friends and family.
A real world use case
As an volunteer firefighter, what we do is inherently risky so it’s not always practical, or safe for me to message Jo to check in and let her know I’m ok; I need to have my attention on what’s happening around me. This is where one of the features of the Offgrid came in so remarkably handy, a one button check in.
Once configured, all I needed to do was press a button on the device, and it sent a pre-configured message saying “All safe and well”. It’s worth noting that the message doesn’t come from your number; it comes from an overseas number and provides a link for the recipient to follow if they want to reply.
Thankfully I’ve not been in a position to need to trigger the SOS function – but given the efficiency of message delivery, I have no reason to think it wont work.
I haven’t been remote during testing, but I did get away into the hills and tested the tracking. With options to report to your contacts every 3 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minute or hourly; for set periods of time, your close contacts can easily see your progress on your adventures making it a great feature for visibility and safety.
Final thoughts: HMD have nailed it with the Offgrid
I can already hear the comments, that this isn’t practical for everyday use and you’re right. But if you’re someone who spends any amount of time in areas where there is no mobile signal, then this is a product that — in the current day and age of connectedness — lands in the realm of a no brainer. Even if you never need it, that safety aspect can’t be overstated.
HMD has done a great job delivering a device that caters for a niche group, who will really appreciate what they have. The up front cost is pretty reasonable at $329.00 and you can easily utilise the month to month subscription if you’re not a frequent traveler; or even share the cost with some friends.
I’m genuinely impressed with this and will happily be investing in one for my bag when I travel, and the potential of being Offgrid in my emergency services role.
