Thuraya X5-Touch is the world’s smallest Android-based satellite smartphone

Thuraya, a Russian company dedicated to manufacturing satellite phones, has launched its latest model, and the phone is setting new records now. Called the X5-Touch, the smartphone is the world’s smallest satellite Android smartphone. The Thuraya X5-Touch features a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS touchscreen display, with Gorilla Glass on top for protection. Under the hood, it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, with 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of expandable storage. The camera sensors on the phone are fairly basic, with an 8 MP sensor at the back, and a 2 MP selfie snapper. [caption id=“attachment_5590511” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  Thuraya X5-Touch[/caption] Fuelling the satellite phone is a 3,800 mAh battery, and it runs Android 7.1 Nougat for some reason. Aesthetics-wise, you can probably tell that the phone weighs heavy, and to be precise it’s 262g. The X5-Touch is water and dust resistant, with IP67 rating. It also has MIL-STD-810 certification for being able to withstand extreme conditions.

For connectivity, the X5-Touch has NFC on board and it supports navigation through GPS, BeiDou and GLONASS. For satellite calls, it sports a retractable antenna on the top edge. The phone has always-on dual-SIM functionality with one SIM working on conventional 2G/3G/4G networks and the other dealing with satellites. The new satellite smartphone has been launched in 160 countries around the world and costs £999, which is about Rs 91,000 according to the current rupee rate. Thuraya says the phone will go on sale starting December and in January for some markets.