We set up Amy with an iPhone 17 Pro and a Telstra SIM before sending her into the desert to see if she could get into and out of trouble with their new satellite messaging tech.

 

I’ve recently had the privilege of trying out Apple’s latest baby; the iPhone 17.

Full confession, I’ve never owned an iPhone before. I’m a proud Android girly, and until now, every time I’ve picked up someone else’s iPhone, I’ve felt incredibly inept and like I’m holding an alien device. So when I was given the chance to try out the iPhone 17, I hesitated.

‘I don’t know how to use those things’, I thought. ‘Plus I’m trying to be on my phone less! That’s why I bought a shitty Oppo earlier this year, to slow me down (and save hundreds of dollars).’

But I’d been bemoaning the absolutely appalling camera on the Oppo, even if it forced me to make more use of my digital camera.

‘I’d love to get you to set up on one of the Telstra plans that allows texting via satellite, so you can test it on your drive back to NSW from Darwin, and on any hikes over the summer’, Tim, my publisher, said.

Hmmm, that would be handy. Plus I’m going overseas in a few weeks and could do with a decent camera, minus the hassle. Ok, I guess I’ll try the iPhone 17 Pro.

A week later, it was in my hand.

 

@jackjbrookes

iPhone 17 First Impressions

I fumbled around with the phone for a while and it took me quite a few weeks to get my head around the different gestures and shortcuts.

But it didn’t take me long to figure out that the 48mp rear camera is seriously impressive. The 8x optical-quality zoom is insane and has had absolutely no competition when stacked against earlier iPhone models. I’ve even used it as makeshift binoculars to zoom in on animals spotted in the distance with ease and clarity.

 

It’s a kingfisher!

 

The camera really came into its own during a week-long trip to Timor Leste with friends. While boating across glassy ocean waters with kaleidoscopic reef inches below, the camera managed to pick up the vibrancy and definition of the reef, even from above the water.

 

 

One morning while watching the sun rise out of the ocean, I just managed to capture a tiny boat as it sailed across the rising sun. I didn’t even have time to zoom in and cut out the foreground, but the photo’s definition was so high that the cropped version is still quality.

I’ve also noticed a mammoth difference in the quality of the speaker between the Oppo and the iPhone 17 Pro (news shocking to no one). I’ve wondered before why phone companies don’t attempt to give their phones higher quality speakers and why it’s rarely listed as a defining feature. I hadn’t noticed the stark difference in sound quality until I happened to play a song through the Oppo’s speaker after listening to the iPhone and immediately wanted to turn it off.

Playing music through a phone is no one’s first listening choice, but I’d choose the iPhone 17 Pro speaker over most other phones, any day.

I’ve also dropped the phone multiple times and there’s barely a bungle on it. My Oppo however, has scratches on the screen just from me swiping my nails across it.

But the main feature I was keen to test out was the off-grid satellite messaging.

Earlier this year, Telstra announced that its plans now include satellite messaging with compatible devices, which includes the full iPhone 17 range.

Read more: Telstra Has Added iPhones to Its Satellite Messaging Service – But You Still Need a PLB

With or without a compatible plan, the iPhone 17 Pro still features roadside assistance via satellite in SOS mode, as well as Emergency SOS and Find My iPhone. Plus it can detect if you’ve been in a crash and automatically make an emergency call for you if you don’t respond to the prompt. But the Telstra plan allows users to text any phone number via satellite, if you’re in the right location.

Where better to test this than the middle of Australia?

A Road Trip Into the Desert

A few weeks ago, my Dad and I drove 5,500km across Australia, from Darwin to the South Coast of NSW.

The last time I did this drive, around five years ago, my mates and I ran into a touch of car trouble between Coober Pedy and the NT border, and sought two new tyres from the most central mechanic shed in the country.

 

 

A year after that, while on a shoot for Tourism Red Centre, my workmate and I paid a visit to the mechanic at Yulara, the small town that services visitors to Uluru, after our hire car wouldn’t quit shaking on the five-hour drive between Alice Springs and the rock.

In short, I’ve nearly always encountered some kind of car trouble around Central Australia. A combination of heat, long distances, and Murphy’s Law means something is bound to go wrong in one of the most remote places in the country.

So this time around, having the iPhone 17 Pro with satellite messaging capabilities along with SOS roadside assistance, I felt much more confident about driving into the desert. Car problems come at me.

The biggest fear about getting into trouble in the bush, either on a hike or on remote roads, is the lack of reception, sometimes for hundreds of kilometres. Knowing I could message people if needed or call for roadside assistance if it came to it, was a huge safety net.

 

 

And, as predicted, we kind of needed it.

Thankfully, it didn’t come to my Dad and I being stranded for hours on the side of the road in 35ºC heat, but it could’ve.

Long story short, on day two of the nine day journey, the air con cut out for a few hours, and with most of the country still ahead of us, we weren’t keen to take any chances.

While out of reception and using satellite messaging, I texted a friend in Alice Springs to ask about borrowing her car for a day trip to the West Macs if we needed to leave mine with an auto-electrician for the day.

Her reply pinged right back.

‘Hey! Oh damn, that sucks. I had a similar problem a few years back and it’s not fun! I’m in Melbourne at the moment, so my car is free to use. It’s just a small Corolla, hope that’s ok?’

Being able to sort out a Plan B while in the middle of nowhere certainly put my mind at ease, preventing a spiraling five-hour drive and potentially getting onto my mate too late.

The next day in Alice Springs, we managed to get the air con checked and were told it was running low on gas, but that it didn’t need immediate attention and should last the rest of the drive. Phew!

As we reversed out of the auto-electrician’s driveway, he chased us down and told us the car had a major coolant leak. Shit! It’d literally sprung a leak in the driveway. It couldn’t have happened in a better place and our hero, Deon, immediately fixed it up for us.

We’d narrowly dodged potential disaster that could’ve seen the engine overheat in the middle of nowhere. Dad was in shock, but I shrugged it off, knowing the satellite messaging and SOS roadside assistance would’ve really earned their keep.

We made it to the West Macs later that day, and from the staggering Ormiston Gorge, I messaged Tim via satellite.

‘Tim, this is Amy from the satellite. Please respond if you receive my transmission.’

‘Greetings Amy. Message received!’, came the reply a few minutes later.

The Benefits of Satellite Messaging for Explorers

I really appreciated having control of who I was in contact with while out of range. Satellite messaging only lets you receive texts from numbers you’ve already messaged first via satellite, which meant that I needed to send the initial text to be in touch with someone.

Along the rest of the drive, I noticed that the phone moved from mobile reception, to satellite coverage, (indicated by the letters ‘SAT’ in the top right hand corner of the phone), to SOS mode. In places like Ormiston Gorge and Kata Tjuta, it swung between SAT and SOS, depending on where I was standing.

I attempted to send images via satellite, but that didn’t work. Calls are also out of the question. But having the ability to text a select person or people and give an update is pretty priceless.

I can see this being incredibly handy on a multi-day hike. I usually hire a PLB for multi-day hikes, but these leave so much room for error and unknowns. It’s often difficult to decipher exactly what would justify hitting the big red button and what it could cost you if you do, meaning hikers may hesitate to use a PLB in emergency situations.

So often Explorers find themselves in sticky, but not emergency, situations, so being able to articulate the situation to someone on the outside without immediately calling 000 is incredibly handy. That’s why satellite messaging hits the sweet spot between being off-grid, but not completely out of reach.

 

@jackjbrookes

 

Having access to that on your phone and not having to fork out hundreds of extra dollars for a specific satellite messaging device or subscription is also quite nice. As long as you can keep the phone well-charged while you’re out there!

Am I an iPhone girlie now?

I’m now much more proficient with an iPhone and won’t shy away from attesting to their high quality. The iPhone 17 Pro is incredibly impressive, durable, and useful. The camera in particular has floored my friends with even slightly lower iPhone models.

Let’s just say I’m more on the fence between iPhone and Android than I’ve ever been before.

Tech is Gear Too!

Our reviewer was given this product for testing and was allowed to keep it afterwards – they could say whatever the heck they wanted in the review. Check out our Editorial Standards for more info on our approach to gear reviews.