I live and walk in the far north of Scotland, and bought one of these recently, after seeing a mention in Scottish Mountaineer, the MCoS magazine. I'm in my late sixties, and walk alone, often in remote places with no phone signal. Whilst I'm not doing anything technically difficult these days, I finally decided to get something like a Zoleo, as injuries/ill health are more likely, given my age. If the device enables me to have a few more years in the hills, then it's worth it. I was fortunate with pricing: the device cost me £149 in December, and I received a code when I created an account on the site which waived the one-off registration fee.
I had a Zoleo for 2 years now. It has worked absolutely flawlessly. If fact if I had to choose between paying for cell service or the Zoleo service it would be Zoleo. Just knowing it works anywhere on the planet. (Except in the bottom of a parking garage). You could be floating on a raft in the South Pacific and have a chat with your wife.
Really good video thanks! Quick question... If someone just randomly texts you (E.g., "Just checking all is okay?") using the provided Zoleo phone number you get with the unit, does that mean one of your 25 messages (In the basic £18 plan) gets used up or does that only happen if they reply to a message you send out from the Zoleo? Thanks - Ben
My understanding is that this would deduct a message from your allowance. However, you can turn the messaging on or off within the app to avoid receiving unwanted messages.
I had one for 18 mos. I used it twice and it was cool. However, after paying $26 a month for the service I tried twice on two separate trips and my 'check in' messages didnt go through. once I got home and called Zoleo I was told they had tech issues on their end both times. Hmmmm. Good thing i wasnt dying on a mountain top waiting for SOS to be received. I ditched the Zoleo and went with iPhone15 .
That's certainly a concern, but is should be noted that 'check-in' messages are different from an SOS request and it may be the case that the latter would have still functioned. It's also worth noting that the iPhone's satellite service isn't global, unlike Zoleo's. According to Apple's website (support.apple.com/en-gb/HT213426#availability) "Emergency SOS via satellite is available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US."
It’s really expensive if you only hike couple of times a month. I hate these types of life saving subscription plans. It should be once you buy the device and paid the set up fee you only get charge after using it. Eg per text and per sms. Otherwise i feel like if you don’t pay the fees monthly you can just die 😅
I live and walk in the far north of Scotland, and bought one of these recently, after seeing a mention in Scottish Mountaineer, the MCoS magazine. I'm in my late sixties, and walk alone, often in remote places with no phone signal. Whilst I'm not doing anything technically difficult these days, I finally decided to get something like a Zoleo, as injuries/ill health are more likely, given my age. If the device enables me to have a few more years in the hills, then it's worth it.
I was fortunate with pricing: the device cost me £149 in December, and I received a code when I created an account on the site which waived the one-off registration fee.
Great advice... review was great in my decision making
I had a Zoleo for 2 years now. It has worked absolutely flawlessly. If fact if I had to choose between paying for cell service or the Zoleo service it would be Zoleo. Just knowing it works anywhere on the planet. (Except in the bottom of a parking garage). You could be floating on a raft in the South Pacific and have a chat with your wife.
Really good video thanks! Quick question... If someone just randomly texts you (E.g., "Just checking all is okay?") using the provided Zoleo phone number you get with the unit, does that mean one of your 25 messages (In the basic £18 plan) gets used up or does that only happen if they reply to a message you send out from the Zoleo? Thanks - Ben
My understanding is that this would deduct a message from your allowance. However, you can turn the messaging on or off within the app to avoid receiving unwanted messages.
I only walk in the country. Do you think it's worth having then?
I had one for 18 mos. I used it twice and it was cool. However, after paying $26 a month for the service I tried twice on two separate trips and my 'check in' messages didnt go through. once I got home and called Zoleo I was told they had tech issues on their end both times. Hmmmm. Good thing i wasnt dying on a mountain top waiting for SOS to be received. I ditched the Zoleo and went with iPhone15 .
That's certainly a concern, but is should be noted that 'check-in' messages are different from an SOS request and it may be the case that the latter would have still functioned.
It's also worth noting that the iPhone's satellite service isn't global, unlike Zoleo's. According to Apple's website (support.apple.com/en-gb/HT213426#availability) "Emergency SOS via satellite is available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US."
It’s really expensive if you only hike couple of times a month. I hate these types of life saving subscription plans. It should be once you buy the device and paid the set up fee you only get charge after using it. Eg per text and per sms. Otherwise i feel like if you don’t pay the fees monthly you can just die 😅