Huawei has introduced an offline calls and chat feature in its Mate 80 series smartphones, which operates effectively even in Airplane mode, as confirmed through company-conducted tests on the devices.
The Mate 80 series incorporates this capability to enable communication without relying on traditional network connections. Huawei’s testing focused on the performance of this tool under various conditions, including scenarios where standard wireless functions are restricted.
Bruce Lee, Chief Technology Officer of Huawei’s Device Business Group, stated that the new offline calls feature functions without interruption in Airplane mode. He emphasized its reliability during real-world application.
Airplane mode serves as a setting on mobile devices that deactivates all wireless communications, including cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. This deactivation occurs to minimize potential interference with aircraft systems and to conserve battery life by eliminating background activities such as incoming calls, text messages, or data transmissions.
Prior to this upgrade, Huawei’s MeeTime application supported offline calls and SMS messaging, but it performed inefficiently when Airplane mode was enabled. The Mate 80 series addresses this limitation by providing an enhanced version of the offline communication system, resulting in improved usability for users in network-unavailable environments.
Lee shared his experience from a test conducted aboard an aircraft with colleagues. He recounted, “The terrestrial signal coverage of domestic operators is so good that there has been little chance of using networkless communication. I tried it with my colleagues on the plane today, it was so easy to use, and I was free to send messages and make phone calls in the sky.”
In this test, the Mate 80 devices successfully transmitted messages and completed calls while Airplane mode remained active, demonstrating seamless operation at altitude.
The functionality stems from the flagship smartphones’ advanced signal-coverage technology, which supports communication in constrained wireless settings.
Huawei integrated a new “wireless communication” option into the MeeTime application. This option facilitates offline interactions over short ranges of approximately 7 kilometers using low-frequency bands. Users can exchange messages or conduct calls with nearby contacts on compatible Huawei devices, independent of cellular or internet networks. Access to this feature requires possession of a Mate 80 series smartphone.
