The new Iridium 9575 EXTREME phone model was launched in late 2011. Outfitter Satellite initial experience with getting the battery seated was disappointing. In many cases, we could not get the battery that came with the phone to lock at all. Apparently in order to achieve the IP65 rating, rubberized material was used to surround the seat where the battery is inserted. It is a very tight fit so small variations in the battery can make a specific battery hard to seat in a specific phone. In several cases, even though the battery connected well enough to power up the phone, we found that simply touching the phone at certain places can cause the phone to turn off temporarily. The main symptom of the battery problem is that the battery will not fully install and the phone will not power up without being held in place with external pressure. Some customers first notice this as an issue charging the phone.

Iridium placed battery installation instructions with the phone and a sticker on the battery that recommends that you push the battery in with your thumbs. Eventually, Iridium determined that the problem was due to misalignment of the battery casing during ultrasonic welding. The good news is that Iridium is working with the battery manufacturer to correct the problem in the future and is treating existing battery problems as a warranty issue.

OUR SOLUTION: Our solution was to try different batteries. We found that swapping the batteries between phones eventually allowed us to find a working battery for every phone. Outfitter Satellite tests all the phones in this way before shipping them to our clients. If a customer experiences the battery problem, we recommend returning the battery for warranty replacement (during the first 12 month warrant period).

BENEFITS OF THE IRIDIUM 9575 EXTREME: We don't just want to mention the battery seating problem that we believe will be resolved. The Iridium 9575 EXTREME does have some very good points too. It has GPS features that let you see your position and easily share it with friends via text. It also has a shielded "emergency button" feature that lets you initiate a GPS-enhanced text to one or more recipients to signal them that you are in trouble. The Iridium 9575 EXTREME was designed to survive in very bad weather — it can even stand up to jets of water sprayed at it (that is, it is IP65 rated).