Thuraya One

The Thuraya One carries a waterproof rating with IP67 certification, meaning it can withstand dust ingress and temporary submersion in water. It does not feature a rugged build, nor does it adopt a folding form factor, keeping to a conventional smartphone design.

The Thuraya One features a 6.67″ OLED/AMOLED touchscreen with a 1080 x 2400 px resolution and a pixel density of 395 ppi, delivering a sharp and vibrant visual experience. The panel runs at a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother motion, and is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 to resist everyday scratches and impacts. The display does not support HDR10, HDR10+, or Dolby Vision, and there is no secondary screen present.

The Thuraya One is powered by the Qualcomm QCM4490 chipset, built on a 4 nm process and paired with 6GB of DDR5 RAM and 128GB of eMMC 5.1 internal storage. The octa-core CPU runs across two memory channels, with two cores clocked at 2.4 GHz and six at 2.0 GHz, and uses big.LITTLE technology alongside multithreading across 8 threads for efficient workload distribution. Graphics are handled by the integrated Adreno 613 GPU, which supports OpenGL ES 3.2, while integrated LTE and 64-bit support are also built into the SoC.

The Thuraya One uses a triple-lens rear camera system with sensors of 50 MP, 8 MP, and 2 MP, paired with apertures of f/1.8, f/2.2, and f/2.4 respectively, and a CMOS sensor across the array. Autofocus options include phase-detection and touch autofocus as well as continuous autofocus during video recording, though laser autofocus is absent. The main camera records video at 1080p and 30 fps, supports slow-motion capture, and offers a solid range of manual controls including exposure, ISO, focus, and white balance, while RAW shooting, manual shutter speed, and HDR10 or Dolby Vision recording are not available. A single LED flash is present at the rear, with no dual-tone or RGB flash, and the front camera offers a 16 MP sensor at f/2.2 without a front-facing flash or a secondary lens. Additional shooting features include HDR mode, burst mode, and in-camera panoramas, though 360-degree panorama and 3D capture are not supported.

The Thuraya One runs Android 14 and comes with a broad set of privacy controls, including clipboard warnings, location privacy options, camera and microphone access management, and the ability to block app tracking, though cross-site tracking blocking and Mail Privacy Protection are not present. On the customization side, users have access to theme customization, dynamic theming, dark mode, extra dim mode, widgets, and customizable notifications, while focus modes and app offloading are not supported. The OS includes practical productivity features such as split-screen multitasking, Picture-in-Picture, full-page screenshots, a media picker, sharing intents, Live Text, and the ability to play games while they download. On-device machine learning is supported, alongside offline voice recognition, voice commands, phone tracking, multi-user support, and a child lock. Wi-Fi password sharing and Quick Start are absent, and the device does not receive direct OS updates from the vendor nor can it be used as a PC.

The Thuraya One houses a non-removable rechargeable battery with a built-in level indicator, and supports 18W fast charging with a charger included in the box. Wireless charging is not available on this device.

The Thuraya One features stereo speakers for audio output but omits a 3.5 mm headphone jack, so wired headphones requiring that connection are not directly supported. None of the high-quality Bluetooth audio codecs — aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, or LDAC — are present, and the device does not include a built-in radio.

The Thuraya One supports 5G connectivity alongside a cellular module, dual SIM capability, and Wi-Fi across three standards — Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n), Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), and Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) — with a maximum download speed of 3600 MBits/s. Wireless connections are further handled by Bluetooth 5.2, while NFC is absent. The device connects via USB Type-C with USB 3.1, includes an external memory slot for storage expansion, and notably features emergency SOS via satellite. For biometric security, a fingerprint scanner is present, though 3D facial recognition and an iris scanner are not supported. On the sensor front, the phone includes a gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, and GPS with Galileo support, while a barometer, infrared sensor, heart rate monitor, and motion or optical tracking are all absent. HDMI output, ANT+, DLNA certification, crash detection, a stylus, and a built-in projector are likewise not part of the feature set.

The Thuraya One includes a video light to assist with recording in low-light conditions. The display is flat rather than curved and uses neither sapphire glass nor an e-paper panel.