If you’re looking for emergency comms where cell service is unavailable, you can do really well with a 2m/70cm Baofeng UV-5R. It’ll run you like $60 between the technician’s license (easy to get) and the radio, no subscription. From mountains (no service), I’ve gotten into repeaters 60 miles away. Knowing the community on those frequencies, they’ll treat your emergency with the same respect and decorum as those submitted through the SOS feature (many even train for it through organizations like ARES).

I certainly don’t mean to poo-poo this announcement in HN commenter fashion—-I think it’s actually really great to have. Just wanted to highlight an alternative to shelling out $1k+ for a capable phone if you don’t have one.