What is the Sunbeam Premium subscription?
Purchasing Sunbeam Premium will enable Voice-to-Text functionality on both the Daisy and Orchid model phones. Our Voice-to-Text service is powered by Microsoft. Sunbeam Premium also enables additional features to the standard functions already found on the Orchid phone. The Weather feature (powered by IBM’s The Weather Company) gains hourly weather details and weather mapping. The standard Navigation feature (powered by HERE Technologies) enables the ability to search for points of interest. Sunbeam Wireless purchases these services from their respective providers to create our Sunbeam Premium subscription.
For pricing and purchase information, go here: https://sunbeamwireless.com/product/sunbeam-f1-premium-service/
Am I required to subscribe to the Sunbeam Premium subscription?
No. The Orchid has very functional Weather and Navigation features without the purchase of Sunbeam Premium. You will need to subscribe to Sunbeam Premium to continue using the hourly weather and radar map functions in Weather and points-of-interest searching in Navigation beyond the 30-day free trial.
So I need cellular data to make Sunbeam Premium work. How much cellular data can I expect to use each month?
Well, it’s hard to say for sure, because it depends on the usage. I use an Orchid for my personal phone and do a lot of texting with it, almost exclusively using Voice-to-Text input, because it’s fast and accurate. Over the last several months my total data used for the month ranged from 116MB at the lowest to 220MB at the highest. (The phone is not on WiFi either). The Voice-to-Text function is very frugal and only consumes a few kilobytes every time it’s used, so that doesn’t add up very quickly at all. The Weather service is also quite frugal with the data consumed if only getting the weather forecast. If the weather radar function is used (which I do a fair bit of) and there is a lot of panning and zooming of the map, as well as running the animated radar function, it can add up to a few MB per session. The Navigation service has the option to download the map data in advance (which I have done). If this is done, it cuts the Navigation data consumption down to almost zero. If this is not done, the Navigation function will download the map data on an as-needed basis and could add up, depending on how much it’s used.
Do I still need a cellular service plan if I have Sunbeam Premium?
Yes, the Sunbeam Premium subscription is separate from a cellular service plan. You will need to purchase a cellular plan from a supported carrier, that includes data. Sunbeam Premium will not function without a stable data connection.