The Inreach has pretty much taken over for most people I believe. $300 device and then $15/month service plan for minimal texting, something like $0.10 or $0.50 per message if you go over. Texting and SOS only.
This is the case for most backcountry stuff, even being dropped off by bush pilots in Alaska. I also prefer the solitude of being out of cell range and don’t really want to be on the phone to “check in”. Is preferable for me to text “All ok, love you,” and get “Thanks, love you too,” back from my wife than making a call and hearing about what the kids ate for dinner. The primary reason I wanted communication over a PLB was for them to be able to get ahold of me if they needed to. Buddy’s wife had a stroke which made me think about how shitty a situation that would be to walk into after being in the woods for a week. Not sure how a sat phone works for that if you keep it off.
There was an Expedition Overland episode where they removed a tumor from a girl and rang somebody in the states for a medical consult. They pointed out how a sat phone was superior to texting in that circumstance, but those cases are pretty few and far between IMO.
