History Main / SuperCellReception

*** The titular hero has his cell phone wired through his armor. Maybe the armor is Bluetooth compatible.

* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'': [[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix]] recieves a cellphone call from a "concerned friend" in the middle of his investigation. The kicker? He's in the middle of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Equestria]], a complete other world with no cellphones of any kind, let alone cell towers. This freaks him out quite a bit. [[spoiler:It is later explained as [[AppliedPhlebotinum a telepathic message intercepted by his phone and interpreted as an oncoming call]].]]

* In the new ''Series/DoctorWho'', the Doctor can use the sonic screwdriver and "jiggery-pokery" to upgrade anu cell phone to Universal Roaming, allowing you to make a call from and to anywhere in space ''and time''. No special dialling code needed. Also, people who know the Doctor's number (such as UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill and Clara Oswald) can call the TARDIS directly, which is only impeded by either [[spoiler:{{Satan}}]] or the nearby black hole in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet “The Impossible Planet”]]. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]] sort of confirms the obvious explanation - the phone calls are routed through the TARDIS, a sentient, telepathic non-linear entity who exists in all of time and space at once.

* ''Fanfic/SunsetShimmerIsMadAboutEverything'' In ''The Beard with a Jerk-Ass Hanging off of It'', the Element of Magic turns out to function as a telecommunications relay. Unfortunately, it isn't very useful since they have one phone between them and it doesn't work with hooves. Also, Order can still [[JustForPun butt dial]] them without it.

Compare CrystalClearPicture, when it's TV signal that comes unbelievably clear in unlikely situations.

JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith Music/{{Supercell}} reception.

-->'''Order:''' Their magical powers are critical to the operation of what I do. The lightning bolt gives me electricity, the balloons give me gas to heat up the place, the diamonds give me water—for some reason—the butterflies are also my air conditioning, and the star thingy gives me wifi!//

* ''Series/QueenInHyunsMan'', a KoreanDrama, must hold the record for this trope. When Boong-Do time travels from 2012 back to 1694, the cell phone that Hee Jin gave him goes along. After Boong-Do has been in 17th century Korea for a year, his cell phone still has a charge, surely setting a record for battery life. But that's not all, as Boong-Do's wondrous cell phone ''picks up a call from 318 years in the future'' when Hee Jin calls him.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' takes this trope to absurdly extreme levels: with the help of the sonic screwdriver and some alien tech a phone can be upgraded to Universal Roaming, allowing you to make a call from and to anywhere in space ''and time''. Without any special dialling code or anything. Also, people who know the Doctor's number (such as UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill and Clara Oswald) can call directly into the TARDIS, which also can be anywhere and anywhen, being a sentient, telepathic time machine... in a phone box. Only interference either from [[spoiler:{{Satan}}]] or the nearby black hole in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet “The Impossible Planet”]] was able to put it out of range. It's implied in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]] that the phone calls are routed through the TARDIS, which may help to explain why it's feasible.

* ''Anime/VoicesOfADistantStar''

* Pretty much everyone in ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', from the 12-year-old protagonists to the gang of bandits that Shalnark's a member of to the [[MixAndMatchCritters Chimera Ant]] commanders, have and use cellphones to communicate with each other over distances. Gon and Killua's beetle-shaped phones, in particular, are described as being able to get service nearly anywhere in the world.
* Played with in ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure''. The protective forms that Mipple and Mepple have to take on during their stay on Earth resemble girly cellphones, resulting in everyone assuming that Nagisa and Honoka already had cells and didn't need new ones. However, Mipple and Mepple only look like cellphones, and can't be used to communicate.
* ''Astarotte no Omocha!'': Naoya manages to receive a text message and picture from his sister... after he's been taken to the Youkai Realm. More bars in more places, indeed.
* The HumanAliens of ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' have always remarked on the usefulness of Earth cell phones in the earlier seasons and have co-opted this technology by the time of ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid''. However, being from a much more advanced {{Magitek}} society, their cell phones are a lot more powerful, as shown in the first chapter of ''[=ViVid=]'' when Vivio uses a standard Mid-Childa cellphone to instantly send a picture to her family and friends, even though some of them are living in different planets and dimensions.
* Madoka's cell phone in ''Anime/LagrangeTheFlowerOfRinne'' somehow has reception while in her mecha AND a few dozen meters deep underwater AND several kilometers off-shore. Not even the leader of the organization operating said mecha knows how that is possible. On the other hand, the battle takes place near a floating island fortress that ''does'' have reception (being the other end of Madoka's phone call).
** On another occasion under similar circumstances, a Vox ''sends a text message to its pilot's phone'' - add in the Voxes being LostTechnology and [[FridgeLogic it is possible that they can operate as radio transceivers]].
* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' Kurama calls his human mother during the Demon World Tournament arc via a cell phone connection. Keep in mind he's calling from an entirely separate dimension/planet where demons live; a place so far away that it takes warping space and time to open up portals to get there. Though it's justified somewhat given that Spirit World has been able to communicate across dimensions using video phone they gave to Yusuke, so Kurama might be using a similar technology.
* Averted in ''Anime/DogDays''. While Cinque is able to get cell reception in Flonyard, it's only while he's in a specific area (the place where the portal from Earth is located) and while using a special device Rico made to boost the signal.
* ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'': When Ise and company get sucked into an alternate copy of Kyoto and sent across the city in the process (volume 9 of the light novel, [=S4E4=] of the anime), they are still able to call each other on their phones. Either magical copy was perfect enough to also copy the towers, or Devils have some special phones.

* Operatives on the ComicBook/GlobalFrequency had ''really'' cool phones that appeared to use their own satellite network and give users access to any electronic resource Aleph could hack into.They also had audio/video capabilities that were terribly advanced when the graphic novels came out in 2002, but by 2016 are BoringButPractical off-the-shelf smartphones. This proves that writers don't need to bypass cell phones to create tension; these geeks kick ass, but they still get into trouble the phones can't gimmick them out of.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}'', the Drummer receives a cell call while on the Authority's extradimensional spaceship/headquarters. Possibly justified in that the Drummer's superpower is control over information and information transmission.

* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'': [[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix]] recieves a cellphone call from a "concerned friend" in the middle of his investigation. The kicker? He's in the middle of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Equestria]], a complete other world with no cellphones of any kind, let alone cell towers. This freaks him out quite a bit. [[spoiler:It is later explained as [[AppliedPhlebotinum a telepathic message intercepted by his phone and interpreted as an oncoming call]].]]

* In ''[[Fanfic/SunsetShimmerIsMadAboutEverything The Beard with a Jerk-Ass Hanging off of It]]'', the Element of Magic turns out to function as a telecommunications relay. Unfortunately, it isn't very useful since they have one phone between them and it doesn't work with hooves. Also, Order can still [[JustForPun butt dial]] them without it.

-->'''Sunset Shimmer:''' Wifi? ''(checks phone)'' Holy crud! I’ve got a signal! And bars!? But no fingers, unfortunately.

* ''Film/JamesBond'':
** In ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'', Bond is issued a super-awesome [[ProductPlacement Sony]] [[StuckOnBandAidBrand Ericsson]] phone that could make calls from the most isolated places in the world, browse the Internet like it was plugged in with a 1024 kbps data link, with a GPS map that could follow tracker bugs. It follows in the tradition of Bond's obscenely advanced gadgets.
** In the sequel ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', the phone is able to transmit tons of high-res, multi-angle headshots from the Austrian Opera theatre to London MI:5 almost instantaneously. Cell phones play a significant role in the plot, as Bond and [=MI6=] swap information and co-ordinate on multiple occasions, even during action scenes.
* ''Film/JurassicParkIII'': There's a satellite phone working perfectly quite some time after being eaten by a dino. Early in the film Dr. Alan Grant is trying to contact some one with a satellite phone, he can't and several reason are suggest why it won't work ending with "or she could have turned it off"

* ''Film/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth2008'' had a cellphone that works at the center of the Earth. Worse yet, not only is it just a joke that's not essential to the plot, but there was a scene in the same movie where a cell phone won't work inside of a normal cave.

** A plot point in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', [[spoiler:Jane Foster receives a phone call while she and Thor are stuck on Svartalfheim. This lets her find a portal back to Earth.]]

* In ''Film/ThreeKings'', one character manages to make a phone call to his wife, on a cell phone, in the middle of Iraq just after the First Gulf War, from ''inside a fortified bunker''.
* Empire Magazine's review of ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'' includes this response to Emmerich's "wilfully ignoring science [[RuleOfDrama to keep the plot boiling]]": "For future reference, sudden continental drift probably will affect your cellphone reception." And even if it doesn't, good luck getting through when ''literally the whole world'' is trying to call someone.
* In ''Film/{{Buried}}'', Ryan Reynolds's character manages to make calls to the USA with a mobile phone, while [[BuriedAlive buried in a wooden coffin]] in Iraq. He only loses one or two calls to a bad signal, and the battery manages to last the entirety of the film. Of course, since the action never leaves the coffin, he has to be able to call people, otherwise we'd be treated to an hour and half of him gibbering to himself in a pine box.
* Averted in ''Film/DeadSnow'': the characters are stuck high in the mountains in Norway, and when they DO manage to get reception, the emergency dispatcher thinks they're kidding.
* A few years ago there was talk of the "discovery" of a time-traveller in a Creator/CharlieChaplin film from 1928 who looked to be talking on a cell phone. Apart from the ability (or lack thereof) to travel in time -- there weren't any cell phone towers to make it work.
** It turned out to be an ear trumpet.
* In ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'', Nancy gets cellphone reception in a magical fairytale kingdom. The bizarreness of this is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] right before she [[CuttingTheElectronicLeash destroys the cell phone]].
* ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'', released in 1995, has the villain calling from the vault of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. While it's in Wall Street, this is still underground... [[FridgeLogic and the phone somehow doesn't pick up the noise made by the heavy machinery picking up gold as he speaks]].
* Sent up in ''Film/OceansThirteen'', where billionaire casino magnate Willie Bank is discovered by the crew to have a desire to own a top-of-the-line Samsung that isn't even available commercially yet, with ''gold plating'' no less, that he harps on his assistant to get a hold of. He eventually receives it courtesy of the crew, and during the climax while in his ultra-secure security center, he receives a call. When his [[EvilBrit security manager]] comments that it's impossible to receive a call in the vault, Bank comments that with this phone he can. But no, the vault was specifically designed to prevent cell signals from getting through; his "call" was a direct-beam signal to activate the booby trap in the phone to bring down every computer and server in close proximity.

* In the Literature/LeftBehind book ''Glorious Appearing'', though God severely shakes up the earth, the protagonists are still able to get perfect cell-phone reception to call each other through. In the Dramatic Audio version, Chang Wong wonders if the cell-phones will still work after the Lord has appeared, and Naomi Tiberias tells him to stop worrying about it because it no longer matters.

* The first episode of ''This Duckburg Life'', a podcast based on ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', has Dewey and Louie end up in what basically amounts to an AcidTripDimension. When they try dropping a pin on their location "it's just white emptiness but with a pin in it", but their phones are still able to flawlessly get through to Launchpad's answering machine. Lampshaded when Dewey asks the dimensions resident entity how they get such great cell phone reception and the entity itself doesn't know.

* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' cuts both ways. On the one hand, you can get a signal in the sewers, or [[AnotherDimension alternate dimensions]], or ancient Rome (this one's HandWaved as being [[AWizardDidIt something the Midnight Squad set up]]). Inside a mission - even one in an outside area of Paragon City - your phone is useless. And there are plenty of times where you have to go talk to someone whose phone number you have, but nooooo, you have to go see them in person - which is sometimes justified as needing to deliver something to them or the person being paranoid and wanting to meet face to face, sometimes not. Conversely, sometimes a MacGuffin is given to you over your cellphone.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', the Queen of the Underworld makes a phone call to the King of Mario's-equivalent-to-Heaven. [[JustifiedTrope That's not a normal phone whichever way you look at it]].
* ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours''. Having one of the very first satellite phones ever, stolen from a rival crimelord, is vital to the plot and many of the gameplay mechanics. It always works, from inside any building to remote island dirt roads. Possibly handwaved in that if you're a millionaire drug kingpin, you can afford the best.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''

* In the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games, your character can receive phone calls and messages from anywhere on the map, including deep underground tunnels or in the wilderness far away from cities or towns. Funnily enough, in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' this trope is averted with regards to your GPS, which cuts out upon entering tunnels.
* The red video phones VideoGame/TheClueFinders use may or may not be cell phones but they certainly demonstrate this trope as they work perfectly underground and even on another planet with no reception issues unless they are forcibly turned off (notably the one time the kids lose contact with the video phones is in ''Search & Solve Adventures'', through Santiago and Leslie's captor noticing the device, snatching it away and presumably turning it off).
* In ''VideoGame/Persona2'', the phones somehow receive reception in places like the [[PocketDimension Velvet Room]] and the Zodiac Temples. It is even lampshaded at one point.

* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank'': The Gadgetron PDA can be used to provide [[InstantHomeDelivery instant ammo delivery]] no matter what planet you are on. It even works in the open vacuum of outer space on the Gemlik Base or outside the Blarg Tactical Research Spacestation or Drek's fleet. How a call could work on any planet or in the open vacuum of space is a mystery, nevermind how the ammo delivery arrives instantly.

* In ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' the imps somehow have no trouble getting a cell signal from Hell to Earth, even when their portal is closed. Much to Blitzo's annoyance when Stolas calls him up while he's running from a maniac with a shotgun.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'':
** Subverted with Luz's phone. While Luz is able to send and receive messages from her mother while in the Boiling Isles, in addition to watching internet videos, it's only because Eda's portal door opens up Earthside (within walking distance of Luz's house, no less) to give her constant access to a cell signal and Wi-Fi. [[spoiler:She ends up having to destroy the portal at the end of season one, making re-establishing contact with Earth her main goal in the following season.]]
** Played straight in the Season 2 episode "Eclipse Lake" where Luz and Amity are able to communicate with each other using a pair of Tamagotchi-like devices despite the later being on the other side of the Isles and (perhaps more importantly for this trope) inside a mine shaft. It can't even be chalked up to the devices being powered by magic, since the walls of the mine shaft are explicitly stated to have AntiMagic properties.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': When Ise and company get sucked into an alternate copy of Kyoto and sent across the city in the process (volume 9 of the light novel, [=S4E4=] of the anime), they are still able to call each other on their phones. Either magical copy was perfect enough to also copy the towers, or Devils have some special phones.

* ''[[ComicBook/SuperBuddies I Can't Believe it's not the Justice League]]!'' has the Super Buddies sent by ComicBook/BoosterGold to 'the deepest, darkest pits of Hell! (muahahaha!)' and are able to call their headquarters. It's {{lampshaded}} when Max Lord immediately demands to know what service they have.

* Lampshaded in the ''[[WesternAnimation/CuriousGeorge2006 Curious George]]'' movie. Ted's phone go off in the depths of Africa and he comments about the "strong signal" before answering it. Then again, the movie seems to enjoy lampshading and breaking the fourth wall every so often.

* The 2008 film ''Film/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'' had a cellphone that works at the center of the Earth. Worse yet, not only is it just a joke that's not essential to the plot, but there was a scene in the same movie where a cell phone won't work inside of a normal cave.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:

* Lampshaded in the ''Literature/CuriousGeorge'' movie. Ted's phone go off in the depths of Africa and he comments about the "strong signal" before answering it. Then again, the movie seems to enjoy lampshading and breaking the fourth wall every so often.