What is the max length of an SMS?

  • max SMS length is 1120 bit
  • 7 bit per character used for the default alphabet, which means the maximum length is 160 characters ( 1120 / 7 )
  • 8 bit is used for data-messages ( e.g. images or sound messages )
  • 16 bit for the rest of the characters using Unicode encoding, meaning max 70 characters (Websms)
  • Note: German Umlaut ( ö, ü, ä ) uses 16bit per characters
  • Note: If one character needs to be encoded with 16bit then the whole message is encoded with 16bit