I've been researching GPS for backpacking for the last two months, unable to make a decision about what I'm going with. You just sold me on this thing, best video in this niche I've seen. I appreciate you. It's neat you exist.
Great video! Good to see some ice climbing shots! These Inreach products are amazing. I have been bugging a few friends who need this for their cycling adventures. Getting stuck out off the grid is no joke.
Great review! I had seen these on Garmin site, and didn’t quite understand the purpose. I could definitely see the use if I were trekking somewhere, or on a backpacking trip. I remember we used to just tell family, coworkers, and employers where we were going to be & when expected back. Then just hope someone sends a search party before it’s too late. 😂
Thanks! Yeah these certainly aren't for everyone but if you live or play in an area that doesn't have great cell coverage and you're a solo adventurer these can be awesome to have for peace of mind or just communication off the grid.
Nice review! Have been using a Mini 2 for 2 months, paired with my Garmin Epix 2 to send and check msgs from it. Use it for kitesurfing downwinders in the ocean, take it inside a water pouch under my life jacket. Sends and receives msgs right away, super fast. Also share my position every 10 minuts. Really happy with it!
This is awesome, and exactly what I am after for expedition paddling. Can you let me know if there is a touch keypad option for composing text message replies on your Epic 2? I would like to be able to compose text responses easily. Thanks heaps.
@@nologrocomprender1 is it the same as on the Mini 2 - where you have to scroll between letters? Or is it alphanumeric and thus a bit faster on the watch? Sorry for all the questions, and thankyou for the quick response :)
I couldn't help noticing that the box on your table is unusually battered looking. Looks like someone was testing the robustness of the InReach Mini 2... 🤣
This gives me peace of mind as a woman backpacking. I always feel anxious once I lose mobile service. At lease my family will always know where I am and if I’m in danger I can send for help.
Yes, people who balk at the price need to realize that peace of mind is valuable in itself even if you never need to use it in an emergency. And that applies to those back at home as well as yourself.
Great review! What is the functionality of the InReach Mini 2 without the subscription plan? Can you still use it as a GPS and paired with the phone? Thanks!
Nice comparison video. Will you be comparing how each work in the field? I had an inreach mini 1 and the thing was a complete paperweight here in the PNW. I never did successfully get messages to send out even with no obstructions and a clear sky.
They both work on the Iridium network so it seems their ability to send/receive messages are roughly the same. I've had the Mini 1 for years and while it was never super fast it did get the job done. I'll continue to test and follow up. Thanks for watching!
Great video, I’m a new sub, I’m considering getting the InReach Mini 2 for safety reasons. I solo ride my motorcycle many places remote on back country routes without cell service and it recently occurred to me that I’d be in trouble if I fell and was hurt and needed help. To that end I wanted to know do you have to pay for the SOS rescue should you need it? Or is that covered with the GARMIN subscription plan? Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
The SOS feature is included with the device and the service. Tue actual rescue can cost money if/when it happens . Garmin also offers a rescue service . The info is in the website
Garmin offers insurances to buy with the inreach, it’s an additional fee to pay, but it does help with the rescue cost. Other bands don’t offer insurances, so this made me go with Garmin….
Impressive presentation. BTW: My Garmin varia radar and polar oh1 seem to require much more charging than I'd expect. I was wondering if I was unaware how to turn them off. Must be the InReach 1 syndrome.
It could be! If you don't charge these small lithium batteries regularly they can become degraded... or at least that seems to be the case with the InReach.
Wait a second. Weren't those explore and smartphone sync functions always there? I'm sure they were. I could already sych my instinct solar to the old inreach and I'm sure you could compose text on a smartphone.
Great comparison. I just got the mini. Is it worth returning it and ponying up the extra fifty for the 2? For me , it's just day bikepacking safety , not multi-day or inclement weather excursions. Btw, you must be Greek? Like your tattoo, "you're missing"
I think if you already have a Mini the updates to the Mini 2 aren't really worth upgrading to. However, if you're still in the return period I think it's worth the extra 50 bucks. Kind of up to you.
Great review thanks What do you think of the inreach explore + it's bit more money bit bigger with bigger screen What does thar screen give over this? I'm thinking I should get one of these as do some camping out of phone signal Maybe no mapping to make us by explorer lol
I like the mini beacause I'm mainly a trail runner and appreciate the smaller size. The Explore+ is probably really useful for hiking and orienteering.
@@ChaseTheSummit that probably is the one to get tbh I checked and the explorer can't take mapping like talkytoaster topo maps and I take two phones with mapping plus fenix plus map lol so realistically the mini enough. The text messages allocated to you is that incoming plus what you send or just yours what of someone sends ten messages without realising and you can't send even one lol Like you said probably just the occasional charge needed for the occasional trip where signal not available Does sos work without paying or need to pay for that
How the communication SMS works? The receiver man SMS must have garmin explorer app or not? And is there a cost for the man who has not the inreach mini to send SMS to the owner inreach mini?
SMS works just like any other cell phone it will arrive as a regular text message to the person on the other end. They can simply reply to that text to send a message back to you. There's no cost for the person on the other end. Depending on which plan you select determines how many messages you can send/receive before needing to pay for it. Hope that helps!
If you had an explorer+ already would you move to the mini2 now that it’s battery is a little more up to snuff? Especially with the explorer+ being discontinued by garmin ?
The Mini 2 is ideal for situations where size/weight is a priority. In my case for trail running it's a no brainer. If I were hiking or needed mapping/navigation I'd probably stick with the Explorer+. Hope that helps!
Hello, I'm so new to this, I hope you will answer my question: I wd like a 2-msg unit mostly for a residential emergency. I am not a hiker, but wonder, if things got hairy given how things are going in our world, I just want a unit that works well for fast and reliable communication, a means to build a short contact list built into the unit. Backtrack is a really good feature. The input method for letters/numbers/words seems primitive. So my question is: wd you be able to get the features of the Explorer subscriptions level if one uses the app with the mini2?. Am I correct that you can pay for the explorer app features and monthly fees and the app would work and pair with the min2? So: First is communication, and I consider easy access to SOS are part of communication....#2: easy/residential based navigation. In a disaster, I personally would most likely be home not hiking. So if the roads are destroyed, I'd hope the GPS tracking can guide us to, say an address or waypoint we inputted prior to disaster as a safe house or meet up location, for example. Does the mini 2 allow you to input preset locations for emergencies, like you could set up preset notifications, poised and at the ready? Finally, #3; Can it transmit on regular basis my location to someone(s) I designate? Thanks!!!!
Yes, if you have a phone paired to the mini 2 you can send/receive messages with the phone instead of the time consuming keyboard on the Mini 2. Yes, you can set up a mapshare track so friends and family can follow your location. All of that said, I don't think this is meant to be a "bug out" type device because it relies on the infrastructure of the InReach satellite network to work. It's about as reliable as a sat phone at the end of the day.
As far as connectivity to a Garmin Fenix and the InReach is it only the sos button and messaging? Or is there any other benifits to having the two paired up?
@@ChaseTheSummit Ok. thx! that means the active tracking e.g. all ten minutes uses ur data from the subscription and the trackbqck uses "only" trackpoints based on Gps? whut u need that active track for then? sorry for the beginners questions. Appreciate ur help
I have an IR 1. Great except temporarily cancelling my subscription during Corona, as pricing went up and up, Garmin deleted all my travel history despite promising the opposite 😢
You want to talk about holding a charge for a long time? I recently moved and found my Gameboy Advanced SP in a box in the attic. Flipped the power switch for a laugh and it turned on. I haven't touched it in 15 years. WTF
You can pay as you use per month is fine, but then they make you pay like $35 annual fee per year subscription fee sucks. Too bad they don't have a plan like pay $35 a year and only charge when you use it like per message or something. For me I would mainly want one for in case of emergency and the GPS.
First of all, thanks for the video, I somehow missed the release of this. Regarding the color display: well, this is the Mini. Kind of the Instinct of the handheld iR world. They also have their "Fenixes", like the inReach, GPSMAP 66/86, Montana 700. I presume, that battery life for the iR mini is more important than fancy colors. I'm more surprised with the lack of Solar option. Anyhow, great review, thank you for covering this, and the Explore integration is awesome.
Thanks! Yes, this was a very quiet launch. Seems like they didn't put much into the marketing oddly. I agree that the larger inReach devices are meant for the color display but it would be cool to see it in the mini 2 too considering it's much larger than a watch and watches have much nicer displays while still having great battery life.
Garmin made a phone many years ago and it was built around a real GPS pulling from satellites instead of cell towers for the navigation. That was probably my favorite phone. Sure it ran off of outdated software compared to the high end makers but it had a bunch of nice useful features for practical everyday use that the high end competitors didn't even have. Too bad they didn't build on it from there and adapt the mini into it. Now that would of been an all in one powerful cell/hiking device. I've used the Garminfone for many years after it wasn't supported by cell service anymore as an off the grid GPS and it served me well.
Really informative thanks. Loved seeing Pemi Loop as the map display. Pemi Loop and Presi Traverse are my favorite White Mtn trails. Cheers from Norway 🇳🇴.
Why don’t Garmin utilise usb-c on more of their items. The newest cycling computers are still being shipped with usb mini which is such a poor connection / interface.
Great video, thank you. It seems like every time the device is turned on a track is being recorded in the background and if using the tracback feature then I see multiple paths (that the device recorded on previous days) and are all on top of each other, making the tracback feature useless (If I cannot tell which one is the current track). Is there a way to clear previously recorded tracks (the ones that the device records in the background)? I have this discussion going on a different channel and if I have an answer I will share (unless you might be able to help). Thank you.
I had a Spot Gen 3 for a while. They're OK devices but the lack of 2-way communication doesn't make them quite as useful. The price is certainly more appealing though.
They don’t work well in Alaska for what it’s worth. Iridium is the only satellite system that seems to work up here. Even Sirius XM radio doesn’t work, which is lame because I’d love to have the siriusXm weather ability for my plane.
Slick as Garmin are, part of the subscription costs are annual/activation fees that almost no reviewers mention, so the actual monthly cost is somewhat higher. And for $350+ you might think it can at least be used as a GPS tracking device without the subscription, but Garmin won't let you do that - it's just a brick until you pay more (I assume the Mini 2 is no different than the Mini 1 in this respect, correct me if wrong). That had me pissed off, and now I'm just looking forward to Starlink making this thing obsolete.
The annual fees only apply if you opt for the freedom/no contract plan. I believe the annual commitment covers that. Yes, unfortunately the device can't be used without a subscription. It's been this way even before Garmin took over Delorme but I do wish it could be used as a basic GPS/nav device. I'm 100% on board with starlink or a satellite based phone system that would make all of these things obsolete! Hopefully that's what the future brings. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I have an inreach mini 1 and I saw that if I pair it with my Fenix 6, the Fenix starts getting the battery down faster than if it's not paired. Did u checked the same?? Thank you for your vids! Always cool!!
Not trying to be "that guy" but you mention a benefit being two way... I get that an actual PLB (which has the benefit of having no subscription cost) has no messages other than an urgent request and a spot gen3 is one way, BUT bivy stick, somewhere labs, zoleo, etc are all two way communication. I have a spreadsheet I put together on cost of ownership, both to purchase and keep active, and although Garmin was not the most economical, they were close enough that the fact I can send preset messages from my Fenix 5x Plus won me over. Other than that, great video!
For sure, there are other products out there that do a similar thing. I suppose most compare them to the SPOT's and PLB's of the world so that was also my approach. Thanks for watching.
Many thanks! Looks like it's worth getting the new one for the 32-country Eurail jaunt I'm planning in Europe next year. That will keep me in touch without the hassle of have cellular plans for so many countries. Also, I'd love to hear you clear explanation contrast the InReach with the less expensive Zoleo.
Within the European Union (including Switzerland and UK) there is one regime for mobile data roaming. It can be cheaper to buy a prepaid dataplan. You can research the country where you start your journey.
Great review on this little device. With the InReach subscription with unlimited SMS, could you SMS anyone in the world (other countries outside the US) without paying extra? Thanks.
if i take a bad fall and my backpack / inreach mini 2 goes flying out of reach and i also happen to break the arm which DOES NOT have my Garmin watch on it, thus rendering myself able to SEE my SOS salvation on my wrist, but incapable of touching it with my now-shattered arm, is there a third backup safety function which could speak to this deleterious scenario, like voice activated SOS?
The stuff about the battery on the Mini-1 losing charge when powered off for a long time is interesting. Because the InReach Explorer+ boasted the feature of "up to 1-year of standby battery" since forever, maybe even since before Garmin purchased DeLorme. I find it interesting the original Mini didn't have that robust of a battery when the traditional InReach units always had this. Just an observation. Cool overview, thanks!
WOW ! Great and useful review. I'm considering buying one for longer hikes where there's limited cell service. Anyway it's quite expensive for occasional use.
For sure, not cheap. But the "Freedom Plans" make it a little easier to swallow because you can suspend service until you need it and just pay month-to-month. Thanks for watching!
Awesome review, thanks! Does the inreach mini 2 also broadcast its position to the garmin explorer app? Since it has multiband/frequency gps, it’s much more accurate than most phones in forests. I would love to be able to track precise routes in the explorer app and see in real-time where I have been before so I don’t walk the same route. Would that be possible with the inreach mini 2?
With the Freedom plan, isn't there a $25 annual activation fee? Whereas with the "commitment" annual plan, it's a one time $20 activation fee? I could be wrong. That extra $25 every year would definitely add up
@@ChaseTheSummit I just happened to look again, because I am looking into purchasing one. In the "fine print," an annual plan has a one time $29.95 activation fee, and the "Freedom" plan has an annual $34.95. Definitely something to consider long term, but I've not made a break even spreadsheet on it yet haha
Great video. Very helpful. Any experience with setting up and using the tracking? I Just bought the mini 2 so my family can track me during some ultras and know when to meet me at some aid stations. I also have the forerunner 945.
when you say you can backtrack exactly where you came from, that is not completely true, it can only track you back to the last point you have entered, so if you have been tracking with a 4 hour interval, it will make a straight line to your last point being 4 hours ago. This was my experience when I slightly got lost due to fog and I thought it would show me exactly where I came from but it didn't, it actually got me even more lost as it started to back track to my camp in a straight line since that was the last point I had done 4 hours ago.
@@ChaseTheSummit I just wish it’s said somewhere, all the videos I have watched, reviews and articles say “back track were you came from” there is no mention of how it actually works and the importance of tracking intervals. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed with these kinda devices so I wish it would say somewhere so that people like me don’t make silly mistakes. But also thank you for your video, it was very informative too!
fucking hell , i was about to buy this device but decided to see a review first. I must say i did not expect the subscription part. So you buy the device but you need to spend additional money to use it, jesus christ.....
What did you expect? Free service? It's a lot like a cell phone but even more sophisticated because it rely's on a satellite network instead of cell towers. If you simply need an Emergency Device check out the ResQLink. It's $299 but has no subscription. Only to be used for SOS. Hope that helps!
@@ChaseTheSummit hi, thx for the reply, i will check the device you mentioned and compare services, I think sos for me should suffice. I need to think about it, i need to make sure i don't change my mind in the future and decide I want more..
@@ChaseTheSummit Right that’s what I’m asking lol. Like can you turn it off at night, then wake up and resume the same track so your mileage doesn’t reset itself
I'm not surprised since these devices often find themselves stuffed in a pocket of a backpack. I also wonder if the satellite communication is a bit too power hungry for Solar to make a difference.
@@enki42ea in what universe does a solar panel exist that is that small that can power a battery that powerful? it doesn't exist yet bud otherwise your cell phone would be solar powered.
@@ChaseTheSummitIt seems that Garmin can't be too far off from building a watch to support it. Look at the 945 LTE and soon to be 955 LTE. Though InReach is a different service, for something like $6.00 a month the LTE Garmin offering is the start of something that most certainly can be expanded on.
@@ehosey2 for sure. LTE is reasonable but the satellite communication feature requires more power, bigger antennas, etc… I’d love to see them do it though!
Another thing I like about the inReach is that I get to the trailhead and immediately put my phone into airplane mode. I use the phone ONLY as an interface to the inReach. That way, work is out of reach, but family and emergencies are still able to reach me. Even if I’m adventuring in an area that has cell reception, I still turn my phone to airplane mode - unplug..!
Ummmm that technology doesn't exist for a device this powerful and small. You can charge a battery bank off a solar panel then charge the Garmin. Come back in 10 years.
