😊as an experienced trained skilled Sierra Mountain Guide and Trip Leader and a Wilderness paramedic I say you are one of the best folks on UA-cam to share objective smart insightful and useful videos. TY so so much. Keep up the good work.
@@Lofievenings and also a 128-yr-old north african metal guitarist who just lost his wife who played this video at her funeral bec it meant so much to her
My guess is that there is one factory, perhaps in Taiwan, where the main chip is made most of them use. At most there are two competing chips. So the variability is power output, antenna design and of course, network. And chip generation is a factor, as engineers try to squeeze out cost, reduce chip size, and reduce chip power requirements, all while if not improving performance, at least not hampering it significantly. But this is just based on my past experiences in other consumer electronics industries.
4:50 geostationary satellites are about 22,000 MILES above us, not feet, haha. Great video though! Thanks for doing this testing for the community! I just ordered a Garmin Messenger. I plan to use it for overlanding and off roading solo adventures.
Thank you for including iPhone in your research. I’m thinking about buying a new iPhone 15 pro max or a garmin 67i. This will help me with my decision.
What / how would you recommend hanging the Garmin inreach messenger to a pack? I hate that it doesn’t come with the strap like a zoleo. Any recommendations? Links? Additionally, how waterproof is the inreach messenger? Equal to the zoleo?
Very good, just one correction I want to mention. I had cause to use the iPhone 14 version a couple of months ago. The initial message has to be short and is one way but once the emergency center responds, it becomes two way, almost like texting and messages can be longer. That was very useful.
No big deal, but I think you mis-spoke at the 4:53 point concerning the altitude of Geostationary satellites. They orbit at 22,000 MILES versus 22,000 feet. Good Video. I use the InReach Mini.
I have owned the SpotX and Zoleo. I rid my self of the Spot X because of its poor quality keyboard and my own 60-70 per cent message fulfillment. I did find in the worst canopy and canyon sites, fire it and forget it upright and it became more successful. Much less if your sent and then picked up hiking. I like the Zoleo and will keep it until the internal battery starts to flag from age.
I've had the Spot X for a few years. Bought a refurbished one from the company. It works well enough to not feel I need to upgrade to one of better devices.
@@beararms6945 It is important for some though. If you look at the video, you'll see a huge area in India that's not covered, while this isn't an issue for most people, recently I went there and was taking a motorcycling tour with one other person. I brought the Zoleo instead of the Spot X because I knew of the coverage gap. It's like anything you have to use the right tools for the job. If you don't leave the US or a certain area, then the world's your oyster, but it's important for others to have to think about this stuff.
Great video, was thinking about moving from the Mini 2 to the Messenger, but looks like (at least for these scenarios) not worth it. Look forward to your full Messenger review!
So if you max out the character limit with each message, about how many messages does it typically send? 20? 10? 5? (apparently not 30 on lowest tier, right?)
Me and my friends went with the zoleo. We hunt the Pacific N west coast range. We have had pretty good success with it. Are radios are not super dependable in heavy forests so we needed something better for emergencies and just better communication. I also have family across the United States with zoleo so we can stay in contact during a national emergency. Everyone should get some kind of satellite communication device incase your cell towers go done.
Great test and review (yes, it is a mini-review). Since you have all of these units it would be great to do some other comparisons. For example, I own both the Spot X and Zoleo (it's all about coverage), and I use mine for solo motorcycle adventures, sometimes in *very* remote places. Zoleo came with me to India because it had coverage there, but it was also give my family piece of mind using the tracker feature that I was still OK because they could see I was making progress. But it doesn't look like this feature is available for every device. It would be interesting to see not only how well these perform in tests like this, but how well features like tracking work (if they even have it) in places like dense canopies. I can't help but think that hikers also use these features with their families.
I've used Garmin inreach for a long time and it is my go to and it always works even in the middle of the city in Calgary which is very impressive 8years running
Great review follow-up, I saw your earlier longer discussion with another YoiTuber. Looks like any of these systems are great and we should just select on features, price, and battery life. "Dixie" (Jessica Mills, @Homemade Wanderlust ) just released her follow-up video on her emergency SOS use of the Garmin InReach Mini 2 and what happened behind the scenes of her emergency, including rescue costs. It would be great if she could link to this video for her followers to watch in the efficacy of these devices.
Yea I watched that video too - it was interesting because she got charged $59k for an air ambulance, looking into it and might have an updated video. Usually a rescue is free, front-country is charged. Stay tuned...
I'm glad you watched her video and the costs of her rescue. That's very concerning! So glad you're going to be doing an update on your video, I want to get the whole picture and know how to avoid such costs!
@@Hikingguy There's an insurance policy that is part of my annual renewal for Spot X, it's supposed to cover this stuff, I've never had to use it (thank goodness). When I bought my Zoleo I was surprised they didn't offer anything like that, but I'm also assuming that the policy that I pay for with SPOT would cover that stuff regardless of which device the SOS was sent from. But I could be very wrong.
I bought the Messenger this weekend and started thinking I should have gone with the mini2; thinking to much. I'm using it for motorcycle trips to northern Canada and Alaska. My main concern is connectivity having it mounted to my vest in a mostly vertical position and picking up my track.
How do you like the dedicated phone number and email of the Zoleo? My cell tower is old and always having to call and reconcile but lately even the cell phones are down and therefore isolated. Also, have read about Qualcomm having SAT Comm for the S24 Ultra. Have you seen this yet? Best video i have seen.
You are about 47 or 48 degrees North there so just on the edge of the higher latitude zone where performance starts to drop off for tilted orbits and geostationaries. The geostationaries need an unchanging view only to the south which can be troublesome in some instances. With Globalstar on 52 degree tilted, anything North of about 45 degrees means less likelihood of satellites in the northern sky. In mountainous contry at 57 North there have been occasional problems. Ice/Winter climbers, for instance, are generally looking for north facing cliffs so they need to have satellites at the north of them! It is interesting that there was a difference between Spot and iPhone success rates. Would this be because of more signal information shown on the iPhone?
I find my inreach Explorer + really does need a clear view of the sky. Even sometimes when there is clear sky above you, but forest either side (say a fire road through a pine forest) it struggles to get a connection. My buddies In-reach Mini (v1) is equally as bad
Did you contrast these devices regarding their GPS functionality? Getting GPS data and then sending it with messages. That's where I run into trouble under a canopy.
My spot x worked excellent when I hiked maine to Georgia on the Appalachian trail last year ,no missed messages anywhere even under dense pine trees and the plan is so much cheaper than Garmin inreach mini 2, how was the Motorola one ?
Chris, I really appreciate your vlogs, even though my serious hiking days are over. I have been looking for a communication device and back up GPS for sailing, though. Your links for Garmin device purchase, do they help you only for the specific device or will you get credit if I get a different device?
Can anyone share whether this in reach mini garmin, could be used to track the location of fishing ships going about on their favourite spots... Appreciateful for anyone willing to share this info... Note: i have oregon 750, and montana 700 for my own personal use while going out fishing with my fishing buddies... i seldom go mountain hiking...
@@Hikingguy im aware of ais devices... however it is a much more expensive equipment to own and to operate. To my understanding of the mini inreach set through many reviewers on youtube, i have come to believe, it works on roughly the same principle of sending the positioning of the device to whomever person the set was assigned to transmit the location to. And yet still it is a much more affordable gadget... However, I still have a minute doubt, which is why im seeking the correct information, from people with expert knowledge like you.
@@Cys62 It's all a bit confusing, but here's what I know. 1 - inReach can share your location on a map via satellite 2 - if you want to see multiple devices / boats on a map, you need a pro account and you can't see other devices from your device 3 - AIS using VHF so you should see any vessels within VHF range - so sat comms involved
The best looking one to me, is the Spot X. 🧔🏼♂️👍🏻 But the crappiest one to me, is also the Spot X. 🤦🏼♂️👎🏻 I swear, I’m a sucker for that Blackberry-style look. If InReach ever made one like that, with a QWERTY keyboard, I’d be making a withdrawal tomorrow.
I have an iPhone 15. I know you said that there’s no way to send 2 way messages via the satellite feature on the iPhones. So essentially it just sends an sos and your location, but it’s not specific? So emergency management only knows you’re in trouble but no specifics? Because you can’t 2 way message?
😊as an experienced trained skilled Sierra Mountain Guide and Trip Leader and a Wilderness paramedic I say you are one of the best folks on UA-cam to share objective smart insightful and useful videos. TY so so much. Keep up the good work.
Big big thank you!
You are also an UN Ambassador and from the Swedish royal family right?
@@Lofievenings and also a 128-yr-old north african metal guitarist who just lost his wife who played this video at her funeral bec it meant so much to her
There is some impressive technology out there. Good job in explaining the things that matter with these devices.
My guess is that there is one factory, perhaps in Taiwan, where the main chip is made most of them use. At most there are two competing chips. So the variability is power output, antenna design and of course, network. And chip generation is a factor, as engineers try to squeeze out cost, reduce chip size, and reduce chip power requirements, all while if not improving performance, at least not hampering it significantly. But this is just based on my past experiences in other consumer electronics industries.
4:50 geostationary satellites are about 22,000 MILES above us, not feet, haha. Great video though! Thanks for doing this testing for the community! I just ordered a Garmin Messenger. I plan to use it for overlanding and off roading solo adventures.
I caught that too. Imagine hiking up Everest, and looking DOWN on satellites!
Thank you for including iPhone in your research.
I’m thinking about buying a new iPhone 15 pro max or a garmin 67i.
This will help me with my decision.
He probado un spotx y un garming 66i, Spot si el cielo está nublado tiene problemas en un bosque tiene problemas garming es bastante fiable
What / how would you recommend hanging the Garmin inreach messenger to a pack? I hate that it doesn’t come with the strap like a zoleo. Any recommendations? Links? Additionally, how waterproof is the inreach messenger? Equal to the zoleo?
Case here: ua-cam.com/video/l-muZifV6tM/v-deo.html
Yes, waterproof like other Garmin's
Iphone working only one way. Different category for contest
no iPhone is 2 way SOS
Excellent break down of the devices, with an easy to understand description of how satellite technology works!
Iridium is only network worth getting. I’d be cool if you could do reviews of iridium push to talk phones , radio
Very good, just one correction I want to mention. I had cause to use the iPhone 14 version a couple of months ago. The initial message has to be short and is one way but once the emergency center responds, it becomes two way, almost like texting and messages can be longer. That was very useful.
Sorry if I wasn't clear - no 2-way non emergency comms, the SOS will enable a 2 way convo - check out my other video on the iPhone SOS
No big deal, but I think you mis-spoke at the 4:53 point concerning the altitude of Geostationary satellites. They orbit at 22,000 MILES versus 22,000 feet. Good Video. I use the InReach Mini.
they constantly crash into everest
Thanks for keeping it short.
Your channel has the most comprehensive content on GPS devices. Thanks 😊
Awesome work contributing to safety in the back country, Sir. 🎖️
I have owned the SpotX and Zoleo. I rid my self of the Spot X because of its poor quality keyboard and my own 60-70 per cent message fulfillment. I did find in the worst canopy and canyon sites, fire it and forget it upright and it became more successful. Much less if your sent and then picked up hiking. I like the Zoleo and will keep it until the internal battery starts to flag from age.
Is this a re-upload but shorter?
I was wondering the same thing.
@@stevemartin8994100%
I've had the Spot X for a few years. Bought a refurbished one from the company. It works well enough to not feel I need to upgrade to one of better devices.
Inreach works all over the world !
It works great in Pennsylvania, I don't want to go all over the world 😂
@@beararms6945 It is important for some though. If you look at the video, you'll see a huge area in India that's not covered, while this isn't an issue for most people, recently I went there and was taking a motorcycling tour with one other person. I brought the Zoleo instead of the Spot X because I knew of the coverage gap. It's like anything you have to use the right tools for the job. If you don't leave the US or a certain area, then the world's your oyster, but it's important for others to have to think about this stuff.
Great video, was thinking about moving from the Mini 2 to the Messenger, but looks like (at least for these scenarios) not worth it. Look forward to your full Messenger review!
Have you tried any of these devices under high power transmission lines?
Just got the Motorola Defy for my cross country road trips for when I lose signal.
I appreciate the effort put into these videos 👍
Can transmission be affected by a silicon cover/case for Mini 2?
As a added value to the Iphone it's interesting but I would never depend on it.
Wow, lots of work went into this video and I appreciate it. you earned a sub. Nice content, nice production value…. nice job all around.
So if you max out the character limit with each message, about how many messages does it typically send? 20? 10? 5? (apparently not 30 on lowest tier, right?)
Awesome. Also confirms my between the lines impression of the SpotX from other reviews.
Me and my friends went with the zoleo. We hunt the Pacific N west coast range. We have had pretty good success with it. Are radios are not super dependable in heavy forests so we needed something better for emergencies and just better communication. I also have family across the United States with zoleo so we can stay in contact during a national emergency. Everyone should get some kind of satellite communication device incase your cell towers go done.
Great test and review (yes, it is a mini-review). Since you have all of these units it would be great to do some other comparisons. For example, I own both the Spot X and Zoleo (it's all about coverage), and I use mine for solo motorcycle adventures, sometimes in *very* remote places. Zoleo came with me to India because it had coverage there, but it was also give my family piece of mind using the tracker feature that I was still OK because they could see I was making progress. But it doesn't look like this feature is available for every device. It would be interesting to see not only how well these perform in tests like this, but how well features like tracking work (if they even have it) in places like dense canopies. I can't help but think that hikers also use these features with their families.
Great test , please do more stuff like this one 🙏🏻
I've used Garmin inreach for a long time and it is my go to and it always works even in the middle of the city in Calgary which is very impressive 8years running
Great review follow-up, I saw your earlier longer discussion with another YoiTuber. Looks like any of these systems are great and we should just select on features, price, and battery life. "Dixie" (Jessica Mills, @Homemade Wanderlust ) just released her follow-up video on her emergency SOS use of the Garmin InReach Mini 2 and what happened behind the scenes of her emergency, including rescue costs. It would be great if she could link to this video for her followers to watch in the efficacy of these devices.
Yea I watched that video too - it was interesting because she got charged $59k for an air ambulance, looking into it and might have an updated video. Usually a rescue is free, front-country is charged. Stay tuned...
I'm glad you watched her video and the costs of her rescue. That's very concerning! So glad you're going to be doing an update on your video, I want to get the whole picture and know how to avoid such costs!
@@Hikingguy There's an insurance policy that is part of my annual renewal for Spot X, it's supposed to cover this stuff, I've never had to use it (thank goodness). When I bought my Zoleo I was surprised they didn't offer anything like that, but I'm also assuming that the policy that I pay for with SPOT would cover that stuff regardless of which device the SOS was sent from. But I could be very wrong.
Do all of these units function as satellite communicator to satellite communicator messaging (both units off grid)?
I bought the Messenger this weekend and started thinking I should have gone with the mini2; thinking to much. I'm using it for motorcycle trips to northern Canada and Alaska. My main concern is connectivity having it mounted to my vest in a mostly vertical position and picking up my track.
perhaps mount it to your shoulder area
@Eutskah my over thinking got me lol I exchanged for mini2. I also picked up a molle holster for my klim vest
I have watched this video before, did you resubmit it?
Yes problem with the 1st
How do you like the dedicated phone number and email of the Zoleo? My cell tower is old and always having to call and reconcile but lately even the cell phones are down and therefore isolated. Also, have read about Qualcomm having SAT Comm for the S24 Ultra. Have you seen this yet? Best video i have seen.
Hey @HikingGuy When are we going to see 2-way voice communication? Texting is fine, but this is almost 2024! We should have video by now as well!
Yea good question - it is available on Iridium sat phones, just $$$$
You are about 47 or 48 degrees North there so just on the edge of the higher latitude zone where performance starts to drop off for tilted orbits and geostationaries. The geostationaries need an unchanging view only to the south which can be troublesome in some instances. With Globalstar on 52 degree tilted, anything North of about 45 degrees means less likelihood of satellites in the northern sky.
In mountainous contry at 57 North there have been occasional problems. Ice/Winter climbers, for instance, are generally looking for north facing cliffs so they need to have satellites at the north of them!
It is interesting that there was a difference between Spot and iPhone success rates. Would this be because of more signal information shown on the iPhone?
I find my inreach Explorer + really does need a clear view of the sky. Even sometimes when there is clear sky above you, but forest either side (say a fire road through a pine forest) it struggles to get a connection. My buddies In-reach Mini (v1) is equally as bad
the motorola that use inmarsat doesnt always give best result when point to the south. that is only the case when you are north of earths equator.
It would be quite interesting to test these devices at the exact location where 127 hours movie was based on.
Did you contrast these devices regarding their GPS functionality? Getting GPS data and then sending it with messages. That's where I run into trouble under a canopy.
My spot x worked excellent when I hiked maine to Georgia on the Appalachian trail last year ,no missed messages anywhere even under dense pine trees and the plan is so much cheaper than Garmin inreach mini 2, how was the Motorola one ?
Chris, I really appreciate your vlogs, even though my serious hiking days are over. I have been looking for a communication device and back up GPS for sailing, though. Your links for Garmin device purchase, do they help you only for the specific device or will you get credit if I get a different device?
Thank you for your support - and the links work for anything purchased within 24 hours of clicking.
Motorola Defy is being shut down.
ua-cam.com/video/umrd8AV9Gh4/v-deo.html
Short n sweet gj sir
Can anyone share whether this in reach mini garmin, could be used to track the location of fishing ships going about on their favourite spots...
Appreciateful for anyone willing to share this info...
Note: i have oregon 750, and montana 700 for my own personal use while going out fishing with my fishing buddies... i seldom go mountain hiking...
Check out AIS devices, they have maritime traffic positions broadcasted - amzn.to/3PjMlmL
Try an AIS device which as maritime traffic on it - amzn.to/3PjMlmL
@@Hikingguy thank you...
@@Hikingguy im aware of ais devices... however it is a much more expensive equipment to own and to operate.
To my understanding of the mini inreach set through many reviewers on youtube, i have come to believe, it works on roughly the same principle of sending the positioning of the device to whomever person the set was assigned to transmit the location to. And yet still it is a much more affordable gadget...
However, I still have a minute doubt, which is why im seeking the correct information, from people with expert knowledge like you.
@@Cys62
It's all a bit confusing, but here's what I know.
1 - inReach can share your location on a map via satellite
2 - if you want to see multiple devices / boats on a map, you need a pro account and you can't see other devices from your device
3 - AIS using VHF so you should see any vessels within VHF range - so sat comms involved
The best looking one to me, is the Spot X. 🧔🏼♂️👍🏻 But the crappiest one to me, is also the Spot X. 🤦🏼♂️👎🏻 I swear, I’m a sucker for that Blackberry-style look. If InReach ever made one like that, with a QWERTY keyboard, I’d be making a withdrawal tomorrow.
@@justiceforall1288 did you end up getting the spot x?? I decided to go with the zoleo
@@DarkShogun16 Yep, I did. The way it look vs the performance was like night & day (Sad to say)
Alaska, when 😜
Why don't you guys ever test a PLB ? No subscription required.
If you have an idea on how to test for real (not self-test),. I'm all ears - www.sarsat.noaa.gov/emergency_beacon-testing/
@@Hikingguy
I think their record of real life saves in both aviation and marine use pretty well speaks for itself.
@@savagecub ?? you asked me about testing - if you want a PLB I have reviews of those too
Defy working not more than one minute in my tests everywhere
I have an iPhone 15. I know you said that there’s no way to send 2 way messages via the satellite feature on the iPhones.
So essentially it just sends an sos and your location, but it’s not specific? So emergency management only knows you’re in trouble but no specifics? Because you can’t 2 way message?
non-emergency 2-way, with SOS, you can do 2-way