Garmin inReach Mini 2 | Long Term Usage Review & General Info
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- Опубліковано 13 жов 2024
- The Garmin inReach Mini 2 is undoubtably my most useful tool in the backcountry, but it has flaws.
In this video I will discuss my experiences and opinions with using one of Garmin's most popular devices, the inReach Mini 2 Satellite 'phone'. I have had this for some time now and it has been with me on some of my most challenging adventures. It is a rugged and well made device that allows me to maintain connections to the rest of the world while I am out of range of cell service. It has exceeded all my expectations in its usefulness, but I have encountered some issues.
I think most of my complaints are related to user-error and are not the fault of Garmin, but I would love to hear the opinions of others on the matter.
Negative experiences I have had:
-Laborious efforts to type out messages (user related)
-Inconsistent battery life (tech related)
-Delayed receipts of incoming messages (tech related)
I am interested to hear everyones thoughts on this topic!
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If you have a moment, I wonder if you could share any insight as far as the best route to go for satellite phone subscription? I'm new to all of this. Thank you!
I pay for the communication plan and the search and rescue insurance for my Garmin
@@madjack_757 I appreciate the response. Is that something you do through Garmin?
Can the unit be turned on as needed in order to conserve the battery? Such as...turn it on, send an "I'm okay, here is my location" text. Then turn it off.
Yes it can be, thankfully! Tho when I’m deep in the woods for a long time I keep it on so I can hear when I get messages coming in.
2:14. Price: Watch for them to come on sale. I bought mine for $100 off this summer. Generally speaking, sales are authorized by Garmin and in theory, all dealers will offer the same sale price. That's how the market works. However, when I found a sale when I bought mine in June, big motorcycle parts vendors didn't have them on sale, which made no sense considering hiking, camping and smaller motorcycle gear retailers DID have them on sale.
I've seen them on sale twice within the last year. I bought mine from a small dealer that sells a lot of motorcycle camping gear - Moto Camp Nerd
I should explain things better about "pricing" regarding my comment above about "That's how the market works"
Manufacturers have what's called MAP Policy - It stands for "Minimum Advertised Price" Policy. Resellers must agree to that policy when they sell items. A retailer can sell for less, but they can't advertise an item for less than the MAP pricing. If you see an item (like a Garmin GPS, Inreach, riding boots, helmet, etc.) "on sale" it's generally because the manufacturer allows a sale price to be offered for a set time period. Typically, every reseller of a product that's offered at a sale price by the manufacturer, "should" offer it at the manufacturer's authorized sale price. That WAS the case the first time I saw the Inreach on sale for $299 about a year ago.
I know all of this because I've had a business license for many years and have had to abide my "MAP Policies" for nearly every company I purchase product from to resell.
Thank you, I’m shopping for a replacement for my Spot Gen3 which I’ve had for about 5 years.
Of course. I hope this video helped a little bit!!
1) You would want to use Earthmate for typing custom messages. You would want to set up to 3 preset messages for routine check in directly from the in-reach
2) GPS doesn't work indoors, so no point in having it on indoors
3) If you want people to communicate with you directly to the in-reach, they need to use your inreach address
I'll go check out Earthmate! When I refer to indoors I am talking about areas with poor line of sight with the sky in general. I typically dont have it on when I am in town. They do communicate with me via the inReach address. The thing is sometimes the messages come in a couple days delayed.
@@madjack_757 Yes, I have experienced those delays also. I would call Garmin to get an explanation, they are pretty good about answering the phone.
@@madjack_757I use the Garmin explore app and prefer it over the earthmate app.
I use the Garmin Montana 700i with the whole package subscription. I've also had trouble with messaging. My understanding is it's messages get buffered for some reason waiting for a satellite connection. Then don't send off when a sat is found . Although with a touchscreen it's much easier to text unsent messages.
Interesting.. Thanks for telling me your experiences with it!
Maybe I will eventually upgrade to the 700i. My whole dilemma is I want gear to be easy to bring with me on any adventure. Even though I complain that the inReach is small, I really love how practical the small frame and light weight design is. Though, the 700i doesn't look too bulky. Do you have it mounted or do you just have it in a pocket?
@@madjack_757 started with the pocket, then bought a cheap mount for my Suzuki DR650 on the handle bar. Bought a proper powered mount for Tiger 900 Rally Pro. I use it for navigation, not just satellite comms.
Yeah I like that you are getting dual purposes out of it. I have the garmin zumo and then the inReach Mini. I supposed your setup is 2 birds with one stone which is really nice.
@@madjack_757 you nailed it.
Very useful!! Ty for posting
Of course!
when you complained about sending the message sure doing it that way it not optimal but if you have the phone app you can connect to it and use the app to send messages with your phone its just like sending a text with your phone.
I'll have to give it a shot, though when I am out on a longer trip, usually my phone is dead and I am only focussed on keeping the garmin equipment and camera gear charged. For short term the phone could definitely be a good option!
Serious question, if cell service is down, can you still use the inreach with your cell phone?
@@madjack_757 A decent power bank can keep a phone charged for days. weeks if lightly used. And your motorcycle has a alternator on it. You can get a phone charger installed on the bike or do it yourself(Its pretty easy) and not have to worry about charging pretty much at all.
@@MarcasAndrews Your phone connects to the inreach with bluetooth (Short range) and the inreach connects to satellites. Your phone doesnt need service or even a phone plan to use bluetooth. So Yes, it would work without a working cell tower in range
@@mock15599 awesome! Thanks for the reply!🙏
Thanks for doing this video. I bought a Mini2 earlier this year and haven't activated it yet due to lack of riding this summer. My foot incident last weekend made me realize I need to activate it before I go riding again. Like you, I do a LOT of solo riding.
Hopefully with this video, people will stop lecturing you in the comments about "needing to get in Inreach". They assume you don't have one since they don't always visibly see it dangling from your vest.
No kidding! People always like to comment things like that when I have had it the whole time lol. Yeah i can imagine that moment was a bit of a reality check but thats just how it goes. The other video I just posted was for my water filter and just like you, I had it but never had it available for me to use in the field and it took some pain to realize it should be ready to go ahead of time. Get your inReach up and runnin so you can enjoy the rest of the season before the cold shows up!
Does it work if both messengers are out of cell service?
Typically I’m sending messages from the in reach to another persons cell phone. I’m not sure if someone can receive or send messages to the in reach if they’re out of cell service. The in reach is the only device that I’m aware of that can function based off only satellite.
Thanks for the great feedback and insight
It will be interesting to see if there will be an upgrade to the Inreach mini 2 with similar capabilities as the Messenger plus. Maybe they could add solar charging to extend the battery life. Better navigation capability would be a desirable option too.
I would really appreciate if they had some kind of solar battery tender too. It might be one of those things where upgrading from the mini 2 to the mini 3 isn’t worth it but maybe all the advancements by the mini 4 will make the upgrade to the 4 worth it down the line.
Water-rating of IPX7 is debatable--have gone through two devices this past year with minimal water contact. Would get another but the added cost of a waterproof case on top of the cost of another device makes it unappealing. Battery life is also another major concern.
Thanks for the insight! Really Interesting!
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One more tidbit - Within the last week or two (Mid September 2024), Garmin completely revamped the plans they offer for the Inreach.
So I just recently had the same issue with the message not sending, and it put me and my wife in a situation that I'm not very happy about.
It’s interesting to hear that I wasn’t the only one experiencing that. I hope you and your wife were alright.
Why are you trying to use it indoors? Of course the battery life will suck.
When I am referring to indoors, I am referring to anywhere with poor view of the sky.
A good example- you make a stop in town for some food and leave it on while you’re sitting in the restaurant.
Another example- you’re in the base of a deep canyon and it takes longer for it to connect to a satellite.
Hope this helps man 🤙🏼
@@madjack_757 Its likely why it drains quickly. Most wireless devices when searching for a signal with fire progressively louder messages out till they cap out there gain. This can drain the battery a noticeable amount on a phone. If the inreaches biggest power consumer is its radio it can explain why the difference is so drastic compared to other devices. I put my phone on airplane mode when i know ill have bad signal/dont have a phone plan because itll waste energy shouting out for a tower that it wont get a reply from.
A good way to think of radio signals is think of the signal as a sound, they are rather similar in many ways, even signal strength is measured in Decibels, a measurement of loudness. Sound can travel much farther when nothing is in the way to absorb it. When its indoors it has to shout much louder to be heard and get a reply from the satellite to know it was heard
I just use my iPhone 16, can send texts over satellite.
good to know it can do that!!
@@madjack_757 there is also a Sat based Android phone. You can use two Sim Cards, one for normal and one for Sat.
but only with first responders right? or even with friends?
iPhone doesn’t work in open ocean
This is interesting, i didnt know this and did some research. It looks like because 5G cell service overlaps with some satellite frequencies so they are capable of talking to each other. However there frequencies are around 12GH which is high. Higher frequencies allow more data and less range. The inreach uses .016GH frequencies. Giving it much more range and much less data speed. Both transmit at very low power. So i would suspect the iphone will lose signal much sooner then the inreach would, almost the instant you lose sight of the sky. For comparison your old TV satellite dish to overcome its range reduction from high frequencies uses a very high gain directional antenna around 35db and 60 to 200 watts depending on how hard it is to be heard. its frequency range is around 40GH. phone antenna has a omni directional 3db antenna and a maximum transmission power close to 1w. The in reach likely uses even less then a watt of power to conserve its small battery. Likely close to .25 of a watt
5:07 You do a product review and don’t even know the basics of the device? 😂 Write messages in the messenger app on the phone. Nobody uses the buttons for this. And if you often send the same message to your mum, save it as one of the 10 presets, or even as one of the 3 check-ins that don’t even count against your message allowance. Also: “a helicopter will come and save me” … probably not. Garmin relays the SOS to the local SAR/police/sheriff or whatever is in your area. They’ll use whatever is available to them, which can take hours to days.
1) I spend all my time charging camera gear and my Garmin devices in the backcountry. Never my phone. It’s a waste of energy.
2) I do know the basics of the device, but Garmin products are full of features and I’m always interested in learning more from others that know more than me.
3) I send messages to a lot of different people. The mom comment was me half joking to keep things light.
4) the helicopter comment was just to say that SAR is notified I need help and they’ll send something to come get me.
I have a lot of real world experience with these things and did my best to use my own footage to back that up. Be respectful of the fact that I wanted to share my opinions but I realize there’s more to learn too.