Customer reviews from Garmin
Garmin - inReach Messenger 1.08" GPS with Built-In Bluetooth - Black
Average customer rating
4.3
(255 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 255 reviews
5 Stars
160
4 Stars
50
3 Stars
20
2 Stars
15
1 Star
10
Customer Reviews for Garmin - inReach Messenger 1.08" GPS with Built-In Bluetooth - Black
Customer Rating
4
Can be useful
on April 6, 2023
Posted by: Off-road enthusiast
I purchased the Messenger a month ago for the purpose of emergency notification for my upcoming off-road trip. I signed up for Freedom Safety Plan. It has a useful feature that you can suspend on a monthly basis. I tested the Messenger, and it sent notifications to contacts via satellite network. So, the device works very well. I have not used it in the field so I cannot comment on that. The setup is a bit cumbersome and may be complicated for some users. The advantage of the Messenger is a powerful battery, so it should last in the field. I have some concerns about the way it is set up. The way I understand it is that it will send the message to all contacts at once. Please, correct me if I am wrong, but this seems like a deficiency. I would like to send different messages to selected contacts. I do not know how to setup to send an SOS message if I only need a recovery and do not know where to send it. Please, explain. For these reasons, I give it 4 stars and need more practical experience to upgrade to 5 stars.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, April 10, 2023
Thank you for your review. Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
3
Love the ability to stay connected with family
on March 21, 2023
Posted by: Rserrano
I brought this unit for letting loved one that we are of while in remote hikes. I would have scored the inReach higher if the unit was easier to navigate. Trying to change users in order to allow my son to use it and that involved resetting it back and removing users. Not a "friendly user" set up. I wanted my son's name to show up as the new user and it still shows my name, even if he is the one using it. Which developers would create a simpler way to adding users.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, March 21, 2023
Thank you for your review and experience with the inReach Messenger. We would like to discuss this further over email. If you would please email us at product.support@garmin.com.
Thanks Jenny
Thanks Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
4
Very good product
on March 16, 2023
Posted by: MarkC
I bought this about 2 months ago and have used it hiking about 6 times now. Overall I find it to operate exactly as advertised. Great battery life, lightweight, fairly easy to use after using a few times. For my purpose of having a device to use in an emergency, I am happy with the purchase. Some things that I am not super impressed with are :
- I don’t like that you have to send a message to someone so they have a way to reply to you. I would rather the Messenger use my regular phone number so people could text me using my regular phone number.
2- I signed up for the Safety plan. For me using the Messenger for emergencies is the main reason I bought it. However, I do wish the Safety plan offered unlimited tracking so I could turn on tracking and use more of the device features.
- I don’t like that you have to send a message to someone so they have a way to reply to you. I would rather the Messenger use my regular phone number so people could text me using my regular phone number.
2- I signed up for the Safety plan. For me using the Messenger for emergencies is the main reason I bought it. However, I do wish the Safety plan offered unlimited tracking so I could turn on tracking and use more of the device features.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, March 16, 2023
Thank you for your review. Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
So far, so good
on March 9, 2023
Posted by: wrh1
I came from Bivy. Where I went thru 4 of those units (poor quality gen 1) with their gen 2 model lasted two years. Hoping this Garmin unit will last much longer. Texts send faster with Garmin on average. Great battery capacity.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, March 14, 2023
Thank you for your review. Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
4
Questionable battery but worked well enough
on March 9, 2023
Posted by: Iceberg
Bought this for a big solo trek and wanted to have the piece of mind. The plans were easy enough to sign up for. Tho I do with they sent a "about to renew". I had the bread crumbs set to every 2 hours during the day and 4 hours at night and still the battery only lasted a few days. I did utilize the messaging feature and that seemed to work well with the app. Sometimes the messages had trouble sending despite direct access to blue skies but alas I didn't buy it for seamless cell reception so that wasn't really an issue.
Response from GarminBy Garmin , Outdoor, March 14, 2023
Thank you for your review. Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
2
Not a fan of app
on March 6, 2023
Posted by: Regooo
I had an Old but ‘lost’ SE . The Earthlink app is much better . I returned the messenger after activating. Purchased used Explorer SE MAP and very happy
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, March 6, 2023
Thank you for your review and experience with the inReach Messenger. We would like to discuss this further over email. If you would please email us at product.support@garmin.com.
Thanks Jenny
Thanks Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
3
Only moderately pleased.
on February 23, 2023
Posted by: BEN49
I use this primarily on a boat for out of cell service communication. While that works well, I was very disappointed that it cannot link with Garmin Explore to view map location on phone. Instead I need to wait until I have cell service to view on MapShare and of course, have my other chart plotters and gps on my phone. I just had hoped it would be more versatile.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, March 6, 2023
Thank you for your review and experience with the inReach Messenger. We would like to discuss this further over email. If you would please email us at product.support@garmin.com.
Thanks Jenny
Thanks Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
2
Duh, how do you work this thing
on February 19, 2023
Posted by: Perplexed72
I still haven't figured out how to tell if the satellites have been acquired. I've tested it twice under circumstances similar to where I plan to need it. More study required.
Response from GarminBy Garmin, Outdoor, February 21, 2023
Thank you for your review and experience with the inReach Messenger. We would like to discuss this further over email. If you would please email us at product.support@garmin.com.
Thanks Jenny
Thanks Jenny
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin