I bought this to have for a long 2 week solo motorcycle ride out west. Kids were worried about me, no coverage in area on phone, etc. They tracked my whole trip. Was great being able to text them through this in areas of no coverage. Also great to know if something did happen i could hit the SOS button too.
Amazing Device with all the major upgrades from the previous models. The only thing I have a gripe with is the navigation. Some of Garmin watches have robust navigation and couldn't see why they couldn't do the same with the in Reach mini 3+ with the price you pay.
Upgraded from the inReach Explorer. Mini 3+ is still the best option for features and safety, but battery life is significantly worse. Even minimizing the brightness and GPS modes, it lasts a couple days at most, whereas the old Explorer lasted over a week.
It’s a great product and works very well. Pictures and text messages work great. Tracking features are too notch. The battery is very unimpressive. I can’t envision a scenario where you could possibly get the claimed 14 day 10 minute tracking claim.
I got the inReach for my hikes on the PCT. I'm no thru hiker, but bite off multi-day sections of the WA and OR trail as often as I can. The inReach has been a great peace of mind for me, and my spouse who does not come with me.
Great satellite communicator. Connects to GPS constellation quick with good performance. I primarily carry the inReach Mini 3 PLUS for SOS emergencies, if or when needed. I very seldomly use my inReach communicator to send/receive photos or voice messages, I use it only for the occasional very short text message or check-in messages. I originally had the inReach Mini 3 configured to performance mode (default) which drains the battery fast (about 4 days of battery life). Performance mode is designed to be used for sending photos and voice messages, and more frequent check-in messages (every two minutes) -- which I do not typically use. After switching to low power mode I got much better battery life (about 15 days). The screen is more user friendly and intuitive to use than my older "square" inReach Messager (not the mini-series). It took me a while to figure out the correct sequence of actions to remove my old inReach Messenger from my Garmin satellite messenger plan and replace it with the new inReach Mini 3, and then set it up to enable inReach remote (IR) on my Garmin Fenix/Tactix watch -- unfortunately you cannot change the configuration and IR connection unless you have Internet connection. So for the first day while hiking in the wilderness I had to use the inReach Mini 3 directly using the on-screen menu and buttons to control and I could only change the settings once I got back to "civilization" and had Internet connectivity. So, just be aware to test everything after making changes before heading out into the wilderness... ;-) I plan on getting the dive case for the inReach Mini 3 so I can take the inReach with me when we go SCUBA diving, in case we get lost at sea or left behind by the dive boat - just as a backup... :-)
This is a significant improvement over previous versions. The higher transmit power makes a significant difference in time to transmit messages (in my experience). The ability to transmit a photo is a significant upgrade as well. Finally, the user interface is much improved over early versions of the Mini and battery life is signigicantly improved as well. Great product and worth the upgrade.