Garmin InReach + vs. Mini

[JAGR]

I will be using OnX Maps on my phone as well. Any benefits to one or the other?


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[zeroforhire]

Mini is so much smaller.

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[Gunnersdad49]

I went with the mini. No regrets. It has a shorter battery life, but the extra weight can be credited to a power pack that also works for the phone.

I did a 7 day hunt, only turning it on in the evenings for an hour. Never needed to recharge it.

 

[rbljack]

I went with the mini to save weight and I use my phone for ONx, so I felt the mini provided me with the capabilities I needed at a lighter option. I also have a garmin GPS watch. I mark truck and camp with the watch as well as the the mini and ONx. From then on, the watch is considered a back up nav device only. The mini is primarily a comm device for me at that point.

 

[flinginairos]

I used the older version and my two buddies used the mini on our mule deer hunt this past fall. The battery life is shorter, for sure. It also seemed like mine was quicker to send/receive messages. Theirs worked fine but just seemed slower. The size/weight was nice though.


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[Trial153]

I went with the full size version for longer battery life. The increased weight is off set by having to carry less reserve power to charge the unit more often in the case of the mini. The full size version also can be used a a redundancy for the GPS on my phone if something happened to my phone. I felt the added batty life and functionality as worth very slight weight penalty

 

[austinphps]

Correct me if I am wrong - but you can send out/receive messages on the + unit even without your phone? I will be getting one at some point - and I'm leaning more towards the + version because, what if your phone decides to take a dump on you? can you no longer send/receive texts on the mini without your phone? Something to consider as I have had multiple phones just shit the bed

 

[JAGR]

Appreciate the advice guys!


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[lumis17]

Just got the Mini a couple weeks ago and I really like it based on the little playing around I’ve done so far. You can still send out messages without a phone, but it’s a pain to send out anything other than the 3 preset messages you can configure for it. The other two message types, free form and quick replies, take some time on the small interface.

 

[austinphps]

thanks for clarifying, lumis

 

[JAGR]

I think I’m sold on the full size. Full texting capabilities and GPS redundancy are worth the extra weight and price.

Thanks to all for chiming in!


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