Looking at Garmin InReach Mini - Anyone used one before? Reviews?

[westrnwild]

I had the mini. Returned it. Takes way to long to send messages for my application. When I'm alone in the Backcountry my wife like to get the end of day report in with the waypoint where I'm at. The mini was taking an upwards of 20+ hours. I compared it to my buddies one night that was using the explorer se and it was almost instantly. So I went back to my explorer...sure its bigger but at least it's instant and consistent. This is just my experience. Others I'm sure might have better success. I'll agree too the battery gets drained much faster on the mini as others have said too

 

[mtwarden]

^ you had a dud; my Mini sends messages instantly (a minute at most); if my wife happens to be right there to receive the message, I'll get her response back almost as fast as texting in the middle of town.

The SE includes a fully mappable GPS and a larger battery, the satellite hardware is the same. If I didn't have gps on my phone, I would have stuck with the SE, but I do, so ditched for the smaller/lighter Mini