Which one & why? Garmin GPSMAP 66i or Garmin Inreach

[oxberger]

Any one have experience with one of both of these?

What are your thoughts?

Would you buy it again?

Any pros & cons.

I'm going to Western South Dakota (haven't decided if I'm hitting the hills or Badlands) this fall and the family would like to be able to communicate with me while I'm gone. I will be going by myself.

 

[Alaskanopolis]

The inreach has much better battery life. The 66i has better mapping and GPS functions. I have an explorer+ and use it often.

 

[rob86jeep]

They both have the inreach capability. The 66i will have stand alone GPS function with it, where the explorer or mini won't. Personally, I would go with the mini or the 66i. You just need to decide if you need/want the GPS ability or not. I went with the 66i so I have backup to OnX on my phone. The mini would be nice if you didn't need that due to how small it is though.

 

[Alaskanopolis]

They both have the inreach capability. The 66i will have stand alone GPS function with it, where the explorer or mini won't. Personally, I would go with the mini or the 66i. You just need to decide if you need/want the GPS ability or not. I went with the 66i so I have backup to OnX on my phone. The mini would be nice if you didn't need that due to how small it is though.

The explorer has GPS functionality, just not TOPO mops. The Explorer+ uses Delorm's maps. With the Mini you're dependent on the battery life of you phone, which is probably even worse than the mini's batter and the 66i isn't that spectacular of a battery compared to the Explorer, in my opinion.

 

[Ekrider]

I have an inreach mini with the garmin app, as well as onX app. If you carry you phone it works great.

 

[Rokwiia]

I struggled with this same decision as I wanted to upgrade my capabilities and equipment. I have an eTrex 30 and was familiar with using a dedicated GPS unit. I leaned toward the 66i as it was rugged and made to be used and abused in the wilderness.

In the end, I needed to get a new smartphone so I went with the InReach Mini which is paired with the Earthmate app. I use GAIA as my go-to GPS. I'm glad I made the choice of using a smartphone rather than a new dedicated GPS unit even though I doubted myself the first week.

The smartphone has a substantially larger screen than even the 66i (which is large) which makes viewing so much easier in the field. I can quickly toggle between GAIA and CalTopo, or Earthmate. I also find it much easier to do routing, add waypoints, and general trip planning with GAIA than my eTrex 30. When I'm out by myself for a few days, I'll carry the eTrex as well just to have a GPS backup.

I am a believer in having backup plans so I'll always have paper maps of the areas I am in just in case my new smartphone (Galaxy S10) croaks.

 

[ohoopee]

For me, I prefer my 66i over my older Inreach for 4 main reasons: Screen much easier to see,
Sat texting , more intuitive and finally many of the areas I am in I can not get
reception on a phone. I suppose the last is the main reason since I am usually solo.

I suppose downloading the map on my phone and using it for mapping would
be easier in many ways. If I were in my 20's or 30's I would probably just use the
phone and save my money.

 

[Frazier]

66i. I use mine all year offshore fishing and then in the fall out west. Great for a backup GPS in case my electronics failed on my boat. And I can send a text to my wife letting her know im heading in

 

[rickywhit]

I have read many reviews that claim that the 66i has a lot of bugs and that the UI is not very intuitive. Can any owners of the 66i chime in and give me their thoughts?