What it’s essential to know
- The Garmin InReach Mini 3 is an SOS satellite tv for pc communicator handheld that weighs 4.4 ounces and lasts as much as two weeks per cost.
- It allows you to ship or obtain 30-second voice clips, textual content utilizing a 1.9-inch MIP contact show, ship photographs by way of your cellphone, or transmit your LiveTrack location.
- It provides new options like Voice Instructions, multi-band GPS, and a passcode.
- It would not help mobile connectivity and requires an InReach satellite tv for pc subscription beginning at $7.99/month.
As thrilling because it was when the Fenix 8 Professional added LTE and satellite tv for pc in a compact wearable machine, its $1,200+ price ticket made it a troublesome promote, and its small dimension limits areas like battery life. Now, Garmin is launching the InReach Mini 3 Plus, an SOS satellite tv for pc handheld communicator which may be a extra sensible possibility for critical backpackers who spend time in mobile lifeless zones.
In contrast to previous InReach fashions just like the Messenger Plus or Mini 2, the InReach Mini 3 Plus has a contact show that spreads throughout most of its physique, along with the same old nav buttons. It will make menuing and sending messages on the machine considerably simpler, the place earlier than you needed to faucet by letters separately.
The Mini 3 Plus packs in a mic and speaker, letting you ship quick voice messages or file voice memos by way of the machine, then hear your family members’ replies, throughout satellite tv for pc. It could additionally ship photographs, although you will want your cellphone to seize and add them to the Messenger app.
The Fenix 8 Professional, in contrast, can solely ship textual content messages, check-ins, and SOS alerts — no photographs or voice memos. And whereas the InReach Messenger Plus can ship voice memos, too, you must use your cellphone, whereas the Mini 3 Plus works even when your cellphone battery dies.
Garmin makes use of the mic & speaker to allow voice instructions, too, letting you set off sure options like check-ins or turning on LiveTrack with no need to make use of the touchscreen. We’re curious to see how effectively this function works, as voice instructions will be hit-or-miss on Garmin watches.
Like most InReach gadgets and GPSMAP handhelds, the InReach Mini 3 Plus has an SOS button that sends an emergency message and your GPS location to a 24/7 Garmin Response staff. What’s new is entry to the touchscreen to make replies to responders simpler, in addition to multi-band GPS frequency for extra correct location information.
It is also the primary InReach machine we all know of to have an MIL-STD-810 ranking for thermal, shock, and water harm, with an IP67 ranking as a substitute of IPX7 for the Messenger Plus and Mini 2. This could assist it survive falls, although the show solely has “chemically strengthened glass.”
Exterior of emergencies, you’ll be able to have the Mini 3 Plus ship LiveTrack location information to trusted contacts. Garmin says it’s going to final for 350 hours (about 14 days) with ten-minute check-in intervals, or 95 hours in “efficiency” mode with extra frequent messages.
By way of what the Mini 3 Plus can do apart from satellite tv for pc messaging, you’ll be able to sync it with the Garmin Discover app, the place you will create GPX programs so that you can observe with turn-by-turn navigation. You too can examine climate forecasts or satellite tv for pc imagery utilizing the app.
The Garmin InReach Mini 3 Plus begins at $499.99, or $449 for a model with out photograph and voice messaging. If that value feels slightly excessive, the InReach Mini 2 is $150 off with a leftover Cyber Monday deal, all the way down to $249; the InReach Messenger Plus can also be $150 off in order for you photograph and video messaging by way of your cellphone.
