Garmin InReach Mini 3 Plus Satellite Messenger Review: Robust With Lots of Upselling
The maps on the inReach were largely useless. The offline maps of the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro and Garmin Forerunner 970 are more detailed. There are also no upcoming turn notifications, like on the Fenix, just an alert if you stray 50 meters from your path. After a while, I stopped tracking my route on the inReach Mini 3 Plus.
Beyond the live tracking and emergency SOS tools, satellite messaging is by far inReach’s most useful tool. Adding voice is a big step forward. Typing messages on the touchscreen is beyond tedious. So for anything other than predefined, personalized quick messages, it’s infinitely easier to record a quick 30-second voice note. You can also use the Garmin Messenger app on your phone to extract longer messages and transmit them via Bluetooth to inReach to send via satellite. I found this incredibly handy for longer missives.
Voice messages are also helpfully transcribed for recipients in Garmin Messenger, as are replies that come back to you on the inReach Mini 3 Plus. It’s also very easy to take a photo on your phone and send it via Messenger, although sending a simple text message and photo can sometimes take up to 10 minutes via satellite. It’s not instantaneous.
Stay in power
As for battery life, the Garmin inReach Mini 3 Plus claims 55 hours of performance messaging usage with location updates in two minutes. This extends to 350 hours of low-power messaging with 10-minute tracking intervals. In testing, I set the tracking to 10-minute intervals and the screen to 75% brightness with a 15-second timeout. I put messaging in performance mode and GPS on all multiband systems. I also got navigation working and sent a moderate level of messaging.
The 80-mile trip took a total of 51 hours, and I left the inReach on while I slept. I left Florence with 97% battery life and arrived in Bologna with 29% battery life remaining after a total of 21.5 hours of live tracking and navigation. Nighttime burning was surprisingly high, but you can obviously save juice by activating the auto-off feature. Or simply turn off the device. Additionally, loading is quite fast. I charged a full battery in just over an hour.
Overall, the Garmin inReach Mini 3 Plus is a great satellite messenger. It’s well built, easy to use, sturdy enough, and compact enough for long adventures. It also has a suite of security and messaging tools that give you great peace of mind.
However, when you take into account the purchase price, activation fees and monthly subscription, it’s a big investment. The inReach Mini 3 Plus is worth the higher price than the Mini 2, but it’s probably only worth it if you regularly explore away from cell phone network. Otherwise, the combination of your smartphone and a decent sports watch that offers live tracking could be the backup solution you need.
