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After a 30-year break, I’m back out on the slopes for some alpine skiing. I enjoy heading off the grid to fly fish, trail run, hike, and camp, and often I make these adventures solo.
Having the ability to check in with family and know there is a lifeline in case of an accident is important, and one of my favorite things about the Garmin inReach Mini 3 Plus — a satellite communicator with a touchscreen.
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Last year I tested three smartwatches with satellite connectivity (including the Garmin’s Fenix 8 Pro), but the new inReach Mini 3 Plus offers a different form factor with a larger display for photo messages, longer battery life, improved antenna and satellite support, and a siren. In addition, the Mini 3 Plus is priced $700 less than the Fenix 8 Pro watch.
The inReach Mini 3 Plus is a small, black device with a safety red antenna and SOS button. There are five hardware navigation buttons and the dedicated SOS button under a protective cover.
Navigation is similar to a five-button Garmin watch, and the touchscreen also supports easy navigation with glove mode as well. The speaker and microphone are located on the bottom of the device with decent volume from the speaker to listen to voice messages.
Voice note functionality has been important while running to capture my thoughts and experiences to share later. On the Mini 3 Plus, I recorded a few voice notes while alpine skiing to document the conditions on the slopes, details for a couple of nice folks I met on the chair lift, and to-dos that popped into my head when I rode the lifts by myself.
Unfortunately, while you can listen to voice notes on the inReach Mini 3 Plus, you have to manually connect the device to a computer to offload the voice recordings via a file explorer.
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Voice commands are also supported on the Mini 3 Plus and are a great option for quickly performing a few tasks without navigation via the buttons or touchscreen. Supported actions include sending check-ins, reading your messages, start/stop activities and tracking, turn on/off the siren, and managing brightness and volume on the device. Simply press and hold the top right (OK) button to initiate voice commands.
I was surprised by how much I used the touchscreen to navigate the device’s features, but I rarely used touch on the tiny pop-up keyboard to enter text for messages. I sent nearly every message as a voice message thanks to the included microphone.
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Messaging back and forth with family and friends via voice messaging from a small device like this is an effortless experience that also captures the tone and emotions of the sender better than standard text.
Make sure to review your subscription allotment before sending every message — satellite voice and photo messages are costly and even the Premium subscription limits you to 50 a month. A charge of $1 per voice/photo message kicks in if you exceed the limit.
I suggest the Essential Plan at $14.99 since it offers a good basic number of messages and works out to be more economical than the $7.99 pay-as-you go messaging plan.
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There are four consumer service plan options in total, starting at $7.99 per month and going up to $49.99 per month. There are no contracts, so you can activate a plan for seasonal use without being locked into an annual plan you may only use for three months. All plans include emergency SOS messaging.
Thankfully, Garmin updated its activation policy so that you can pause your subscription for up to a year and then turn it on without paying another $39.99 activation fee. While I will likely use the plan all year since I live in a mild climate and enjoy winter sports, someone like my daughter who primarily hikes from May through September can just pay a monthly fee for those months each year.
The color memory-in-pixel display performs well outdoors and is the type of display I would have preferred on the Fenix 8 Pro smartwatch to achieve better battery life. Color is nice for viewing photos, quickly understanding different weather icons, viewing areas of emphasis on the display (red on the compass to help you track your direction), and discerning features on the maps.
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While the messaging experience is outstanding, the mapping and navigation features are fairly basic. If you have set routes or tracks, the experience is fine, but if you are hiking or running without a route, use the Garmin Explore app on your phone for a more detailed mapping experience.
Speaking of your connected phone, the Garmin Explore and Garmin Messenger apps are key to using the Mini 3 Plus effectively. Garmin Messenger serves as your messaging hub for text, photo, or voice communications and is required if you want to send out photos from your phone via the Mini 3 Plus satellite connection.
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Messenger is also used to manage your inReach plan with real-time usage metrics, settings access on the Mini 3 Plus, and updates for the inReach device. In addition to navigation, the Garmin Explore app also shows your tracking history, including details of the adventure.
ZDNET’s buying advice
Previously, Garmin’s inReach plan was hard to justify as there were activation fees each time you started it back up. But now, with the new option to pause your subscription, it’s much easier to start and stop the service when you’re actually going to be out off the grid.
The Garmin inReach Mini 3 Plus can now serve as my primary communication device while up in the mountains, letting me relegate my phone to capturing photos and videos. The peace of mind with a rugged device with long battery life is worth it and I’m excited to explore more of the outdoors with the inReach Mini 3 Plus secured to my pack.
