Garmin mini came today

[huntcoop]

I'm debating this as well. Tough trade-off. Especially since my better half needs at least twice-daily updates

Trade her in, you'll save more than 4oz!

 

[ellsworb]

Now have my Mini in my hands. . wow. I bought this after wanting a satellite communicator for years. . . but not wanting the clunky units that were available. I do almost all of my navigation on my phone and didn't love the idea of carrying an even heavier unit for comms. This thing is so light that I'm amazed it can keep a connection under the dense canopy of the PacNW. None the less, it does. Sent messages, tracked my movement in the earthmate app. So glad to have this in my pack now!

 

[bbrown]

How’s the battery’s life on the mini?

 

[Muleyczy]

If I understand it correctly, the major difference between the mini and regular one besides obvious size, is the mini uses your phone to send messages and regular uses built in touch screen?

 

[tater]

If I understand it correctly, the major difference between the mini and regular one besides obvious size, is the mini uses your phone to send messages and regular uses built in touch screen?

I've had my Mini for about ten days now. Amazing little rig with good battery life (curious to see how it is in cold weather).
You can text without pairing it to a cell, but it is a lot slower process (scroll to find letters and enter). Great to know if your phone pooches that you can still text.

 

[Beendare]

That DC Rainmaker review was one of the most comprehensive reviews I've ever seen

$350 for the device...and $300 a year.....I dunno...thats 4 yrs of sat phone rentals

 

[Blockcaver]

Beendare, I only use the unlimited InReach texting plan when I am on a remote hunting trip, otherwise dumb it down for emergency use and pay per text. My InReach plan allows 12 changes per year, and I ended up using most of them over the past 12 months. Don't know if the latest Garmin plans offered with the Mini offer as much flexibility? They are a heck of a good unit for me. Good luck this fall.

 

[camping1601]

That DC Rainmaker review was one of the most comprehensive reviews I've ever seen

$350 for the device...and $300 a year.....I dunno...thats 4 yrs of sat phone rentals

But can you have 12 months of sat phone for 4 years at that price? You can also do the Inreach on a month by month basis.

 

[Brianb3]

Apples to oranges.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mtholton]

Has anyone found the specs on the battery capacity? Mine arrived this weekend, and the size is impressive. Just wondering how much juice from my portable battery pack I should "set aside" for this on a week trip.

 

[efnm]

Per Garmin website (Access Denied

Up to 50 hours at 10-minute tracking with 2-minute logging (default); up to 30 hours at 10-minute tracking with 1-second logging; up to 20 days at the 30-minute interval power save mode; and up to 1 year when powered off

 

[mtholton]

Thanks I'm looking for the actual mah capacity.

 

[efnm]

Got it. Do you actually know what it draws in current? Not sure the amp-hours would be useful without that.

 

[byz250f]

I like the size of the mini but I dont like the battery life and then you have to run blutooth on your phone and will wear battery down more on it also. I was only able to get 4 days on my inreach explorer on last trip, sounds like you would be lucky to get 2 days with the mini.

 

[robie]

I like the size of the mini but I dont like the battery life and then you have to run blutooth on your phone and will wear battery down more on it also. I was only able to get 4 days on my inreach explorer on last trip, sounds like you would be lucky to get 2 days with the mini.

Were you using it as a GPS?

I'm curious why anyone would need anything other than " up to 20 days at the 30-minute interval power save mode". I just need mine for a text and don't need it on 1 minute intervals. If I decreased the interval down to every 15 minutes it should last me days.

 

[efnm]

Yeah, you don't have to run bluetooth-connected phones to use this. I wouldn't look forward to typing out a message on the mini but you could.

I think it is exactly perfect because I used an inreach last year and never needed it but for a few messages. I didn't use its GPS, I didn't navigate with it, and I am much happier carrying this instead of that.

 

[JPD350]

So why do you want your mini Inreach to track you?

I have one but have not turned on the tracking although I didn't buy it to use as a GPS or a tracking device, it's only purpose is to send an emergency signal and to stay in touch with whoever through texts. So far the battery on mine is still pretty full and I have been messing with it a bunch and have used it on two different weekend trips from an area with no service, I am pretty sure the battery on this thing is going to be more than enough for any hunt I will ever go on using it this way. I was also really impressed with how fast it was to get texts out, my texts went right out and I had responses from my wife in a minute or so, basically I only had the phone and Mini on for about 5 minutes each time and at that rate the battery will last and last, even if I went ten minutes with it on each day it would last for a lot of days.

 

[byz250f]

Were you using it as a GPS?

I'm curious why anyone would need anything other than " up to 20 days at the 30-minute interval power save mode". I just need mine for a text and don't need it on 1 minute intervals. If I decreased the interval down to every 15 minutes it should last me days.

ya I used it as a GPS, checked weather a few times a day, and we also tracked a bear with it. I didnt play with the interval tracking to see what it was set to. IM sure 15 minutes would be fine.

 

[robie]

ya I used it as a GPS, checked weather a few times a day, and we also tracked a bear with it. I didnt play with the interval tracking to see what it was set to. IM sure 15 minutes would be fine.

Doesn't sound like the mini is for you. I feel it's designed for the guy who only uses it for texting.

For me this thing is perfect. I can text a few times a day and this will keep the wife happy and me hunting longer.

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[jnagel32]

I'm interested in purchasing one of these. Do you know if multiple phones can be paired to it at the same time (for multiple guys hunting together) or is it one device connected only?