The Next Generation InReach

[Dos Perros]

Hey this is pretty neat. But, there is no way Garmin hardware can match Apple as far as feature/performance to price ratio. I'll continue to run my iPhone for nav and the Mini for comm.

 

[muddydogs]

Hey this is pretty neat. But, there is no way Garmin hardware can match Apple as far as feature/performance to price ratio. I'll continue to run my iPhone for nav and the Mini for comm.

Ya right, as far as I'm concerned Android is way better and a lot more cost effective then Apple and Garmin products integrate right in with the Android service. My $250 Android phone will do anything I need it to do and not have to deal with Apple preparatory carp.

What does Apple have to do with nav anyway? Any mapping app that runs on Apple also runs on Android and has very little to do with the phone. Garmin has been a leader in GPS and Nav way before phone apps were developed, heck is there even a true Apple nav feature that doesn't use an app developed by another company?

 

[Dos Perros]

Ya right, as far as I'm concerned Android is way better and a lot more cost effective then Apple and Garmin products integrate right in with the Android service. My $250 Android phone will do anything I need it to do and not have to deal with Apple preparatory carp.

What does Apple have to do with nav anyway? Any mapping app that runs on Apple also runs on Android and has very little to do with the phone. Garmin has been a leader in GPS and Nav way before phone apps were developed, heck is there even a true Apple nav feature that doesn't use an app developed by another company?

Feel free to replace Apple/iPhone with smartphones in general, the spirit of my post is brand agnostic. Run a Huawei for all I care.

 

[jwl76]

Looks to be an REI exclusive currently and the 2 reviews on REI site are not very positive. Sounds like Garmin needs a little time to get the bugs worked out of the system.

 

[muddydogs]

Feel free to replace Apple/iPhone with smartphones in general, the spirit of my post is brand agnostic. Run a Huawei for all I care.

O I see your saying that a phone based GPS app is just as good or better then a dedicated GPS unit? I would agree if the operator downloads the info needed before getting out of WIFI coverage.

But the new Garmin handheld with SD slot, dedicated GPS and InReach all in one unit will give a phone, map app and InReach unit a run for its money I'm sure.

 

[Dos Perros]

It probably won't. Their screens will suck. And they will be slow.

 

[Kootenay Hunter]

Sweet, glad I found this thread. Just killed my Spot account (long story, yada yada, I know it sucks...). Buggers had a renewal date today, no e-mail or anything, glad my spidey senses kicked in, plus had old credit card info, so, phew.

Looking at a InReach Garmin, but good to know that a newer model is coming out. I found the gps units a little muted compared to a stand alone gps like a gpsmap 65st, but if they have the features of both, I might be purchasing later this year.

 

[Jawsnclaws]

Glad i didn't just buy the older model

 

[Steve O]

Looks to be an REI exclusive currently and the 2 reviews on REI site are not very positive. Sounds like Garmin needs a little time to get the bugs worked out of the system.

That is disappointing that you can ONLY buy the InReach version at REI.

 

[Ryan Avery]

That is disappointing that you can ONLY buy the InReach version at REI.

It's only for the first 30 days. Unfortunately, the leaf lickers buy more of them than us.

 

[wilydawg]

FYI, I emailed Garmin to check compatibility of their watches with the new 66i. Here is their response:

At this time, there are no watches compatible with the 66i. However, the technical team informed me there would be a software update soon for the 66i to work with other Garmin device, but there was no an exact date at this time.

Thank you for choosing Garmin,
Brian
Product Support
Garmin International

 

[Mike7]

The first thing that would get left for me at the car would be my phone, then my garmin gps, and lastly my inreach for safety purposes. So I think these type of devices may have promise.

Unless I-phones are way better than Androids, my phone can not compare in gps function to a garmin 64, oregon, or montana in timbered hilly terrain. Navigating through rock ledges at night or in the fog, the garmins are just so much more precise.

The phone is a cool add on, especially for summer and early fall trips, but I wouldn't trust it in cold wet weather.

 

[Pelagic]

I don’t see this listed on the OnX site as having chip compatibility yet. Anybody know if they do? Seems like they should be but maybe OnX is just slow in getting it out.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I’ve been doing a lot of research on this unit because I still use a gps for primary navigation tool and inReach for sos/messaging so I have been waiting for something like this (phone while super nice, is way to glitchy for primary nav for me)
I’ll say I have NO experience with this unit and haven’t bought it to test for myself (that’s a hefty price tag), but word from the peak baggers and leaf lickers is the unit is pretty glitchy. Heard of problems with external memory cards not reading, you cannot get weather updates like regular inReach, cannot have contacts in the unit for messaging, and between the display, WiFi and Bluetooth applications, among others, the battery life is not great.
If someone here has had other experiences, I’d love to be proven wrong, would really like to love this. At this time I’m going to hold off and see what it becomes.

 

[Fatcamp]

I had issues with my phone while turkey hunting last spring. I really like the usability of it, but losing confidence in reliability.

 

[tigerman]

garmin customer service sucks.. I bought a used inreach , the owner said it was ready for activation. Garmin said he owed $75 bill since 2014, he will never pay them, but they wouldnt take my money up front to activate it for me.. so its worthless.

 

[ozyclint]

sounds like trying to roll several devices into one has resulted in what usually happens when you try to do this........compromise on all the functions.

 

[ozyclint]

i've been holding out on buying a mini hoping that they introduced something similar that was easier to text with as a stand alone unit but it looks as though they are going down the path of trying to make a 'one device does all' unit.

 

[gibbons025]

I bought the 66i alittle over a month ago and it’s been working perfect for me. I have the Garmin Colorado chip in mine and it hasn’t had any problems reading that but I do hear it will accept the OnX chip also. Battery life has been great for my testing. On my daily walk I send and receive messages with it and it’s been working better then my 62s that I used before , sends messages a lot faster then the other Inreach devices I’ve used. It’s had some software problems on 4.10 but I am running the current 4.20 version and haven’t seen any issues. I bought this unit so I wouldn’t have to carry two units. I leave for Colorado Thursday morning so I’ll let everyone know how it does in the mountains.

 

[Deplorable77]

I've been lurking around here for years, figured I'd put in my .02c

Ipurchased the 66i about a month ago, dont bother wasting your time or money. First off, the resolution is so bad that satellite images are unrecognizable on places I've been to hundreds of times. 240x400 pixels is actually lower resolution a 10 year old phone. The weather features are not accessible without cellular service and synced to your smartphone, which defeats the purpose of carrying the garmin. If you get lucky and manage to sync your devices, expect crashes, glitches, lostconnections, data deleted,low battery life, and nothing but problems. The garmin requires 3hrs of updates right out of the box, and two more within the next week. There is no online customer service for the 66i, the controls are clunky toggle pads that are very frustrating. Battery life is 8-12 hours if you are actually using it, 16hrs in sleep mode. Texting is done using an arrow hovering over a keyboard screen and is slower than a carrier pigeon. Birdseye maps are not included and must be downloaded 2sq miles at a time .
Easily erase stored tracks by accidentally pressing the wrong key, the menu is layed out very poorly and the arrow keys make it difficult to navigate efficiently or consistently. I highly recommend you get your hands on one and try it before purchasing. I've passed it around to half a dozen different people and none were impressed with it.

I downloaded Onx today for the free 7day trial and knew within the first 10 minutes it is far superior to Garmin software.

I've had garmin products in the past, but if this were my first Garmin item, I would have Never been a repeat customer.
Post up some coordinates of an area you are familiar with, I will get a screenshot of the Garmin satellite image and post them here for you to compare.

Great site here btw......