Spot vs In reach vs ?

[HappyCamper]

Redundant; maybe. But redundancy is a useful characteristic when it comes to life saving equipment.

I sense the market will adjust if satellite texting becomes a thing. I'd consider a lower-cost InReach as the bomb proof back-up to my now-satellite capable texting phone.

[BCMtnHound]

Did a bit of searching and found this:

“Until recently, Apple hasn’t said too much about the satellite network it’s using; in September, an Apple spokesperson told Reuters that it had partnered with Globalstar to deploy the satellite infrastructure and investing a whopping $450 million to cover 95% of the costs involved in building and launching new satellites to power its futuristic emergency SOS network.”
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile...668108457-2-2/

So maybe globalstar will get a very much needed upgrade? Until proven though, my reservations on using any emergency coms via the globalstar system remains.

[singlesline]

Kind of annoyed by the inreach billing policy on the flex plan...seems like it is designed to capitalize on forgetfullness...

Looks like if you say start a month of service on September 1st, you have to set it to renew and manually cancel if you don't want service starting October 1st. Even though the flex plan is designed to be turned on and off, there's no way to just pay a month.

If you go to cancel it on September 15th, it will immediately cancel your service rather than letting your service continue to work through September 30th (even though you paid the full month rate).

Most subscription services let you keep the full period you paid for if you cancel renewal...kinda scummy.

[MottN]

I saw that Garmin recently changed the available inReach plans.

The existing tiers are tweaked slightly at an increased cost (of course...)
But they added an "enabled" plan which is $8/mo and basically keeps your device on the network, and check in messages and texts are both pay-per while SOS is free.
I think you would still have to pay an activation fee if your device was inactive.

This seems like an improvement over the old yearly fee and $15/mo (?) of the old plan where you could activate it for only a few months at a time.
I currently do the $12/mo plan and carry it with me fairly frequently but have have only used it to send a message or check in a handful of times.
I imagine that most people are in the same basic use case as me where the new plan might be worth swapping to.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?fa...1v3zNcPXlBnlI8

[Phall]

I have and use a zoleo. Probably have it on 50? days a year. Messaging can be slightly delayed sometimes, but reliable, and inexpensive compared to garmin.

[ASmileyFace]

I saw that Garmin recently changed the available inReach plans.

The existing tiers are tweaked slightly at an increased cost (of course...)
But they added an "enabled" plan which is $8/mo and basically keeps your device on the network, and check in messages and texts are both pay-per while SOS is free.
I think you would still have to pay an activation fee if your device was inactive.

This seems like an improvement over the old yearly fee and $15/mo (?) of the old plan where you could activate it for only a few months at a time.
I currently do the $12/mo plan and carry it with me fairly frequently but have have only used it to send a message or check in a handful of times.
I imagine that most people are in the same basic use case as me where the new plan might be worth swapping to.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?fa...1v3zNcPXlBnlI8

Might also be a response to the new IOS and Android satellite texting? I guess a lot of folks would drop their plans completely once that rolls out.

I'll be dropping down to the $8 plan myself. Paying per message is a lot easier than shutting it down for the months I do not need it.

[Dromond]

I just dropped to the $8 plan since it’s primarily an emergency device, and I might send a message once or twice a year with it. If I suddenly need to send a lot of messages in an emergency situation, I’m happy to pay for it at that time.

[MottN]

I have and use a zoleo. Probably have it on 50? days a year. Messaging can be slightly delayed sometimes, but reliable, and inexpensive compared to garmin.

When I was comparing these a couple years ago the zoleo was a little less expensive for the device and the activation, but the plans were more expensive. Of course depends on your use case. I ended up with an inReach mini, and just decided it was simpler to leave active all the time on the lowest plan.

Might also be a response to the new IOS and Android satellite texting? I guess a lot of folks would drop their plans completely once that rolls out.

I'll be dropping down to the $8 plan myself. Paying per message is a lot easier than shutting it down for the months I do not need it.

Yeah same. Not ready to drop the inReach with the just the SOS and occasional location updates on IOS, but will be more tempted when messaging rolls out if reliability is good. Its only a matter of time till PLBs are a thing of the past.
They also have only said that it will be free for two years after phone activation and not how much it will cost after...and I'm more of a new phone every 4 years kinda guy, so we'll see.

[doebedoe]

I too dropped to $8 plan. I get redundancy and burliness of an inReach, along with Garmin Rescue answering SOS instead of whoever picks it up at Apple.

I did use text messages and preset relatively frequently -- often near my allocated 10 a month. But (for now) I can do that on my iPhone easier for free or pay the $.10/$.50 cost if iphone isn't working for some reason.

[adrenalated]

Garmin Rescue answering SOS instead of whoever picks it up at Apple

To me this is still a big selling point for Garmin for now. Their dispatch is pretty proven at this point at getting relevant information to actual rescuers quickly and efficiently. Apple may do just as good a job or even better, but they're unproven so far.