Old Crow
Searching....
It's a great time for two-way satellite messengers!
Garmin just brought out the Inreach Mini at the beginning of the month and a few days ago SPOT announced the SPOT X.
At this point there isn't a lot of detail on the web about it. The vendor's findmespot website has this pretty informative overview.
There are some quick reviews out already, this one by Gear Junky and this one by Outside Magazine.
In taking a quick read through this morning, here's what jumped out at me....
1. The QWERTY keyboard will appeal to those who have been frustrated with the Inreach's kinda-clunky user interface for typing. That's less important to Inreach users who pair to the app on their phone or those who just don't do many messages.
2. The SPOT X can receive unsolicited texts from any smartphone or texting application. Inreach tells us they don't permit texts from just anyone in order to avoid spam texts. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over time in user comments. (Texts can be sent to Inreach users but only by people who know to reply to either a message from the user or from that users's Mapshare page.)
3. SPOT X doesn't pair to a phone. It doesn't have Bluetooth capability or a companion app. And it doesn't do map downloads.
4. SPOT X doesn't have weather reports-- neither basic nor premium (extended and marine).
5. SPOT X plots positions on Google Maps, Inreach plots them on Earthmate maps. (One of my recipients prefers Google maps because they often show photos taken in the area. He was used to my OK reports from my old SPOT. I had to provide instructions on how to copy the coordinates from my Inreach OK email and modify them slightly to use in Google Maps).
6. SPOT X is less expensive in initial cost. ( SPOT X = $250, Inreach Mini = $350, Inreach SE+ = $400, Inreach Explorer+ = $450). But then you also have to look at subscription costs and match to your needs. For me, the SPOT X would cost me $50 a year more in subscription fees.
7. SPOT X doesn't have global two-way message coverage, Inreach does. (See coverage maps)
8. SPOT X appears to have superior battery life. According to Outside Magazine, ten days for the SPOT X vs four days for the SE+ and for similar weight.
9. The Outside Magazine review says the SPOT X looks like a beefed-up Blackberry that grew an antenna. That seems to fit with what photos are showing.
10. There's an odd little line in the Additional Information section below the subscription plans.... "Additional fees may be charged for international messages". Why, exactly? How much, exactly?
11. If I read the service plans correctly, they are year-long plans. A 'Monthly' plan means you pay on a monthly basis but are committed to pay for a full year (and it's likely your credit card is billed for remaining months if you cancel before the annual commitment date). An 'Annual' plan means you pay the full year in advance. Unused messages don't roll over so a user with a Monthly plan will only have 25 messages in any one month before having to pay a 25 cents per message premium. But a user with an Annual plan would be able to send 300 messages anytime during the year before the premium kicks in.
.
Garmin just brought out the Inreach Mini at the beginning of the month and a few days ago SPOT announced the SPOT X.
At this point there isn't a lot of detail on the web about it. The vendor's findmespot website has this pretty informative overview.
There are some quick reviews out already, this one by Gear Junky and this one by Outside Magazine.
In taking a quick read through this morning, here's what jumped out at me....
1. The QWERTY keyboard will appeal to those who have been frustrated with the Inreach's kinda-clunky user interface for typing. That's less important to Inreach users who pair to the app on their phone or those who just don't do many messages.
2. The SPOT X can receive unsolicited texts from any smartphone or texting application. Inreach tells us they don't permit texts from just anyone in order to avoid spam texts. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over time in user comments. (Texts can be sent to Inreach users but only by people who know to reply to either a message from the user or from that users's Mapshare page.)
3. SPOT X doesn't pair to a phone. It doesn't have Bluetooth capability or a companion app. And it doesn't do map downloads.
4. SPOT X doesn't have weather reports-- neither basic nor premium (extended and marine).
5. SPOT X plots positions on Google Maps, Inreach plots them on Earthmate maps. (One of my recipients prefers Google maps because they often show photos taken in the area. He was used to my OK reports from my old SPOT. I had to provide instructions on how to copy the coordinates from my Inreach OK email and modify them slightly to use in Google Maps).
6. SPOT X is less expensive in initial cost. ( SPOT X = $250, Inreach Mini = $350, Inreach SE+ = $400, Inreach Explorer+ = $450). But then you also have to look at subscription costs and match to your needs. For me, the SPOT X would cost me $50 a year more in subscription fees.
7. SPOT X doesn't have global two-way message coverage, Inreach does. (See coverage maps)
8. SPOT X appears to have superior battery life. According to Outside Magazine, ten days for the SPOT X vs four days for the SE+ and for similar weight.
9. The Outside Magazine review says the SPOT X looks like a beefed-up Blackberry that grew an antenna. That seems to fit with what photos are showing.
10. There's an odd little line in the Additional Information section below the subscription plans.... "Additional fees may be charged for international messages". Why, exactly? How much, exactly?
11. If I read the service plans correctly, they are year-long plans. A 'Monthly' plan means you pay on a monthly basis but are committed to pay for a full year (and it's likely your credit card is billed for remaining months if you cancel before the annual commitment date). An 'Annual' plan means you pay the full year in advance. Unused messages don't roll over so a user with a Monthly plan will only have 25 messages in any one month before having to pay a 25 cents per message premium. But a user with an Annual plan would be able to send 300 messages anytime during the year before the premium kicks in.
.
