New 2024 inReach Consumer Subscription Plan Changes question

Garmin-Chris

Hi Chris,

Can you please clarify something for me? (I asked Garmin Accounts but the reply didn't answer the question)

In US Dollars the standard plan represents a 20% increase ($24.95 to $29.99), but for us here in New Zealand it's gone from $42 to $60  - a 43% increase. Why have we been disproportionately affected?

I suspect that Garmin simply meant to set the NZD price at $50 (representing a 19% increase). Can someone from Garmin please confirm if (a) the current NZD pricing is indeed a mistake and (b) get it changed if it is?

From my perspective, I MAY be tempted to switch plans @ NZD $50 on the basis that there MAY be an occasion where I would use more than 40 texts in a month (most I've used in a month to date has been 8), but at NZD $60 the most likely scenario is that I'd have 140 texts remaining at the end of the billing cycle instead of only 30 ... for an extra $216 per year.

Thanks in advance.

43% increase? That’s really intense (to put it nicely)! Sound good to have 150 messages/month, but as you have said, if you only use about 10/month...If you don´t use the live tracking much, it could be an option to take the Essential plan, but if you use the live tracking much...

To date, I have been using the live tracking; most of the time just so the wife can see where I am if she wants to - and most of the time I'm within cellphone coverage anyway so I could just as easily turn on live tracking from AllTrails (or even just share location via iOS) - but in the back of my mind I also think to it as being somewhat of a safety net in that if I do have a fall outside of call coverage - end up unconscious - it would be nice if my position could be identified with greater ease (and reliability).

Having just said all that, I assume that even on one of the lesser plans my position could still be requested via the MapShare page (for a trivial cost), so I might have to also investigate that route.

At present I think I'll just stay on the NZD 42 per month plan; if I can continue that at infinitum then "problem solved", but I wouldn't be at all surprised if migration to one of the new plans becomes compulsory at some point in the future -- at which point I guess I'll just have to make a decision.

TBH, I'm finding the Garmin ecosystem to be of extremely limited value in terms of track recording (one of the things I'm most interested in); AllTrails and WorkOutdoors apps give hundreds of times more tracking detail; so at present I'm really just paying $42 a month for the ability to get help if I have an accident out of coverage and/or the odd occasions the wife wants to see where I am on the one day each weekend I go hiking. That's worth $42 to me ... but not $60; $15 a day for "insurance" is too much.

Position request from MapShare page is, I think, charged as a message. At least, that's the way it was in the past. The real issue there is that it's very slow when it works at all. The device must be powered up, must have a clear sky view, and must check for the message. The message check is what slows up the works. If the device is not sending track points, the average wait will be 30 minutes (on average, half of the one hour automatic message check interval). And it might be as long as an hour.

I think you're right on all counts.

The "track sent by satellite" is too coarse to be useful as the type of "track recording" you are used to (AllTrails, for example). The inReach devices can simultaneously (or independently) record what Garmin now calls an "activity". On your M2, you control this under Settings > Tracking > Activity Recording. Unfortunately, the M2 is one of the device which does not allow you to specify a fixed time interval for the recorded points. Instead, you are stuck with "Garmin knows best" - choices are Standard and High Detail. Choose High Detail.

Be aware that this causes the device to keep the GPS radio on at all times, which is something of a battery suck. You will get a warning when you choose this mode. The other disadvantage is that the M2 records activities only in Garmin's proprietary .fit format. (Why would we use a standard format like .gpx when we can invent a proprietary format instead /rant). It's possible to get it into .gpx format using mobile apps and/or Garmin Connect on the web. It's just annoying.

The high detail activity tracking can actually be good and is capable of resolving down to around a 5m circle - if you can get it to happen at all.

The problem is if you pay the - now very expensive - bucks and turn on inReach tracking with Auto Track = on, your high detail activity tracking goes out the window and degrades to recording only at the 10-minute send interval and becomes coarse and useless.

Basecamp will also open a Mini2 activity FIT and save a GPX.

FWIW, I went down this rabbit hole a few months ago. I changed to the high detail  - which improved it - but for me it only took it from "terrible" to "still terrible but not as terrible as it used to be"; the detail I'm getting from AllTrails and WorkOutdoors still blows it clean out of the water - not even remotely close (in terms of what I got on the Explore app and Online map).

Battery life has never been an issue - even after a full day of tracking it's still at 90+%.

I do not see the exact words about activation fees but, it looks like if you canceled your service every other month, you could incur a half dozen activation fees.