inreach mini 3?

I'm looking for the same functionality as messenger pro, with a touch screen keyboard as current text entry is riduculous, maps would be nice, os type, but for navigation only, you dont need the whole database of nearby facilities, restaraunts etc, there are many circumstances that are serious but not urgent situations that kind of function can serve before you need to request an sos, for example, 

I think most use for inreach sos activation was hiking and motoring breakdowns

Has anybody noticed the new Approach G20 Solar handheld? To me, this seems like a form factor Garmin could consider adapting to the next inReach mini. It's not that different in size and price but has a bigger screen with more pixels and a solar panel. Just add the inReach bits and a bit more rubber casing.

As a golf model, the published technical specifications are pretty sparse. Not mentioning GPS receiver modes or internal storage at all. But, we could imagine this shape with a chipset like one of the new Instinct 3 models.

Obviously, the Iridium radio uses more power than GPS, so the "infinite" tracking of this golfing model in direct sunlight probably wouldn't be true for an inReach. But, it seems like the solar could provide a real battery life extension?

For the 240x320 screen, they might need the processing of the Instinct 3 AMOLED model (better CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage). I'm not sure the tight resources of the Instinct 3 Solar series are sufficient.

You could even imagine it having onboard maps, but I am not sure how many would want to pay a premium for maps on even this monochrome screen. And if you start going down the path of wanting color, touchscreen, etc. then I think maybe something like the Edge 540  or Edge 840 Solar are a more suitable basis. But, they'd need to be bulked up to add more battery for Iridium and the kind of run times we want for a wilderness use case.

I am not sure about the form factor but more pixel and solar panel for extended battery would definitely be nice to have. The weight would have to stay the same or get lighter. Having a bigger screen would also have the downside of having a bigger surface that is less impact resistant. To me the most important improvements in an Inreach Mini 3 would be longer battery life and fast charging.   

I would say: easy!

the transmitter of the inreach device has some 1.5W power. In this some small solar panel will not have much to contribute. And keeping such device permanently on the sun just to gain small portion of the power is not so useful either

The device isn't transmitting (nor even receiving) continuously with Iridium though. So you need to consider average power rather than peak power.

I wonder what a typical Iridium radio power consumption actually is in the normal operating modes. I.e. how much power does the periodic Iridium message polling and/or tracking update cost compared to regular GPS reception common to other watches and handhelds?

I'll settle for same form factor, solar and messenger plus functionality, some mapping would be nice if possible

I appreciate it's a beacon rather than a gps tracker/guide but I dont see why it has to be, if replaceable batteries are possible this could be much more

this with replaceable batteries comes up again and again here

Please realize, that how the iridium radio must work and what power has to be provided also !during! the transmission of the pulse is not something end customers can wish. This is defined by the operator of the satellite network in use, namely Iridium. Their specs can not allow any replaceable batteries, as those can not guarantee enough power during the operation.

Garmin or other Iridium customers have no influence on that and have to follow the rule.