Hi,
I am just back from a trip to Zimbabwe. I purchased good evacuation insurance for the trip, but had little confidence I would be able to contact them without satellite communication, so I rented an inReach Mini 2 with the SOS unlimited. I have some ideas on some features that would help simplify the experience.
First, the battery life was variable and I did not understand why. Some charges would last several days, others only 1. It helped me to have a routine of checking the charge and paring with my phone every morning before going out.
Second, I was fortunate to have WifFi in the evenings so I could check if hte service was working be sending messages in the day when we were away from Wi-Fi and then checking in the evening if the message was received. Setting up a ping service to verify satellite messages are going through would have given me easier peace of mind.
Third, I got the phone for my family and told them where it was. Using the Mini 2 was not intuitive to me other than the SOS button. I had some confidence that in an emergency anyone could get the Mini 2, get to some open sky, and push the SOS buttton. I had less confidence anyone would be able to figure out when the SOS team responded and asked for more info, especially if my phone got unpaired. And the idea that my family would be able to find my phone, then find the Garmin app, then copy my pre-written message template with the insurance policy info and paste it into the Garmin messerger app, and get that message to send... was less than 50%. I think it would be helpful for users to have a portal where they can load emergency infromation that could be useful to the SOS team if they receive a message but not a lot of other data.
Thanks and I am grateful for the Mini 2 and SOS Unlimited products.
Charlie
