Testing out the Mini 3 Plus today in mixed shade and bright sun, starting in a deep tree covered canyon that is terrible for getting gps locked. I thought I saw the arrow on the map become solid as I started hiking but not the case.
I like to verify GPS lock before attempting messaging or starting an activity. The small blue arrow on the map with a flashing question mark is tiny and lacks contrast in mixed light. A black and white or anything more contrasty would help as well with the compass icon on the left of the map. Best would be to add an icon to the interface top center, next to the message sending arrows. I am old and losing my sight. My Epix by comparison locked on quicker than it had before and shows a welcome green verification of gps lock. Even a menu item might be helpful just to monitor at startup.
A couple of minor niggles... The IR Remote has a Tracking on/off toggle but seems just to start activity recording but not tracking per se and if you turn off tracking on the device but it's toggled on with the IR remote... One might stop their activity recording when simply making sure tracking was indeed off. Send Preset should be Check Ins as it presents the 3 check in messages. At least that's my assumption as there isn't the list of possible messages for preset elsewhere.
Otherwise so far so good. Voice recording sounds good though have not sent a voice message or a photo. Mostly minor interface elements could enhance use for me. and Continuity in controls. Noted the update this afternoon on a few interface elements.
**Update Day 2. 3.5 mile Trail run with Epix recording activity with the Mini 3 Plus also recording activity in High Def mode. Much better map. Totally overcast but open sky and no trees. Could see the arrow icon better as I was not hurried at the TH today and locked on within seconds. The IR Remote issue with the Tracking toggle is confusing and maybe just useful for ending a tracked activity. Without tracking enabled on my activity on the Mini, the IR remote just showed "updating" when selected. Backed out of the dialog and then returned to the Tracking toggle and it was off. So, I guess I will just ignore it for now and later test if it successfully shuts down an activity if am tracking. SOS trigger is most important to be functional.
One weird thing before I left the house was to send a do a device test in my yard. the 3 top tests were successful. Satellite I toggled on to test and the Mini3 immediately re-booted. Tested again and all was good.
Day 3. Trail Run. Same canyon as day 1 but stayed in the canyon. Turned on device a few miles from the TH so gps was locked and ready. Sent a Check in Message as I kept hiking. You can see the type of cover. Took 2-3 minutes, I would say, for the confirm. Map was from the Mini 3.
