If you want to save your precious monthly message allowance, but still want to let the people in your life that you are breathing, having the pre-set message option is invaluable.

This means that you can quickly (and cheaply) send pre-determined messages to your partner, mother, or colleagues. All Garmin Inreach Mini plans offer unlimited pre-set messages. Before any trip, you can write up to three pre-set messages attached to the recipients of your choice. One feature I found myself using all of the time is the pre-set messages function. Photo: Chris Lininger Utilizing the Pre-Set Messages Function > Interested in more fully featured GPS/Satellite Devices? Check out out epic review of the Best Handheld GPS on the market right now. The “check mail” function allows you to refresh the inbox in case another message was sent to you after the last mail check.

You need to have a signal in order to receive messages. Messages sent to the device don’t always come through instantly. Just don’t go expecting to be able to write lengthy updates or rambling love notes. I found that 160 characters, while limiting at times, is more than enough to get your point across IE “I’m alive, don’t worry” or “HELP! SEE LOCATION!”. Note that all messages must stay under the strict 160 characters limit, otherwise the message won’t send. Once connected to your phone you can compose a message as if you were sending a normal text message, which removes the pain of typing on the Inreach Mini’s interface altogether (there is no keyboard). Good news though! The Inreach Mini can be paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth. Long story short, composing a message on the Inreach Mini interface is about as pleasurable as walking barefoot over broken glass bottles. The act of messaging on the device itself is probably the greatest fault of the whole device.

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