Long-time readers of RideApart will know how much I advocate for folks to have a Garmin inReach device with them whenever they strike out into the unknown. That when you're out hunting, hiking, riding dirt bikes, overlanding in UTVs or ATVs, or even on the water with a jet ski, having something to contact the outside world when service ain't a thing is tantamount to your continued health and survival.
Why? Because it's gone nearly very wrong for me a few times in recent years, and my own inReach Mini 2 literally saved my bacon when the radiator on a prototype snowmobile blew sky high. A short text through my inReach to my wife, some fast Search and Rescue responders who happen to be my neighbors, and a delicious Uncrustable later, and I was all right, all right, all right.
And that's why since that article, Garmin's been gracious enough to send me other inReach devices to test as they become available, including the new inReach Messenger Plus that I put through the wringer—a quick aside, but someone was asking me about the durability of my inReach the other day, and I literally threw it six feet onto some rocks for shits and giggles, then texted them to prove it was fine.
Now, however, there's a new inReach device. One that's designed to basically replace your smartphone, though it's not a smartphone per se. What we have here is Garmin's new GPSMap H1i Plus, and I'm going to be testing the unit for the next couple months, both in the backcountry (where it's already been slammed onto the ground hooked up to my backpack), and elsewhere.
But given we have this thing early, I figured I'd ask: What do you want to know about it? And what tests would you like to see me put it through? Nothing, and I mean nothing, is off the table. As you can see, I've already started running it over...
Let's first talk about what this handheld unit is, because, honestly, there's a lot.
First off, it's a handheld GPS device, i.e. it has maps, both offline and downloadable, that help you get to where you want to go when you're out in the woods or exploring places where cell reception doesn't exist. The GPSMap H1i Plus (and the H1) have a 3.5-inch touchscreen, and physical buttons for when your fingers are numb from the cold and you don't want to touch the screen with skin.
The battery on the device is capable of going 145 hours of extended use, so long as you turn a few things off, and put it into specific modes to ensure that long life, and you get the Messenger Plus' ability to send pictures and voice messages through the device to other Garmin Messenger users. There's also a built-in flashlight that you can change the brightness of, a siren in case of emergencies, and both front and rearward-facing cameras.
I'm hoping to use the latter to send a "Bull down!" text with pictures to my family and friends here real soon.
Likewise, one of the more interesting features on the new GPSMap H1i Plus is the voice control. Say you're out riding dirt bikes, as I'm wont to do, and I crash. Again, which I'm wont to do. But in the crash, either my arms are trapped or I break both of them (stranger things have been known to happen) and I can't reach my inReach to trigger an SOS.
With voice control, not only can I check in, send a message, and take a photo, but I could also send that "HELP" message without needing to touch the Garmin. That could literally save someone's life. There's also tracking for all your outdoor activities, the aforementioned maps features, in-app weather tracking, IP67 dust and water ratings, a rugged exterior so even when I toss it over my shoulder, it won't break, and about a hundred other things within the device that I haven't even started to explore yet.
It also comes with a carabiner to clip onto your backpack, but I'm finding that its bulk and size are a bit too much for hooking it onto the front of my hunting pack, so I may be looking for another mounting solution here real soon.
Pricing is...expensive, but as Garmin puts it, this is the brand's flagship device.
Garmin's Kawasaki Teryx H2 side-by-side, so it's gonna command a bit more from its customers' wallets. For the standard, non-inReach GPSMap H1, you're looking at $699.99. And for the inReach one, the one if you're buying a new GPSMap H1i Plus, you should absolutely just get, that'll set you back a cool $999.99. Pricey, but if you're someone like me who's active in the woods where reception isn't a thing, and gets himself into a lot of precarious situations, and who's extremely hard on gear and especially smartphones, this makes a lot of sense.
I will say this, my first text to my friend at Garmin was "Why don't you just make a phone already? Because this is so close to what I'd really want out of one." To which he replied, "We did," but it was apparently phased out. I think it's time for a comeback, but we'll see how this test goes. And to that, what do you want to see me do to this Garmin GPSMap H1i Plus I've got?
Let me know in the comments below.
