I hate all this technology on the trail. Some AT hikers, I had read, now carry laptop computers and modems, so that they can file daily reports to their family and friends. 1

- Bryson, Bill, A Walk in the Woods

That was back in 1996; 24 years ago. Today, we carry a laptop, modem, camera, GPS, accelerometer, and much more in a package roughly a quarter the size of those ancient modems: our smartphones. They work amazingly well, but they’re not magic. They still need a WiFi or cell signal to connect to the rest of the world. Recently, I ended up in place where neither worked for a few hours, and because I forgot to tell my spouse it was a possibility, it totally freaked her out. That may seem like an overreaction, but there are backstories here. I’ll save those for another day, though.

I decided that it was probably time for me to take a serious look at satellite communication devices. Initially, I looked at Spot’s offerings. I had seen their products at a local outdoor retailer, and knew they were well-established. I almost bought a Spot Gen4, thinking it was the best solution to my problem, but I realized I needed to do more research before investing in a device like this. What I found was that there are several brands in the market at the moment. The two major players are Spot and Garmin, with multiple devices each. There are also four start-ups: Zoleo, Somewear, Higher Ground, and Bivy, with one offering each, though Bivy has a new product coming out soon. I chose to include the new Bivy product in this review because it’s lighter and more functional than the original.

While reading about these devices, I learned that there are three satellite networks to choose from.

  • Spot is owned by Globalstar, and uses their satellites. Globalstar has good coverage in some parts of the world, and spotty or no coverage elsewhere. This is due to the fact that the satellite your device talks to has to relay that information to a ground station.
  • SatPaq uses Intelsat, which has satellites through the world. That said, SatPaq only works in the United States, using two ground stations and an unknown number of satellites. 2
  • Everyone else uses Iridium, which has coverage everywhere. Instead of taking your data and bouncing it directly to a ground station, Iridium’s satellites can talk to other satellites, ground stations, or other devices.

I get in to a lot of details ahead. If you want, you can skip ahead to my decision.

My requirements for this new device were that it had to be:

  • lightweight
  • water resistant
  • shock resistant
  • able to be secured to my running pack (or work through fabric)
  • able to notify my spouse that I’m OK

To that end, here’s what I found out about the devices I was looking at:

Device Weight Water Shock Mount Notification
Bivy Stick Blue 3.35 oz IP67 Unknown Large hole near top Yes
Garmin inReach Mini 3.5 oz IPX7 MIL-STD-810F Loop on device, carabiner included Yes
Higher Ground SatPaq 4 oz Unknown Unknown No Yes
Somewear Global Hotspot 4 oz IPX7 MIL-STD-810 Webbing and elastic 3 Yes
Spot Gen4 5.4 oz 4 IP68 Unknown Strap slots on device Yes
Spot X 7.0 oz IP67 MIL-STD-810G 5 Strap and carabiner included Yes
Zoleo 5.3 oz IP68 MIL-STD-810G Lanyard and carabiner included Yes

Three of the devices listed did not make the initial cut.

I removed the Spot Gen4 from consideration for two reasons:

  1. It says it’s impact resistant in the tech specs, but it only mentions an IPxx rating, which is dust and water resistance, not impact resistance.
  2. It’s a one-way communicator. I see no point in buying a one-way device when I can buy a two-way device.

I removed the Bivy Stick Blue because I couldn’t find any evidence that the device is shock resistant.

I removed the Higher Ground SatPaq because:

  1. It won’t work attached to my pack or in my pack. It must be attached, physically, to the sending phone in order to work.
  2. You have to aim it at a satellite to transmit your message.
  3. It does not have an IPxx rating. The FAQ specifically says it should not be submerged in water.
  4. It does not seem to be shock resistant at all.
  5. It only works in the United States.

That left me with four choices. I dug in a little deeper, comparing other features, and cost of ownership. I tried to pick the plan I’m most likely to need, without going over the allotment of messages or other features.

Device Dust Resistance External Check-in Button Network MSRP Plan Activation Fee Monthly Price Annual Price
Garmin inReach Mini No Yes Iridium $349.99 Recreation 6 $19.95 $34.95 $299.40
Somewear Global Hotspot No No Iridium $349.99 Plan 2 7 $25.00 $30.00 $330.00
Spot X Yes Yes Globalstar $249.99 Basic (Flex Basic) 8 $19.95 ($44.90) $14.95 $143.40
Zoleo Yes Yes Iridium $199.99 Basic 9 $20.00 $20.00 $240.00

While this information was useful, it didn’t produce a clear winner.

I started thinking more about what my experience would be like in the field with these units, and what my spouse’s experience would be at home.

Here’s what I think it would look like for me to initiate tracking in the field:

Garmin inReach Mini 10

  1. Power the device on.
  2. Press OK to access the menu.
  3. Press down until “Start Tracking” is selected.
  4. Press OK to start tracking.
  5. Press OK again.
  6. Press up until “Clear Log” is selected.
  7. Press OK to clear the log.
  8. Press down.
  9. Press OK on “Yes”.

OR

I could enable AutoTrack, and tracking will happen whenever I turn the device on. 11

Somewear Global Hotspot

  1. Power the device on.
  2. Open the Somewear app on my phone.
  3. Click on the Tracking tab.
  4. Click Start.

OR

  1. Power the device on.
  2. Press the power button three times in a row.

Spot X

  1. Power the device on.
  2. Long press the Track button.

Zoleo

The Zoleo doesn’t support tracking.

At home, if my spouse wanted to message me, she would need to:

Garmin inReach Mini 12

  1. Open the Messages app on her phone.
  2. Try to send a message to my main phone number, or try to reply to a message from the number that Garmin randomly assigned.
  3. Wait for a response.
  4. If that fails, try the other number, if possible.
  5. If both numbers fail, she needs to open the link to the MapShare page I had previously shared.
  6. Enter a shared password to access my MapShare page.
  7. Click on Message on the left panel.
  8. Enter her email address or phone number, so I know who it is.
  9. Compose a message.
  10. Click send.

Spot X

  1. Open the Messages app on her phone.
  2. Try to send a message to one of two numbers, either my mobile phone or my Spot X phone number.
  3. Wait for a response.
  4. If that fails, try the other number.

Somewear Global Hotspot

  1. Open the Somewear app on her phone.
  2. Send a message.

Zoleo

  1. Open the Messages app on her phone.
  2. Send a message to my Zoleo mobile number.

Alternatively, she could:

  1. Open the Zoleo app on her phone.
  2. Send a message.

At home, if my spouse wanted to see where I was, she would need to:

Garmin inReach Mini

  1. Click on the MapShare link I had sent.
  2. Enter a shared password to access the page.
  3. Click on “Map Filters (on)”.
  4. Select “Currently Tracking” in the “Date & Time Range”.

Spot X

  1. Click on the Spot Share Page link I had sent.
  2. Enter a shared password to access the page.

Somewear Global Hotspot

  1. Open the Somewear app on her phone.
  2. Click on tracking.

Alternatively, she could:

  1. Log in to the Somewear Website.
  2. Click on tracking.

Zoleo

Zoleo still doesn’t support tracking.

Decision

The exercises above helped, but this was still a tough decision to make. Here are my final eliminations, and my ultimate decision.

Spot Gen4 - No

As stated previously, the Spot Gen4 is a no, because it’s one-way and not shock resistant.

Bivy Stick Blue - No

Also, as stated previously, the Bivy Stick Blue is a no, because it’s not shock resistant, either.

Higher Ground SatPaq - No

This does not meet my needs. At all. If I accidentally drop it, on land or in water, I have no confidence it’ll survive. I have to clip it on to my phone and spin in a circle until I find a satellite. The app should at least emit astromech droid noises if it’s going to make act like one.

Spot X - No

What I like about the Spot X:

  • It can operate entirely independent of a smartphone.
  • It has a physical keyboard.

What I don’t like about the Spot X:

  • The auto-renewing, hard-to-cancel data plan.

The Spot X is less expensive than the other satellite communicators with similar features, at least at the outset. The plan prices are competitive if you go with an annual plan, but from what I have read, there’s no way to cancel your membership via the web. In their terms of service, it states that you have to contact their customer support at least 30 days before the end of your plan’s term.

If you choose instead to go with the significantly more expensive month-to-month Flex plan, you have an additional $24.95 “flex charge” and it’s not at all clear if that’s something you pay annually or each time you adjust your plan.

Garmin inReach Mini - No

What I like about the inReach Mini:

  • It can operate entirely independent of a smartphone.
  • It has a reputation of being a solid, dependable device.
  • It has a ton of features.
  • A user on MapShare can request the location of the inReach device. That’s huge.

What I don’t like:

  • The MapShare site, from what I was able to see, is really confusing.
  • The potential confusion regarding whether my spouse should send me a message via text to my mobile phone, or try to get in touch with me through MapShare.
  • I’m tired of the Garmin UI/UX, both on the devices and on the web side of things. They all seem to target power users as their core customer, and as such, there’s often a steep learning curve.
  • Multiple sources, including Garmin’s user guide, commented on the fact that battery life would be significantly diminished by leaving the device paired to a smartphone full time. I don’t see any mention of Bluetooth Low Energy in reference to the inReach Mini, so I believe it.

Zoleo - No

The Zoleo has a number of features that I like:

  • It supports sending messages over WiFi, cell, or satellite.
  • The app looks nice, and from the screenshots I saw, functions well.
  • It has an external check-in button, which sends an “I’m OK” message to predefined contacts. It always uses the satellite link, which is good for testing your connection to Iridium.
  • As part of your data subscription, you get assigned a mobile number for SMS and an email address. You can give both of these out, and they will not change as long as you keep your subscription active.
  • The device shows status through 4 LEDs and a speaker, through colors, patterns, and sounds.
  • The exterior aesthetic is awesome. I know that’s not objective, but it looks like it’s built to last.

What I don’t like:

  • There is no tracking feature. This is the deal breaker.
  • The lights on the outside are color coded in a way that make it difficult for color blind users to distinguish between states. 13 Green, amber, and red can be difficult for me to tell apart, and I’ve had problems with other, similar color changing LEDs.

Just to exhaust the tracking issue completely, I reached out to Zoleo customer support. I asked if it was possible for employees at Zoleo to ping a device, and find the location of it. The response was no.

If I’m incapacitated, a Zoleo device will not serve to help SAR find me.

Somewear Global Hotspot - Yes

What I like about this device:

  • It supports sending messages over WiFi, cell, or satellite, whichever is available.
  • It supports tracking, and those tracks also use WiFi, cell, or satellite. Tracking can be enabled without using a smartphone. 14
  • Messaging and tracking are handled through the mobile or web app, both of which use a clean, modern UI.

What I don’t like:

  • There are only two buttons on the unit itself: power and SOS. The power button has multiple functions: in addition to powering the device on or off, you can also triple click it to turn tracking on or off. I’d prefer to see two additional buttons: one for tracking, and one for checking in. It might break the aesthetic, though.

Since the goal here is peace of mind for my spouse, the Somewear wins. It was a toss-up between inReach Mini, Zoleo, and Somewear, but in the end, I had to go with this choice.

Everything will be in one app, and my family will be able to see my track and message me from that app, regardless of whether I’m down the street or deep in the woods. If something unthinkable happens, they’ll have a good idea of where I am, or at least where I was.

As an added benefit, the Somewear app and device are under active development. The feature that lets it switch its data channel between cell, WiFi, or satellite was only added in June. As a software developer, that’s a sign that this is a healthy product from a healthy company, and my investment won’t end up as a brick15 a year from now.

Thanks for reading, and until next time, be excellent to each other.

Lots of extra reading, in case you need more:

Documentation

Comparisons

Bivy Stick Blue Reviews

Garmin inReach Mini Reviews

Higher Ground SatPaq Reviews

Somewear Global Hotspot Reviews

Spot X Reviews

Zoleo Reviews

  1. Bryson, Bill. A Walk in the Woods (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail) (p. 213). Crown. Kindle Edition. ↩︎

  2. https://satpaq.com/faq/ ↩︎

  3. https://gearjunkie.com/somewear-global-hotspot-review-off-grid ↩︎

  4. The device is listed as 5.0 oz with lithium batteries. I would use rechargeable NiMH batteries, which adds 0.4oz the weight of the device. Source: https://www.energizer.com/batteries/battery-comparison-chart ↩︎

  5. https://www.globalstar.com/Globalstar/media/Globalstar/Downloads/Products/SPOTX/SPOT-X-SMG-sales-sheet_no-bleeds.pdf ↩︎

  6. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/personal/#subscriptions ↩︎

  7. https://www.somewearlabs.com/data-pricing ↩︎

  8. https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/products-services/spot-x#service-plans ↩︎

  9. https://www.zoleo.com/en-us/plans/ ↩︎

  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT0wGGVYJek ↩︎

  11. https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=fxpOTJ33Kf60kr4BnAWU4A ↩︎

  12. https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=o4sYSXP4LC8KhFNWJEVPI7 ↩︎

  13. https://support.zoleo.com/kb/articles/zoleo-led-indicator-guide ↩︎

  14. https://sleddermag.com/gear/somewear-global-hotspot-satellite-communicator-review/ ↩︎

  15. brick: a useless or non-functioning piece of technology, suitable only for use as a brick ↩︎