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REI’s annual Anniversary Sale doesn’t start until March 15th, but that hasn’t stopped Garmin from rolling out discounts on a range of devices — including its InReach Mini satellite communicators. Right now, for instance, you can grab the Mini 2 at Amazon, REI, and Garmin for $249.99 ($150 off) or the Mini 3 for $399.99 ($50 off) through the same retailers (Amazon, REI, and Garmin). That’s the lowest price we’ve seen on the newer InReach model, which launched in late December.
As someone who has used both the Mini 2 and Mini 3 in the backcountry, I’m a big fan of dedicated satellite communicators over smartphones, even those with support for satellite SOS and messaging. Both the Mini 2 and Mini 3 are far more rugged than your average phone, for one thing, and each device offers multi-day battery life, which certainly isn’t the case with iPhone 17-series phones and Google’s newer Pixel phones. They also operate in higher temperatures and allow you to pull the weather report, which is a massive plus when you’re off the grid and exposed to ever-changing weather patterns.
