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Benefits of Pairing an inReach Handheld Device to a Garmin Watch
Many Garmin® handhelds with inReach® satellite communication capability can be paired with compatible Garmin watches to bring the most commonly used inReach functions to your watch.
How the Watch and inReach Handheld Work Together
With a watch paired to an active handheld with inReach technology, inReach functions can be controlled from the watch using the inReach Remote widget. This allows the user to stay in touch with the inReach handheld at a glance while keeping the handheld secured high on the body or backpack for optimal sky view and transmission. For more information on the inReach Remote widget see Using the inReach Remote Widget on Garmin Watches.
When a new inReach message comes in, a notification appears on the watch with the option to reply.
NOTE: Weather requests will not show as notifications on the watch when paired to the inReach device.
While you can manually type out and send new messages with inReach Remote, using Quick Texts lets you send longer pre-written messages from the watch quicker.
Any of the three Check-in messages ( formerly known as Preset Messages) synced from the Garmin Explore™ website can be sent with a few button presses on the watch.
inReach Tracking can be started and stopped from the watch.
When an SOS is triggered from the watch, the handheld sends out the SOS message as if SOS was pressed on the handheld itself.
NOTE: The watch and handheld must be actively paired and within close proximity (10 feet) for SOS to work.
How Does Using an inReach SOS Differ From the Incident Detection Feature?
When you trigger an SOS on a Garmin watch paired with an inReach communicator, the inReach device uses the Iridium satellite network to contact the Garmin Response™ Center who will then determine what local emergency agency to contact to coordinate a rescue, and will reach out to emergency contacts you have designated at explore.garmin.com. You can also send to contacts on your inReach by using the inReach Remote on the watch. Your inReach contacts are different than contacts set up for Incident Detection, and must be created on the inReach communicator or at explore.garmin.com.
Garmin devices compatible with the Incident Detection feature use the cellular connection on your phone to send an alert to the emergency contacts you have designated in the Garmin Connect™ app when an incident is detected. This is different from triggering an SOS or sending a message with a paired inReach communicator. For more information on the Incident Detection feature see Setting Up Incident Detection on a Garmin Device.
Integration With the Garmin Explore™ App
The GPSMAP® 66i, 67i, 86i, 86sci, Montana® 700i, 710i, 750i, and 760i outdoor handhelds, and many Garmin watches are compatible with the Garmin Explore app and website. With both devices on the same Garmin Explore account, all your data (waypoints, tracks, routes, and activities) can be stored in one place and synced between devices making trip planning and post-trip analysis simpler. With the watch and handheld paired to the Garmin Explore app, you can:
Use Collections to gather and sync groups of data to multiple devices.
Plan detailed routes in the Garmin Explore app then sync to paired devices.
Sync data from devices to the Garmin Explore app offline via Bluetooth — no cell or data coverage needed.
For more information about using the Garmin Explore app, see Related.
Device Compatibility
If you are considering adding a watch or handheld with inReach capability to your gear kit, or already own one device or the other and wondering what is compatible, refer to the following FAQ to check compatibility with inReach Remote.