Improving the Battery Life of Garmin inReach Products

• Backlight use is a large contributor to battery drain. Having the backlight set at 100% will drain a lot of battery while the backlight is on. The manual setting for the backlight uses the least battery power. Having the backlight turned on when any button is pressed will use additional battery.

• The amount battery life impacted by connecting to a smartphone is dependent on several different features. The more messages that are sent/received, notifications or times the handheld must search for the Bluetooth connection due to being taken out of range, will all impact how quickly the battery drains.
• Android users may see some additional battery drain when connected with certain inReach handhelds as keeping the inReach connected requires the handhelds GPS to remain on.

• inReach handhelds are designed to be used outdoors. We suggest testing the device before you head out on your trip, but do so outside. If the device is powered on indoors, the battery will drain noticeably faster as the handheld will not be able to find the signal for sending/receiving messages or tracking points. Additionally, the handheld will have to try a lot harder to find a GPS signal.

• The Send Interval determines how often the inReach SE/SE+/Explorer/Explorer+, inReach Messenger, and inReach Mini series will send track points via the Iridium satellite network to your MapShare page. This feature can be changed in the device settings. Reducing how often the handheld sends these points will improve battery life.
• The Tracking app in the GPSMAP 66i/86i/86sci and Montana 700i/750i performs this same function.

• The Log Interval sets the frequency at which the inReach SE+/Explorer/Explorer+ and inReach Mini logs your location and updates the track line on the map. Reducing how often the handheld records these track points will improve battery life.
• The Activity Recording setting on the inReach Mini 2 determines how often a track point is recorded to the track log on the device. The Standard setting will use less battery than the High Detail setting.
• The Recording Controls App in the GPSMAP 66i/86i/86sci and Montana 700i/750i determines how often a track point is recorded to the track log on the device. The GPS is always on whether a track point is recorded or not so, there will be no real improvement in battery performance by reducing how often track points are recorded.

NOTE: Hardware and software improvements have eliminated the need for extended tracking or expedition mode settings on the inReach Messenger and inReach Mini 2.

Extended Tracking will disable several features of the inReach SE+/Explorer+ and inReach Mini (listed below) to conserve the battery life of the device for tracking.

• • Bluetooth
  • Message Listens
  • Navigation
  • Log Interval

If any of these options are manually turned on, after Extended Tracking is enabled, the device will automatically leave the Extended Tracking mode.

Extended Tracking does not change or affect the track Send Interval for the inReach device.

While in Extended Tracking mode, the device will go into a "sleep" mode and the screen will appear to be turned off. Tapping the power button will "wake" the device up to be used as normal.

Expedition Mode features for the GPSMAP 66i/86i/86sci and Montana 700i/750i:

• • Track points are dropped via a smart recording mode that determines the best interval to log based off movement and other factors.
  • Track log detail will be reduced when the setting is enabled.
  • Bluetooth connections are disabled.
  • ANT + connections to Heart Rate monitors or other sensors are disabled.
  • Using the Expedition mode (with a clear view to the sky) can increase the device’s battery life by days or even weeks.
  • Expedition Mode allows the user to prolong the battery life of the GPSMAP 66/86i/86sci and Montana 700i/750i. When enabled the screen will turn off and the green light next to the power button will occasionally flash to let you know the unit is still powered on and recording data.

While in Expedition Mode, the device will go into a "sleep" mode and the screen will appear to be turned off. Tapping the power button will "wake" the device up to be used as normal.

• All devices that use batteries are subject to reduced battery run times in cold conditions. Conditions below freezing will significantly reduce the battery capacity and charging can only occur above freezing.

• Connecting the handheld with a watch will create an additional drain on the battery. Another example would be connecting the GPSMAP 66i/86i/86sci or Montana 700i/750i with a tempe sensor. If the additional sensor is not in use, it a good idea to disable the connection so the handheld is not searching for the additional information unnecessarily.