Looks like Spot finally is competing with Garmin/Delorne and a few others with two way sat coms.  I've had a gen 1 and the newest Spot, might be upgrading to this one.  Does everything else the previous ones do and a little more, to include texting.  Best of all you don't have to pair it with your phone like the Garmin and run down two batteries on two systems.  Downside is they went with rechargeable instead of the tried and true AA or replaceable.





https://www.outsideonline.com/2305036/first-impressions-spots-new-satellite-messenger

https://gearjunkie.com/spot-x-2-way-satellite-messenger-review

That keyboard!!!

will look into it.

Very interesting...  I am happy to see something with a two way texting option that doesn't require a phone to use...

https://www.findmespot.com/spotx/lander.php

Plan prices are not outrageous in the grand scheme of things...  I am sure I spend a lot more money through out the year on much more frivolous things.  

InReach does not require a phone to be paired but it is an option if I remember correctly.

From what I heard most people say SPOT has terrible customer service so they go with the Garmin.

My old Inreach SE does not require a phone link to text. It's a slow to punch out new message texts on my Inreach, but I mainly use the preset messages like "Starting my trip", "Safe at camp" and "Back at car".  I've also been using Garmin and Delorme products for years. Calling CS was always rare, but when I did, they were speaking American and the waits were short.

They lost me at rechargeable. That is great for shorter trips, but i want to be able to replace batteries on longer trips.

Could carry a battery bank to do it? Or a small solar panel.

If you only use it for a couple hours a day then it should last a month or so off grid.  I don't know about any one else but I don't spend more than a month off the grid at a time.  Heck, I am lucky to do a couple weeks at a time on e a year.

Of course I have never used one so my assumption is based of their claim on battery life.

I am also a ham radio guy, and if anyone has tried those little bafoeng radios, the UV-5R they know that a good lithium batter lasts a long time, even under use.  OF course that's not to say I wouldn't say no to an AA option for a SAT device.

Looks like spot announced yet another hike across the board, this time disguised as a "24.99 per year technology upgrade"

What the heck are they thinking?  Their rates are getting stupid, just for the basic functoins it'll be $225 a year now.