I’m thinking of purchasing this device or something similar for solo trips and trips with my 8year old daughter. I usually take my phone for gps anyway which is why I’m leaning towards this device. but a little apprehensive at the same time because it uses the phone and it’s not all One unit like a garmin.

Does anyone have experience with zoleo? Any pros or cons I might have missed? Any experience using both garmin and zoleo which did you prefer?

Thank you this will help ease my wife’s mind.

I am considering a zoleo or bivy stick myself. I am leaning toward the bivy stick due to the service pricing structure. I will only need it a couple times a year at most.
My buddy had an Inreach Explorer last summer and it was nice, but I use my phone for gps primarily. I am not sure the extra cost for an all in one is worth it. Hopefully somebody with more hands on experience chimes in soon.

I have a Somewear and am super satisfied. Zoleo is a worthy runner-up in my opinion and an excellent choice if you just can't shake anxiety over the phone because the Zoleo has some basic built-in buttons that can be used without your phone. I don't regret my Somewear one bit, and if anything should ever happen to my phone, the single most important feature, SOS for actual emergencies, remains intact anyway, so I'm not at all concerned that the less-important features rely on my phone.

I have a Zoleo and I'm very pleased with it. The company is easy to work with and after the first three months it is only $4 a month on standby.

Thanks folks. Last year was the first i took any sort of tech on an extended wilderness trip. Seems kinda hard to buy one of these but safety first I guess.

I have had one for a couple of years now and am completely satisfied. Works as intended hooking up to the phone and satellite. Also has a simple weather feature. Actually had to use it in an emergency situation for another paddler and got the message thru for help.

While the stand-alone texting ability may not be important to everyone, you may want to consider your personal needs and family situation. It also has value in emergency situations if that could be an important consideration.

I have been satisfied with my Garmin InReach mini (a refurbished unit) and have appreciated weather reports from time to time. Version2 with some improvements has just been released recently. The main use so far has been to send the "I'm OK" message to wife/family. That includes my location for them.

RLJ: Thank you for you insight. I have a couple of questions. Do you access the weather forecast via the app? Do you know how long it took to receive the message you sent? Thanks



Bonnie: thanks for your response. Garmin would be my choice. But I have a camera, gps, altimeter, barometer, compass, screenshots of weather forecasts, and more maps on my hand held computer.

Thedude: "RLJ: Thank you for you insight. I have a couple of questions. Do you access the weather forecast via the app? Do you know how long it took to receive the message you sent? Thanks



Bonnie: thanks for your response. Garmin would be my choice. But I have a camera, gps, altimeter, barometer, compass, screenshots of weather forecasts, and more maps on my hand held computer. "

I did my research on this about two years ago and ended up with the inReach. One aspect of the Zoleo that was a real showstopper was their weather reports didn't display wind speed and direction. Instead they provide sunrise and sunset data which is not helpful nor something I would put in the category of a "forecast". Maybe that has changed now. I don't know.

Argo "I did my research on this about two years ago and ended up with the inReach. One aspect of the Zoleo that was a real showstopper was their weather reports didn't display wind speed and direction. Instead they provide sunrise and sunset data which is not helpful nor something I would put in the category of a "forecast". Maybe that has changed now. I don't know."

That has changed. You get Dark Sky forecast with wind speed and direction.