Garmin Montana 700i: Rugged GPS Handheld for Outdoor Exploration

Jeremy Jerome: Never get lost

Canada on Nov 15, 2023

Richard McCain: I've been known to go on long hikes and even backpacking by myself. My son has inherited that tendency, so several years ago I bought him a Garmin Montana. It heelps him find his way, and the inReach cpability lets his send messages to let people know he's OK. I had a smaller Garmin I've used for years, and a Spot that I carried for communication and emergencies. After looking at that nice big screen, I decided to make the switch. Yeah, it's a lot bigger than my old Garmin eTrex, but it also lets me communicate, and it gives me a good topo display. I've got the 24K-series chip with topos for Wa, Or, Ca & Hi. Works great: I live in Wa and my son lives in Ca. We usually meet somewhere in that region for backpacking trips, and most of my solo trips are in Wa or Or. I still carry a compass and a paper map, but it's great to be able to see the topography on the screen. I'm a little concerned about battery life. So far, it's worked pretty well on 2-3 day trips, but for a longer trips, I'd make sure to take a power bank to keep it charged. On a recent trip on the south side of the Wallowa Mtns, we also used it to find a route for the car. It sent us down a logging trail that was...

United States on Oct 29, 2023

Laura Mick: Went on a trip lately, being able to put satellite maps onto the unit is awesome, super easy to use. It is a little different than what you would expect when first using the buttons compared to a smart phone or tablet. Inreach is the way to go.sometimes slow to get messages out but that’s ok. The larger screen is a must have for hunting and scouting.

Canada on Oct 21, 2023

Darren Mitchell: I know this gps is not cheap, but is there a price you can put on your safety? I bought the back roads map card for it too. With the satellite SOS call button and direct link to search and rescue this unit is all you need in the back country. The screen and map colors are awesome. I can even satellite text my wife and send my coordinates if I want to. Be safe.

Canada on Sep 29, 2023

Amazon Customer: I've used the Garmin 700inreach for a few months now, mostly on my adventure bike but also for hunting, hiking, fishing and all other backcountry navigating. It's especially useful with the Backroad Mapbook's SD card installed. It does require a Garmin plan to run the SOS but the text to satellite works very well and you can send preset messages individually or as a group for no charge and it will let your friends see where you are. Texting does have a cost if you exceed the number of texts in your monthly plan but it reasonable. Navigating with it is exceptionally easy once you know how to run it but there is a learning curve. Also I've had a Garmin Oregon for about 8 years so I am familiar wit Garmin products. You will need to use it and might find it frustrating for bit but it is worth the trouble to learn as it is a great product. It also works well in city's but of course like all GPS units you have to be careful of the settings in the city or the route may take you on a ridiculous route to save a few miles. Visibility and brightness is good even in bright sun on a motorcycle. Controls are very good and you can move and prioritize the icons, I can operate it while riding...

Canada on Jul 21, 2023

Jesus h.: Es interesante la forma de operar de éste GPS, buscas sitios, rutas y te guía en la navegación. Haces capturas de mapa satélite y con ello muestra el área que bajas. Sería bueno pagar el servicio satélites y ver que tal funciona.

Mexico on Apr 04, 2023

edward: Big screen, a bit hard to use, could really use better graphics, given todays google earth quality on a computer. Needs higher resolution. Hasn't changed much after many older models other then getting a bigger screen. Pricey as well.

United States on Feb 25, 2023

Bob Friesenhahn: I bought the Montana 700i almost a year ago. My purpose was to have high quality maps loaded which do not depend on cell data access, given that sometimes I might be 80 miles from a place where I could make a phone call, much less get data. Given that I am sometimes very remote, I wanted the InReach technology so I could call for help, and keep in touch with my family. I use the 700i when driving (in conjunction with a Garmin Nuvi, which works better for that) and also for daily walks and hiking. This GPS can be used as a driving GPS (with voice) just like Garmin's driving GPSs if one purchases the associated suction cup mount (with integrated AMPS plate) but the routing calculations are slow, the screen is a bit small, and major intersection signs are not show as the dedicated driving GPSs do.

Unfortunately, the Montana started having issues with going black, locking up, or needing to be restarted. At first I though that it was something I was doing (battery, cable, charger, etc), but the problem kept getting worse. So two weeks before the 1 year warranty expired, I requested a replacement unit and so now I have a new one.

Important things to know about the 700i is...

United States on Sep 18, 2022

Jim Craig: Of course everything in life is a compromise. This is heavier than its predecessors, and it isn’t cheap.

It’s ideal for an ATV, motorcycle, hunting, etc. it has all of the outdoor capabilities built right into it, like dog tracking, heart monitor, cadence for bicycles, etc.

The interface is certainly the easiest of the inReach thus far. Another big plus is the fact that it has a swappable battery.

It’s certainly heavier then the previous versions of inReach, but of course it’s larger so that only makes sense.

I’m sure not long down the road these things will become thinner, faster, etc., but as I said, right now this is the big cheese. The only thing that is missing is voice recognition.

The only negative I have is the camera is almost worthless. I think we’ve become spoiled with the quality of photos on our smart phones, but the resolution on this is pretty bad. For me that’s not a big deal, because I don’t know that I would’ve ever used it anyway.

United States on Nov 04, 2021

Ian C.Ian C.: I got this for my upcoming off grid trekking and i'm very happy. I am from South East Asia and this unit is a North America set, but no problem i was able to install Open Topo Maps for this. A bit bulky but feature packed. I also have the Garmin Explorer + and i'm loving both especially the inreach feature.

FYI, make sure to only install maximum 32gb of SD card, I tried putting my 64 GB and the maps i installed are not viewable on my Montana. When I replaced it with a 32GB SD card, it worked like a charm. In fairness, garmin mentioned to use upto maximum 32gb.

All in all good purchase. Reasonable delivery period as well.
I paired it with a TUSITA Silicone case and TUSITA screen protector, it fits very well. gotta protect this rugged but expensive thing.

United States on Oct 07, 2021