Garmin inReach Mini 2

Yes. When you've got many many miles to hike, no service, and no other way to call for help. Friend had to have a helicopter pick him up in the sierra wilderness after his insulin supply went bad. This stuff happens.

I recently asked myself this very question. I ended up going with the Mini 2. Reasons being.... Stand alone navigation device. The mini wins this one hands down. I try to be less reliant on my phone when I out in the wilds. Phone batteries drain quicker, mapping apps can be replaced by actual paper maps, a dead phone or a dropped phone could mean no navigation at all if its you primary GPS/map tool. Having a better or redundant navigation tool seems to me objectively better than having a marginally better messaging tool.

The Mini 2 is all you need. The battery lasts ages even if you send tracking points every 20 minutes (we're talking at the very least a week in winter). I even use it for navigation. Writing messages directly on the device is slow but possible. Sending them using the phone app is very easy and quick. With how little it weighs and how much the battery lasts, I don't see any reason to buy anything else tbh. In my experience almost all messages are sent within 3 minutes, too

I have the mini 2 and would prefer the messenger. All the standard controls are available via buttons on the messenger (start/stop tracking/sos/pre-set messages, etc). Any other messaging I do on the mini 2 is via my phone since the interface is clunky compared to a touch screen keyboard.

Really depends how much peace of mind it gives you and how much you value that. I value that a lot. I also like the ability to get updated weather for my location so I can plan for thunderstorms. I value that a lot as well.

So I just bought a messenger and I think it was the right decision, but I've got to say, the idea of it being a last ditch powerbank is completely wrong. It is a last minute reverse charger, but if you're looking for this to charge your phone, depending on the size of the phone battery you're getting VERY marginal charging at huge Messenger drain at the very best. ... This is not to say it's a negative. It's a great feature to have, and no doubt can be useful to shoot off more complex messages in an emergency if needed, like about compound injuries or complex decisions... But it's sooooo far from a replacement for a powerbank that when I see people referring to it as such in their purchasing decision making, it's a completely wrong decision point.