Multi-GNSS on the Garmin GPSMAP 67

Just when you thought handheld trail GPS was dead because of smartphones, along comes the Garmin GPSMAP 67 and 67i. (These two units are identical except the 67i has built-in InReach, which provides two-way satellite messaging and SOS services via a subscription service. If you buy the 67, you can always pair it with a separate InReach communicator at a late time. All the features I'll discuss below are common to both units.)

The GPSMAP 67 series adds three major features:

• An internal rechargeable battery with 180 hours of battery life
• Multi-satellite reception of all four GNSS systems
• Detailed topo maps built-in

The improved battery life is a major step above the previous model, the GPSMAP 66 series. The latest model of the 66 has a rechargeable battery with 35 hours of life, but the older version uses two AA batteries with 16 hours of life. I've never been a fan of rechargeable batteries that aren't replaceable, until now. But the 67 series has plenty of battery life even for extended backpack trips. And there are plenty of solar recharging options now for those who's gear will be carried by a boat or vehicle rather than on their back. And Expedition mode, where the receiver sleeps most of the time and saves you position every 10 minutes, extends the battery life to 480 hours. (The 67i has a bit less battery life if InReach is used, 165 and 425 hours for normal and Expedition modes.)

The 67 series can receive all four operational GNSS systems simultaneously- the American GPS, Russian GLONASS, European Galileo, and Chinese Beidou. It achieves a position fix much faster than the 66 or the 64, the two older models. The 67 normally has a position fix by the time the first screen is displayed In my preliminary tests, it receives enough satellites from each of the the four services to achieve a position fix without the other three satellite systems. What this means is that the 67 series should be able to maintain a position fix in much more difficult situations than earlier units.

I've always loaded aftermarket maps into my Garmin GPS units from free sources such as gpsfiledepot.com, because the built-in maps have never been detailed enough for hiking. But the Garmin TopoActive maps that come installed on the 67 series are as detailed as dedicated recreation maps. In my area, the maps even show social trails that aren't part of the official National Forest trail network. The coverage is comparable with that of CalTopo's MapBuilder layers.

Finally, the 67 series still has the ability to work with the Garmin Explore app your desktop computer (Windows or Mac) and on your smartphone (Android and iPhone), as does the older 66 series. So you can take advantage of the mapping and processing power of your phone while still having the far superior GPS technology in the Garmin unit.