Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Got to use all the features on the first time out unfortunately. I bought this unit based on some great reviews and had all the features I needed. Ultimately purchased it to communicate with group of snowmobilers during winter rides. I had a break down and was separated on back to back trips this year and wanted a solution. So I took it on a hiking trip over the recent holiday weekend and told a contact (Android phone) once I got up to the camp site, I would send a location pin (IOS phone) and have him guess which location we ended up in in order to test sharing a location and having them find it on their app with offline maps. Just short of the camping spot I ended up breaking my leg. I started texting contacts in my iPhone using the Zoleo device and phone app to find out how far behind the rest of the group was and learned they were about 3 hours behind me. I debated for about 30 minutes about what to do and ultimately ended up pressing the SOS button due to the severity of the injury and remote location. Things I learned from my Zoleo device experience: 1. Response time between texts was very good. Even though I was in a real bad spot against steep sloping terrain with very tall trees on all sides......signal was the only problem based on my injury location. However, I believe the longest time for sending or receiving a text was 1-2 minutes but most of the time it was almost instantaneous. 2. SOS response was excellent. Once pressed they immediately reached out to my emergency contacts. They were in contact with me within 2 minutes and updated me throughout the ordeal. First communication was "GEOS: This is the IERCC, what is your emergency?". 3. Once IERCC determined that it was an emergency, they contacted a sheriff's office around 65 miles away (nearest location by checking Google). The sheriff's office then immediately contacted a local volunteer search and rescue crew. 4. When the search and rescue crew arrived, they were very professional, prepared, and very good at what they do. Very happy about that part. They immediately said they were pleased that I was able to get a very accurate location and inquired about how I did so. I showed them the Zoleo device and the SOS function and they were super impressed but hadn't heard of it before. They were able to use the location pin sent from my Zoleo device and input it into an onX app on their iPhone's and arrived exactly to my location. So there was no time "searching" around and took the guess work of finding me out of the time it took to rescue me. 5. At some point I inquired if I had to do any paperwork with them once finished and they said no. So there was no financial liability with these search and rescue folks. However, once we reached my vehicle I wasn't sure what their protocol was and requested that I drive myself out to the hospital of my choice. Their response was that there was too much liability for them to release me and instead drove me to the forest area boundary to be picked up by a waiting ambulance. So at that point I was liable for the cost of the ambulance and an overnight stay at an unknown hospital. Not really a bad thing in the end but I wasn't sure what the financial implications would be by pressing the SOS button......but I know now. Bottom line: I will never go off grid again without my Zoleo device. It was peace of mind when I got injured and the search and rescue crew gave me great feedback on how it helped them do their job to help me. Also, my contact that was sent the location pin instantly knew exactly where I was at as well, which is why I initially purchased it. Hope this helps anyone looking for something similar in a satellite communication device linked to IOS and/or Android phone.------not affiliated in any way with this company or how the device works------