Garmin Alpha 200i Dog Tracking Handheld, Utilizes inReach Technology, Sunlight-readable 3.6 Touchscreen (010-02230-50), Black

Best in class for working dogs; but nowhere close to the experience you can expect from a modern smart device

Let me say this....I have 2 beagles that love to do a walk about. 9 hours they return. Got tired of it, so purchased this as a Christmas present. It is WONDERFUL. I know exactly where they are and can buzz them and they return. Easy to set up and operate. Love the zone area. Alerts you when they leave the zone area!

If you are part of a K9 SAR team do not buy this product. I upgraded from an Alpha 100 and had to go back to it. The unit will not display a heading or bearing in decimal degrees. Thats correct, you can not ever get a compass bearing from this unit. It only provides letters for your heading (N,S,E, etc.) Amazed that the top of the line unit cant even provide this basic information.

Had the Alpha 100 for a few months and was only running 1 dog on it. When I upgraded to running 2 dogs on the Alpha 100 it was a chore/hassle to be able to train them effectively. I upgraded to running all 4 dogs on the TT15 collars and decided I had to upgrade to the Alpha 200i.

This has worked great training our black mouth cur puppy. location is very accurate. Recall training works exelent. Program able buttons make it easy to use. Blue tooth to the phone works well but seems unnecessary? Range is awesome. I would not get the 200i again now that the 200 out as I will never use the SOS feature because of the subscription cost.

I have a Alpha 100 and now a Alpha 200. The Alpha 100 is a great product with a few shortcomings that have been eliminated with the Alpha 200. If you only have one dog the alpha 100 is a good choice but if you have more the Alpha 200 will work better. The Alpha 200 also has a bigger screen that is easier to see in sunlight. The only negative I now feel the Alpha 200 has is the inability to use ONX maps which I feel are superior to the Garmin maps.

Handheld is fine. Collar won’t charge right out of the box

Bought this unit to be able to track, train, and use InReach. It does all those well. I do have to lock the touch screen to keep from changing things when I put it in the carrying case but locking the screen is a viable option to keep that from happening. When received, I had to go to Garmins site and update the software, but that is not unusual for Garmin products. Sometimes they come with out of date software or versions that were put in at the factory that may be off from the ones on Garmins website. Just be aware that you always need to check the software version upon arrival. Aside from that, this is a great multipurpose unit.

The dog tracking compass is not always accurate which defeats the purpose of the unit. Under a clear sky with perfect conditions the dog needle will point to a totally different direction. Additionally, the locking tray for the microSD card is very flimsy. Mine is almost broken and I have been very gentle with it. This unit is supposed to be rugged, right? Also, this unit is not compatible with the OnX Hunt chip. As of this review only the 100 receiver is.

The device works great. The tracking/training box on the collar is quite large. I would Consider the mini version for dogs under 60lbs