I have an InReach SE and love it.
2 way com is pretty nice.
Can the InReach mini be used as a stand alone device incase your phone gets damaged? Does it have a keyboard or some other way to input?
GC
Garmin inReach Mini satellite communicator practical and easy to understand review and guide
hikingguy.com
Scroll about a third of the way down and you'll see how it works. Basically, canned messages aren't too bad to send, but hacking out a custom message through the mini is a chore. To be fair, it's not much fun with an Explorer+, but it's a little less tedious.
An SOS message works through a dedicated button on the mini, of course.
I own a Garmin Explorer+ and prefer it to the mini, but both have advantages over each other.