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

Works very well to keep track of our dog when he decides to chase animals in heavy woods, or wonders to the neighbors. geofence works great, accuracy is with 16’ radius most of the time. satellite images make it easy to see where dog is rather than just a dot on a map. Easy touch screen controls and user friendly. WiFi works great for downloading maps and satellite images. Bluetooth worked on iPhone for garmin app.

I hunt on a wildlife management area with still hunt and dog hunt areas and no problem stopping dogs be for they reach the boundaries !

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

This Alpha 200i will interfere with a VHF radio. I use a VHF handheld radio with the Alpha and I get a constant clicking sound transmitted from the Alpha to the VHF. Garmin has no solution.

I upgraded from an Alpha 100 to this 200i. Very very happy. Screen is more readable, not any brighter and the colors are more muted than the 100, but it’s still a bit easier to read and bigger. The touch screen works much better - more of an iPhone feel to it. Extra buttons are very nice to set up various functions while managing multiple dogs. Using WiFi to download Birdseye views is a winner. Just seems to work better than the 100 for that. Using Birdseye to help see where the dogs are is much more initiative than trying to interpret a topo map or something. Screen and function layout is better than the 100. The game changer for me is the iPhone integration. It displays map and dog tracking information directly to a paired iPhone using the Garmin Explorer app. Works great. I normally carry my iPhone when I hike with my dogs to take photos or talk on the phone or check email or whatever. Since is often already in my hand, having the dog data displayed there is awesome. And the map/tracking interface is easier to use on the larger iPhone screen. Serious hunters may not be carrying/using their iPhone, but for how I hike, this is awesome. Finally the form factor is more high tech. The soft rubbery surfaces of the 100 are replaced with hard plastic. It has a slicker look and feel. Nicer to have in hand. Hard to describe. For me the upgrade was totally worth it. Sold my 100 in a day on eBay, so it cut the upgrade cost to $400 - easy. For anyone choosing between the 100 and 200i, this seems the obvious choice. Hope this helps!

Dog Group/Management, programmable training keys, Bluetooth transfer of tracks, WiFi downloads of satellite imagery, satellite messaging all great upgrades from alpha 100. Well worth the price despite a few lingering Garmin user interface idiosyncrasies.

Didn’t work in Australia! I sent it back still waiting for my refund

The dog compass is useless. It’s not accurate at all. Calibrating the unit makes no difference. The rest is pretty cool but the device is slower than you’d like trying to access features on the screen. It’s like getting around on a 15 year old phone

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.

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.