In our experience, the GO exec is a far better product, being 40X faster than the Iridium GO! and easier to use. Although the GO exec hardware is more expensive, it is worth the extra cost. Setting up either the Iridium GO! or GO exec with the Datahub, enabling all the features and learning how to use either will take time, so please plan ahead.
Key points of difference between the GO exec and the Iridium GO!
The GO exec offers up to 40X the data download speed (88kbps vs 2.4kbps).
The additional speed of the GO exec makes it possible to use Apps such as WhatsApp, post on social media, check your banking App and send pictures to friends and family. The slower speed of the Iridium GO! means that most of these tasks are not possible.
The GO exec has far superior voice call quality and you are able to talk into the unit. The Iridium GO! you cannot.
For the GO exec, there is no need to keep/buy spare SIM cards, as you can reactivate your used GO exec SIM card.
The GO exec does not come with inbuilt GPS tracking; however, PredictWind offers the DataHub for this, which is by far the best GPS tracking device, with an N2K interface to get the GPS data from your instrumentation system.
This GPS data is far more accurate than using the GPS data from the Iridium GO! GPS internal GPS, which, when installed below decks, can have large inaccuracies and in some cases be unreliable. In addition, the DataHub allows friends and family to see your wind speed and direction in real-time from your boats wind instrumentation.
What the Iridium GO! has that the GO exec does not have
The GO exec does not have GPS tracking capability. PredictWind offers the DataHub as a device to complement the GO exec for this. The DataHub enables GPS tracking continuously through any available Internet connection, e.g. Starlink, 4G/5G, and the GO exec.
The GO exec does not have SMS messaging capability built into the device or the GO exec App. The GO exec has Internet Web/App profiles that offer WhatsApp for text messaging. PredictWind also offers PredictChat as part of a PredictMail subscription. PredictChat enables SMS and WhatsApp connectivity through the GO exec via the DataHub.
Comparison chart Iridium GO! and GO exec
Please click on the image to view full screen on the GO exec webpage. It is around 2/3rds of the way down the page.
