The Ortovox 3+ was among the more intuitive beacons to use and scored reasonably well when it came to finding a single buried beacon. Its pleasant interface and easily decipherable displays are a welcome sight for most users during what is almost undoubtedly a high-stress situation. However, the 3+'s drawbacks of a relatively short maximum range (and thus a so-so search strip width) and consistently larger brackets (boxes), which were generally less precise during the fine search, kept it from scoring better.
The 3+ beacon is among the simplest and easiest to use. It has straightforward controls and is a great beacon for a novice or less practiced backcountry traveler. Its ease of use and easy to understand displays are this model's strongest advantage.
We found the 3+ has slightly below average accuracy during the fine search; while bracketing our victim, we would consistently get larger sized brackets compared with other beacons in the same spot. We also found that it generally would take less practiced users longer to complete a bracket than with other models.
The 3+ uses an easy to understand display that shows 1-3 victims and puts an intuitive mark around each signal as that beacon has been flagged. We used to feel that the Ortovox 3+ had one of the better flagging features on the market, but now as technology has gotten better, it's pretty average. During real-world use, we rarely had to hit the flag button more than one time; as long as there weren't too many signals in close proximity, the 3+ marks the buried beacon easily.
The range of the 3+ is toward the lower end of the spectrum of beacons and nearly the lowest of the three-antennae beacons we tested. The 3+ had a maximum range just below 40 meters. That means it has a few meters longer range than an original BCA Tracker DTS, Arva Evo4, and the Ortovox Zoom+, but not by much. It consistently came up meters shorter than the new BCA Tracker 2 and had a shorter range than the similarly priced Pieps DSP Sport and Mammut Barryvox beacons.
The 3+ is one of the few beacons to give buyers a color option. Like many other higher end beacons, you can update the software to help keep it running more smoothly. You can do this at some retailers or by mailing your beacon into Ortovox directly. The 3+ does have a group function feature, but it was complicated to access, and we didn't find ourselves using it very often.
The 3+ harness system is not the most comfortable to wear. It moved around on our testers more than other beacons. That said, it is very light, and its thin profile was nice to wear in an inner zippered pant pocket.
After 120 seconds of no movement, the beacon switches from Search to Send mode in case you get buried in a follow-up slide. Before switching back, this beacon beeps loudly for 10 seconds to alert the searcher that this function is taking place. This usefulness of this feature is sometimes debated, and you can read more about it in our main review.
Smart Antenna TechnologyThe 3+ was one of the first avalanche beacons to implement smart antenna technology. This technology is now being applied by more and more avalanche beacon manufacturers. This technology helps the beacon realize how it is oriented on the victim, who is buried in the avalanche. Using gravity, the beacon picks the antenna that is in the best orientation to broadcast its signal, maximizing the range that searchers might be able to pick up the buried beacon.
The 3+ is a beacon that can be appreciated by everyone, from the most novice user to very experienced and avid backcountry travelers. Only professionals and the most demanding recreational users will wish the 3+ had more to offer.
There is a lot of competition in this price range, and compared to similar priced models, the 3+ just doesn't perform as well in our tests.
