Six portable ADS-B In receivers pilots still name for a rental or a plane without a panel receiver: three ForeFlight Sentry models, Stratus 4, a prebuilt Stratux, and the Garmin GDL 50 (the pocket unit that followed the GDL 39). Numbers are maker or retailer specs. None of these transmit ADS-B Out.
By a working airline pilot · How we pick · Last reviewed Sep 28, 2026 (ET)
What changed: new page. Specs and prices checked against ForeFlight’s Sentry pilot’s guide, Sporty’s, the Stratus 4 pilot’s guide, Crew Dog’s Stratux listing, and Aircraft Spruce’s GDL 50 page.
Top picks
The short version — labels come from the spec cards below.
Stratus 3 is the previous pocket model. Its pilot’s guide still lists about eight hours when new, dual-band 978/1090, WAAS, and AHRS. A current Stratus 3 checkout price was not on the pages used here, so that price varies. The GDL 39 is the older Garmin portable this GDL 50 replaced; this page prices the GDL 50 only.
Portable ADS-B In
Pilots on r/flying and Pilots of America split on whether a ForeFlight-only receiver is worth it if the other pilot in the club uses Garmin Pilot. The cards stay with published bands, hours, and prices.
Traffic / weather: Dual-band ADS-B (978 and 1090 MHz) and FIS-B · onboard memory stores up to 30 minutes of weather for replay · CO sensor, 10-year lifespan, not replaceable
CO bands: Pilot’s guide: normal below 75 ppm, caution 75–200 ppm, danger at 200 ppm or greater, with in-app visual and audible alerts
GPS: WAAS. Sporty’s adds 1-meter accuracy and an automatic switch to Galileo if GPS is unavailable
AHRS: Pitch and roll for a backup attitude display in ForeFlight. Sporty’s: not intended for primary reference. Barometer included
Battery: Rechargeable, up to 12 hours on a charge, not designed to be removed. A depleted pack can take up to 12 hours to charge. USB-C on units sold after November 2023
Link: Wi-Fi, up to five devices. The pilot’s guide says these receivers are exclusively compatible with ForeFlight Mobile. 2-year uAvionix warranty
Size: Sporty’s lists 2.25 × 3.25 × 1.25 in. The pilot’s guide says units sold before November 2023 measure 2.3 × 3.3 × 1.5 in
Price: ~$649 — Sporty’s listed $649.00 and showed the unit in stock
Up to 12 hours internal, against zero hours inside Sentry Mini and 4+ hours on the Stratux pack
AHRS and a CO sensor are on the comparison table; Mini’s row leaves both blank
$150 less than Sentry Plus at Sporty’s ($649 vs $799) if you do not need the OLED, g-meter, or FLARM
ForeFlight only, per the pilot’s guide. Stratus 4’s Sporty’s page names Garmin Pilot as well
Battery is not user-replaceable. Stratus 4’s is
Choose Sentry when the iPad already runs ForeFlight and you want weather, traffic, backup attitude, and CO without a second box. Vs Mini: you pay $200 more at Sporty’s ($649 vs $449) for the battery, AHRS, barometer, and CO. CO thresholds are also on the CO detectors page.
Traffic / weather: Dual-band ADS-B and FIS-B, same checkmarks as Sentry on the pilot’s guide comparison table · weather replay up to 30 minutes
GPS: WAAS. The Mini product page does not repeat the 1-meter / Galileo line Sporty’s prints for Sentry and Sentry Plus
AHRS / CO / barometer: Not checked on the Sentry comparison table. Sporty’s: no internal battery; power it from a 5 V USB source
Power: Pilot’s guide: connect the USB-C cable to a 5 V, 2 A source to turn it on. Wi-Fi for up to five devices
Size: Pilot’s guide: 3.3 × 2.3 × 0.6 in, 44 g. Sporty’s lists 2.25 × 3.25 × 0.25 in and 1.5 oz. Those two published sizes do not match
Apps: ForeFlight. The family guide says Sentry receivers are exclusively compatible with ForeFlight Mobile
Price: ~$449 — Sporty’s listed $449.00. The same page showed both an in-stock line and a backordered notice
$200 less than Sentry at Sporty’s ($449 vs $649) for the same dual-band and FIS-B checkmarks
44 g in the pilot’s guide, against a Stratux listing of 1.5 lb
No battery to age out. It runs as long as the USB source does
No AHRS, no barometer, and no CO sensor — those three are on the $649 Sentry
A dead ship’s USB port or a dead pack means no receiver. Sentry’s own battery is listed at up to 12 hours
Choose Sentry Mini when the airplane already has a USB port and you only need weather, traffic, and GPS in ForeFlight. Vs Sentry: you give up the 12-hour internal battery, AHRS, and the 10-year CO sensor.
Traffic / weather: Dual-band ADS-B and FIS-B, plus a FLARM receiver on the European SRD860 band, 868.2–868.4 MHz. Displaying FLARM in ForeFlight requires a FLARM decoding license tied to the ForeFlight account
GPS: Multi-constellation WAAS. Sporty’s: 1-meter accuracy and Galileo fallback
AHRS: Backup pitch and bank, not for primary reference, plus a g-meter recorded at 1 Hz in track logs
CO: Same pilot’s-guide bands as Sentry (below 75 / 75–200 / 200 ppm or greater) and a 10-year non-replaceable sensor. Sporty’s copy says the Plus sensor is more sensitive than the previous Sentry
Battery: Up to 18 hours, not replaceable. Sporty’s: USB-C, including Power Delivery, and auto on/off when external power is connected or removed
Screen / recorder: OLED. Flight data recorder stores up to 16 track logs, then overwrites the oldest. Wi-Fi client mode can join an aircraft network. Up to five devices on its own network
Price: ~$799 — Sporty’s listed $799.00 and showed the unit in stock
18 hours vs 12 hours on Sentry — six more hours on the published figure
OLED, g-meter, 16-flight recorder, and FLARM are Plus-only rows on the comparison table
CO sensor still listed at 10 years, the same interval as Sentry
$150 more than Sentry at Sporty’s ($799 vs $649)
Still ForeFlight. FLARM targets need a separate ForeFlight license, and the receiver is the European frequency band
Choose Sentry Plus when the 18-hour battery, the OLED, or European FLARM is the feature you are paying for. The dual-band weather and traffic and the 75 / 200 ppm CO bands are already on the $649 Sentry.
Traffic / weather: Dual-band 978 MHz and 1090 MHz, FIS-B (NEXRAD, METARs, TAFs, TFRs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, NOTAMs on Sporty’s list). No subscription for ADS-B weather
GPS: The pilot’s guide shows groundspeed and GPS accuracy in meters on the color screen, and a satellite count
AHRS: Backup attitude in Stratus Insight and Stratus Horizon Pro. Guide warning: supplemental only. Sporty’s: not certified for IFR operations. G-meter on the receiver screen. Apple Find My
Battery: About eight hours when new. Sporty’s: 8-hour run time, user-replaceable, no tools. Can also run on external power
Recorder: Position, speed, attitude, and barometric altitude. About 20 hours of data in built-in memory
Apps: Wi-Fi, not Bluetooth. Appareo’s FAQ names Stratus Insight, ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, FlyQ, FltPlan Go, WingX, iFly GPS, and other GDL-90 apps. Full AHRS, synthetic vision, flight data recording, and pressure altitude are in Stratus Insight and Horizon Pro; other apps use Open ADS-B mode. Multiple devices; the guide does not print a device cap
Price: ~$849 — Sporty’s listed $849.00. The page showed both an in-stock line and a backordered notice
Garmin Pilot is on Sporty’s app list. The Sentry guide says ForeFlight only
Battery is user-replaceable. Sentry’s 12-hour pack is not
Color touchscreen for GPS, ADS-B, and g-load without opening the tablet
About 8 hours when new, against up to 12 on Sentry and up to 18 on Sentry Plus
$849 at Sporty’s is $200 more than Sentry ($649) and $50 more than Sentry Plus ($799)
Choose Stratus 4 when the cockpit uses more than ForeFlight, or you want a battery you can swap. Stratus 3: the older pilot’s guide lists about eight hours when new, dual-band 978/1090, WAAS, AHRS, a flight data recorder, and pressure altitude, and it names ForeFlight. A live Stratus 3 unit price was not on the checkout pages checked here, so that price varies.
Traffic / weather: Dual-band high-gain antennas for 978 and 1090 MHz, FIS-B (regional and CONUS NEXRAD, METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs/SIGMETs, PIREPs, winds, TFRs, NOTAMs, SUA). No subscription
GPS: Internal GPYes WAAS, listed at ±2.5 m
AHRS: Embedded chip. The listing says it supports ForeFlight synthetic vision
Battery: EasyAcc 6000 mAh pack, 4+ hours, pass-through charging. The pack is separate from the case
Build: Open-source Stratux, Raspberry Pi 3, firmware v1.6r1 on the MicroSD card. SDR dongles, GPS, case, and Pi are listed as individually replaceable. 1.5 lb, 8 × 4 × 3 in
Apps: The compatibility bullet names ForeFlight, FlyQ, Navigator, AvNav, WingX, Avare, FltPlan Go, DroidEFB, AerovieReports, Avplan, iFly GPS, and OzRunways, then says “Does NOT work with Garmin.” The intro paragraph on the same page names Garmin Pilot. Those two lines disagree; the explicit exclusion is the one to plan around
Price: ~$440 — Crew Dog listed $439.99 for this internal-GPS prebuilt, 175 in stock. A parts-bin DIY build is not a single listed price here, so that price varies
$439.99 is $9.01 under Sentry Mini ($449) and $209.01 under Sentry ($649)
AHRS is included at that $439.99. Sentry Mini at $449 does not have AHRS
Parts are replaceable. Sentry’s battery and CO sensor are not
4+ hours on the included pack, against up to 12 hours inside Sentry
1.5 lb and 8 × 4 × 3 in, with external antennas, against a 44 g Mini in the Sentry guide. The Garmin line is contradicted on the seller’s own page
Choose the prebuilt Stratux when $439.99 and a replaceable Pi are the point, and you fly an app on the compatibility bullet that is not Garmin. Crew Dog sells Stratux, so treat the page as a store listing, not an independent test. Vs Sentry Mini: you gain AHRS and spend about $9 less, and you carry a 1.5 lb kit with a 4-hour pack instead of a USB-powered receiver.
Traffic / weather: Dual-link ADS-B In and subscription-free FIS-B in the U.S. Aircraft Spruce’s note: 1090ES traffic can work outside the U.S.; FIS-B weather and 978 MHz traffic do not. Receive-only — not ADS-B Out
GPS: WAAS position, speed, and altitude
AHRS: Backup attitude. Garmin’s note on the Spruce page: not a source of attitude for flight in IMC
Battery: Built-in lithium-ion. The feature list says up to 8 hours. The specifications block on the same page says typical battery operating time of 5 hours. Garmin’s portables brochure also prints up to 8 hours for the GDL 50. No CO sensor
Link: Connext Bluetooth. Up to 2 wireless displays and 2 wired displays at the same time
Apps: Spruce names Garmin Pilot, FltPlan Go, ForeFlight, G3X Touch, and aera 660 / 795 / 796. A Spruce Q&A says “Yes, per Garmin, this will work with Foreflight,” and a later answer adds other EFB apps. No ADS-B subscription
Connext to Garmin Pilot and, per Spruce, ForeFlight — Sentry’s guide does not claim Garmin Pilot
0.75 lb and a built-in battery, against the Stratux at 1.5 lb plus a separate pack
Internal battery is the practical change from the older GDL 39 portable, which this unit replaced in Garmin’s lineup
$850 at Spruce is $201 more than Sentry at Sporty’s ($649)
Battery hours disagree on one page: 8 hours in the features, 5 hours in the spec block. No CO sensor
Choose the GDL 50 when the tablet or the aera already speaks Connext and you want Garmin’s portable instead of a Wi-Fi-only ForeFlight receiver. Vs Sentry: you can add Garmin Pilot, and you give up the published 12-hour battery and the CO sensor. A current GDL 39 street price was not on the page used here, so that price varies.
Maker pilot’s guides and the retailer pages that printed a price on Sep 28, 2026. No hands-on test. An older comparison chart that does not match a live checkout price is not used as a price.
ForeFlight Sentry pilot’s guide (feature table, 12-hour and 18-hour batteries, Mini size 3.3 × 2.3 × 0.6 in / 44 g, CO bands, FLARM 868.2–868.4 MHz, up to five devices). Sporty’s: Mini $449.00, Sentry $649.00, Plus $799.00.
Stratus 4 pilot’s guide (about eight hours when new, Wi-Fi, about 20 hours of recorded data, AHRS supplemental). Sporty’s $849.00 and Appareo $849, including the app FAQ. Stratus 3 pilot’s guide for the previous model; a chart price on that Appareo page is not used as a checkout price, so the current Stratus 3 price varies.
Aircraft Spruce GDL 50, $850.00, including the 8-hour feature line, the 5-hour spec line, and the ForeFlight Q&A. Garmin portables brochure also lists up to 8 hours.
Stratux (prebuilt)
Garmin GDL 50