Garmin Descent Mk2, Watch-Style Dive Computer, Multisport Training/Smart Features, Stainless Steel with Black Band, 010-02132-00

Im genuinely amazed by this watch. Ive been using a WearOs smartwatch for a couple of years now, and was worried about missing some functionality when switching to Garmin. I must say Ive been pleasantly surprised, as for the moment I see no drawbacks.

I bought 2 units for wife and I after seeing a guy rave about one on a January Jamaica diving week...We switched out from Mares Puck Pro units which had 200+ dives and no problems (1 needed battery replacement which I did). the Mares unit is very simple and accurate although we wanted something sexier and with non diving features. The Garmin Descent MK2i is a beast...It takes lots of practice to use it correctly and even figure it out as I have the Manual pdf open lots of times to learn something new or what I messed up...I dont have much to say about non-diving performance except it is Garmin and what more is needed to day?...We use as fit bits and tracking our sleep, heart rate, etc. Now for diving - We have 23 dives in St. Lucia at depths 15-115 on single gas with the T1 transmitter on both units (so dual tank readings). We love the feature of seeing your buddys air at all times and alleviates need to keep checking, plus buddy watches out for you if you focus on something else. We set these for conservative and always do a 15 safety stop for 3 minutes before surfacing. Head to head with the Mares unit they were essentially identical; Garmin is more precise in adding decimals for temperature and exact psi compared to the tank valve version, although same. We ran decompression stops on several dives and both units (actually all 4 - 2 Mares + 2 Garmin) and data was the same. We enjoy the Garmin many ways to view dive on changing the screens during the dive. Backscreen illumination is decent although not bright enough in darkness (a small cave in daytime), Id use my light anyway so no big deal. The transmitter sound is audible although not annoying and Ill see about tuning it down a bit although I may loose range. A feature I dont like is the short battery life when diving...Yeah, I know about taking off Wifi, bluetooth, functions etc, but why have to bother just for diving or anything else. I found we ran batteries to 50% after 1-1.5 days and needed to use to primitive alligator clip charger plug. We used both dive computers all week and I am not ready to go to just Garmin. After dive my tank pressure was hard to screen back to after exiting water, Mares much simpler in that one button push gave surface interval vs. garmin that needed several buttons pushed to get to the S.I. screen. At this point we like the sexy Garmin as it looks nice and we can change the watch face, changes screens and move stuff around. the sapphire crystal did not scratch and sustained several knocks against the boat and coral with no damage. The weakness in the system is the T1 transmitter that is fragile and cannot be used to lift tank (OK I got that) BUT...after wrench tightening it would loosen up after several dives and susceptible to accidentally touching or jostling it and it got loose. Garmin should give you a flat wrench of correct size for tightening as the standard wrenches dont work on the tank to transmitter distance. This is a best/worst feature with T1 - love safety issue of joint knowledge of tank pressures, dont like fragile/ease to loosen. A feature that I may not have correct now is the wifi and bluetooth communications between watch/dive computer and iPhone/computer...perhaps because we staying NoData/Airplane mode when out of the US as were were in St. Lucia. We will keep the Garmin units and work toward becoming better users...They did a good job trying to work in the dive computer...for just diving get something else (Sherwood)...if you are a workout enthusiast and love to have lots of data/stats to work with..this is your unit. Ill update this review as we get more data - lots of diving coming up..

My dive buddy got the Mk2i just two weeks ago because he knew I had just gotten a Shearwater Teric.

It is a great watch It’s an an awesome watch

Used this on a number of casual (air, 25m max) dives and so far I am impressed. Its a good dive computer with better connectivity and export features than some of the Mares devices I had used before. Having a GPS on the dive computer is nice for entry/exit points and the APNEA functionality work well. Display is easy to read at the surface and in the water.

I was initially turned off by the size and cost, but this watch does it all! I hike and have recently started scuba diving again after getting re-certified. It is surprisingly comfort and the data it collects/analyzes is outstanding. Being a watch “nut” also makes me happy to have this in my collection (next to my Citizen, Rolex and Bulova watches).

Battery life is fantastic compared to other smart watches and dive computers. Very easy to read display in watch mode and dive mode. Love the fact that I can monitor air of my kids and other dive buddies. Bought the titanium band to make this the perfect dress watch as well. Hundreds of watch face options. Highly highly highly recommend.

Best diving technology available

A little background: professional scuba instructor and research diver averaging 700+ dives a year. This review is being written after using the computer for 6 months.

I was an early adopter of the Mk1 and reliably used that for >100 dives. I also had a Fenix 6 as I loved the new features of that. This is the perfect blend. It is also amazing looking and does not feel as large or heavy as specs are due to the materials and ergonomics.