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

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..

I upgraded to this Garmin from a Fenix 5 because I am getting back into diving and I wanted one watch that did it all. And boy does it! Even if you are just using it as a dive watch, it is perfect! Its small enough to wear all the time, but big enough to easily see all your dive info underwater. The air integration is seamless and being able to track your buddies air level and consumption rate is so amazing!

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).

I love the watch. I’m not getting the advertised battery life but it is still way longer than my old Apple Watch. I have only used it on two dives so far but the watch worked great and the dive app has some nice features.

I am a fairly active person so Ive put this watch through the tests. Its an awesome dive computer as a start but thats certainly not all. I use this watch to GPS track my mountain bike rides and my heartbeat etc. I couldnt be happier with this watch. Not only is it super functional. The battery lasts 10 times longer than any smart watch Ive had and this one will take a beating and come out of it with nothing at all visible on the case or glass. Its truly awesome!

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.

My best watch ever

After looking at a million reviews about this watch versus the Mk1 and Mk2, I decided to get the Mk2i. Unfortunately just after I got it, we had a new wave of COVID hit our country and we went into lockdown. So...I will need to test at a later date. :(. Battery life says about 15 days (just normal use). Mobile app (Dive) is okay...its getting a bit confusing which app to use since I have the Quatix 3, Fenix 5x and now the Descent Mk2i.

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.

Comfort