On its release I suggested the Garmin Descent G2 may be the best value dive watch computer on the market. Now it’s time to get it in the water for a full review.
The last watch style dive computer I owned was the Suunto D6 – a capable bit of kit but as watches got smarter, for my day-to-day uses at least, it became obsolete. I run more than I dive so it was initially replaced by a Suunto Ambit and finally an Apple Watch. The basic Apple Watch remains my daily driver and I leave diving to full-sized computers.
What I’m getting at is I’m probably the exact person Garmin is pitching this watch at. The Descent G2 combines the health and fitness tracking of a smartwatch with a capable dive computer.
Design
I like the G-Shock inspired tactical styling of the Descent G2.The watch is all plastic, except for the sapphire glass display, and feels lighter than you’d expect but still manages not to feel cheap. Unlike Garmin’s range topping Descent Mk3i, the G2 comes in a single case size of approximately 45mm.
It’s available in either black or a sandy Paloma.
The 30.4mm AMOLED full-colour display is a significant improvement over the previous Descent G1, which utilised a monochrome MIP display. The new display is bright, vibrant and the excellent resolution makes it easy to read the smaller text on some of the more complex screen layouts. The screen is on the smaller size compared to the competition but this is a trade off to keep the watch, well, more watch sized.
The display is a touch screen but I rarely used it. Moving from an Apple Watch it was a pleasure to have the option to just use Garmin’s standard five-button layout dotted around the bezel. The buttons protrude from the case enough to make them easy to find by touch underwater.
The Descent G2’s strap is easily swappable using a quick release system. In the box there is an additional long strap to use with thicker wetsuits or drysuits. I don’t miss the old strap extenders that dive computers used to come with…
Its battery life is advertised as up to 10 days in smartwatch mode. With moderate use on land, running and cycling, it gave me around a week between charges. On a dive trip it lasted until day 6, (including 10 dives and a total time underwater of 8 hours) before it requested to go into low power mode. It’s impressive given the power-hungry nature of AMOLED displays.
Dive Features
The Descent G2 has a fairly extensive suite of diving features:
| Max Depth: 100m | Nitrox Support | Tidal Information |
| Single Gas Mode | Trimix Support | Backlight |
| Multi Gas Mode | Auto Start/End Dive | Surface Diver Status Widget |
| Gauge Mode | Custom End Dive Timeout | Backlight |
| Apnea Mode | Customisable Conservatism | Custom Dive Data Screens |
| Apnea Hunt Mode | Automatic Altitude Adjustment | 3-Axis Dive Compass |
| Pool Apnea | No Fly Time | Audible and Vibration Alarms |
| Buhlmann ZHL-16c Algorithm | Dive Planner | Dive Readiness |
It covers the basics that the vast majority of divers will only ever use: a single gas, air or nitrox diving. It’s nice to have CCR and trimix functionality (it probably doesn’t cost Garmin anything to include as it’s purely software) but I think it’s unlikely many Descents will be used anywhere near their maximum depth of 100m.
It runs the tried and tested Buhlmann ZHL-16c algorithm with gradient factors – out the box it comes configured with high conservatism (35/75). Even Suunto has got onboard using the Buhlmann algorithm and it allowed me to run my Eon Core as a backup using identical settings.
The only significant feature the Descent G2 lacks is air integration – you’ll have to rely on your good old fashioned gauge for cylinder pressures. It’s a popular feature on many mid and top tier computers but one I’ve never personally needed. However, If air integration is a deal breaker this probably isn’t the dive computer for you.
The diving experience is excellent. Garmin know what they’re doing with smart watches and have built a good reputation in the diving market for their computers and it shows. It’s intuitive to use – I didn’t bother with the instruction manual and could easily find my way through the menus to adjust the dive settings. The combination of vibration and audible alarms I found particularly useful in letting me know I was approaching my NDL. When you do go into deco it clearly presents the key information to continue your dive safely.
I’m a big fan of the rewarding jingle the Descent plays after successfully completing a safety stop.
General information is clearly displayed and readability is helped by the bright hi-res screen. The Descent’s screen isn’t the largest and if your eyesight isn’t the best or you’re planning to dive regularly in poor visibility be aware.
The Dive Readiness score is a fun feature that aims to inform you on your preparedness to dive. It takes into account 5 metrics: sleep score, recovery time, body battery, sleep score history and training status. It serves as a nice reminder of what you’ve been doing prior to diving and if any additional care is needed.
Health & Fitness
The Descent G2 has equivalent health and fitness features to Garmin’s non-diving Instinct 3. I tested the Descent running, playing football and on my WattBike and it performed well – producing very similar results to my reliable Apple Watch.
The only odd behaviour I noticed was being rewarded with 2000 steps while sitting in a car travelling down bumpy Egyptian roads.
A general gripe I have with many fitness smart watches, that includes the Descent, is they don’t allow you to store music on the device – only control it from a phone. I think I’m probably in the minority on this one but if I’m running 10km I don’t want to also carry my phone.
Companion App(s)
Initial set-up was straightforward but it was slightly baffling to have to download 3 separate apps from Garmin. Garmin Connect (covering general health and fitness tracking, Garmin Dive (dive planning and logging) and Garmin IQ (a Garmin store for unique watch faces). The positive is they are all at least competent apps but having a single app rolling the features together would make life easier.
The supporting dive app is particularly slick and the automatic syncing of dive data means you have the information immediately. I’m terrible at logging dives at the best of time and this truly gave me no excuse. I’ve got a couple of hundred dives logged on a Suunto Eon Core, and though it has wireless logging to an app, as I have to manually pair them I never seem to get round to it.
Comparison
The Descent G2 stacks up competitively against the market:
| Garmin Descent G2 | Shearwater Tern | Mares Sirius | Suunto Ocean | |
| Display | Full Colour AMOLED | Full Colour AMOLED | Full Colour MIP | Full Colour AMOLED |
| Gases | Air, Nitrox, Trimix, CCR | Air, Nitrox | Air, Nitrox, Trimix | Air, Nitrox |
| Wireless Tank Integration | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Smart Features | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Price | £589.99 | £615.99 | £670.99 | £725.00 |
Verdict
The Garmin Descent G2 is an excellent dive computer and overall value proposition. It dives well, has fantastic battery life and all the additional functionality of a health and fitness smart watch. Its relatively compact size makes it easy to wear day-to-day but does come at the expense of screen real estate – that can be particularly important underwater.
For under £600, it’s hard to find another dive computer that offers this level of smart functionality and underwater performance in a wristwatch-sized form. The closest competition is the Suunto Ocean that does offers additional features (like air integration) and a larger display but at an additional cost: retailing at £725.
Pros
- Competent dive computer
- Great value
- Bright vivid display
- Battery life
Cons
- Display size
The Garmin Descent G2 is available now and retails at £589.99
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