I’m Marcus, your host here at Garmin’s training video series.
Here at Garmin, our passions range from health & wellness to aviation, and everything in between.
But if your passion keeps you in two worlds – underwater and topside – you should have a device that can keep up.
Well stick around, because today I want to tell you about a purpose-built GPS dive computer with smartwatch style and the ability to keep up with your activities in the water and on land.
And I have a special guest, Patrick Danko, here to tell us all about it.
Let me introduce you to the Garmin Descent Mk2 series.
Patrick, welcome and thanks for being here today. Tell us a little about yourself and what you do here at Garmin.
Thanks. My name is Patrick Danko. I'm the Dive Product Manager here at Garmin.
I'm a dive master, a rebreather diver, technical diver, but I love all kinds of diving.
At Garmin, as I've been helping with Descent, I've been really passionate about bringing game changing innovations to the community.
We're excited to have you. Speaking of game changing innovations, tell us a little bit about the Descent Mk2, what exactly is it?
Yeah, absolutely. We're really excited to bring the Mk2 series to market.
It's a new line for us, new GPS enabled dive computer that brings in all of the features that our users have loved about the Mk1 series,
but updated with a new dive computer functionality, new surface use functionality, and some other special innovations.
Okay, Mk1 series was the first line, so what are some features that are carrying over to the Mk2 series?
We listened to our users about what they really loved about their Mk1, and we brought in all of those features.
So, that includes our sunlight readable color display, our sapphire lens which is very scratch resistant and durable.
We also brought in our tool-less quick fit band system.
And kept all of the core dive computer features that allow the Descent product to work for all types of diving;
so, recreational, technical, rebreather, freediving, got you got modes for all of that.
We also kept, uh, all the outdoor active lifestyle smartwatch features that have really become a hallmark of the Descent line.
So, I know you didn't stop there. Of course, you brought in some new features with the Mk2, tell us about those.
Yeah, you bet. In addition to bringing in all those features that our users have loved about the Mk1, we definitely have added some new things.
We've increased the screen size by a third, which gives a lot more real estate for us to, to do things like add customizable data fields, add additional dive pages.
And we've also added a new deco and safety stop experience to make the diver able to understand their ascent plan and dive more safely.
Okay, buttons as well?
Buttons. New buttons on the Mk2 series, we've brought in something new for the industry, inductive button technology.
So, with inductive buttons there's no holes through the case, there's no O-rings to fail, which really makes for a really solid leak-proof design.
So, those are some really cool underwater features, Patrick. Can you tell us about features when you're topside?
Yeah, you bet. We've updated the Mk2 series with a lot of the features that users have loved about our new outdoor lineup in the fenix.
We've pulled in NFC payments with Garmin Pay.
We've added Bluetooth music streaming, and we've updated a lot of our surface activities.
We've also preloaded our Tides app, which is really handy feature for divers.
We've also updated our sensor package on the Mk2 series. So, you've got an altimeter, barometer, compass, and an updated new optical heart rate and pulse ox sensor.
Battery life has always been a hallmark for us in the Descent product line, and we really wanted to make sure we had awesome battery life with the Mk2 series.
So, you'll get up to 16 days in smart watch mode, and up to 32 to 80 hours, depending on how you're using it, in dive, which is enough battery to really get you through a whole weekend to dive.
So, you mentioned Series several times. That means there's more than one watch, right?
Yeah, that's right. With the Descent Mk2 series, we have two watches that we're going to offer.
The Mk2 takes all the features we just talked about and puts it into a package with a two-tone stainless-steel bezel.
And then we have the Mk2i, which will have a DLC-coated titanium bezel and add in some additional special features.
Okay, I like the tease there. Can you tell us what are those special features?
Well, ever since we launched the Mk1, we've heard loud and clear from divers, we want air integration, we want that as an option.
So, we looked around the industry, looked at the technology that was available for air integration and we decided we could do better.
So, with the Mk2i, and the T1 transmitter, we're introducing a new technology we call Subwave.
Subwave is a new type of underwater data communication technology using sonar, instead of the traditional radio waves to transmit tank pressure data from the tank transmitter, to the watch.
And that allows us to overcome some problems that can exist with radio wave-based systems. We get better reliability.
We get a lot better range up to 10 meters, and we allow you to pair up to five transmitters, which really opens up a lot of possibilities for divers.
With five transmitters you can monitor not only your tank but your buddy’s tanks as well.
As an instructor you can monitor your students tank pressures.
And on the Mk2i, we allow you to label each of those transmitters so you can see who's who underwater.
So, let me get this straight, Subwave technology up to 30 feet away. That's unbelievable.
Yeah, it's..it's a, it's awesome. It's really going to help divers expand how they think about using air integration to uh to dive more safely.
In addition to getting all of that data from the T1, we're presenting it to you in a really awesome way on the on the device, so you get to see your tank pressure, your buddy's tank pressure.
We're also doing other things with that data.
You'll get airtime remaining, which will give you an additional piece of data to help you plan and execute your dive more safely.
And we're also going to do gas consumption calculation for you.
So, your SAC rate, your RMV, to really know how fast you're burning through that air.
We'll take all that data as well after dive, and automatically feed that into our new Garmin Dive app, to let you do analysis once you're back on the boat.
So, that T1 transmitter is a powerhouse. What kind of battery life should we expect with it?
Now, with the T1 we wanted to give the diver an amazing battery life, and we're doing that by using a CR123.
It's user replaceable so you can take extra batteries with you on your dive trip. And that'll give you up to 100 hours of diving.
When you're using it with your Mk2i, when your Mk2i is in air integration mode, you'll get up to 32 hours of diving on your Mk2i, so you really have enough battery to get you through a whole weekend of diving.
That's crazy. Let me jump back, just a little bit. So, you mentioned the Dive app. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Available now we have our brand-new Garmin Dive app, and this is an app designed specifically to give a dive specific experience for our Descent owners.
So, it includes an amazing dive log. It also allows you to set up and configure your Descent watch.
And, we have a new feature we're calling Explore, which will allow a diver to get in, look at a map, and find new dive sites that they may be interested in checking out.
Patrick, the Descent Mk2 series sounds absolutely amazing. Thank you for being here telling us all about it today.
Yeah, you bet. Any time.
As you can see these advanced, watch style, dive computers come with multi-sport training, smart features,
and yes, we now have one with air integration, allowing you to plunge to a whole new depth of capability, push performance to a whole new level, and enhance your everyday.
Explore with a dive computer for both your worlds, underwater and topside, with the Descent Mk2 series.
Hey, thanks for taking the time to learn more about the Garmin Descent Mk2 series.
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For now, that’s all I‘ve got.
This is Marcus and Patrick from Garmin, wishing you all the best.
And in all that you do, we want to help you beat yesterday.