Garmin Descent G2 Wrist Dive Computer

Garmin Descent G2: Watch-Style Dive Computer for Recreational to Technical Divers

The Garmin Descent G2 is a wrist-worn dive computer that doubles as a full smartwatch, built for divers who want serious underwater capability without strapping on a second device for everyday life.

If you dive across a range of conditions, from recreational reef dives to technical trimix work, and you want one watch that handles all of it and still tracks your sleep and pays for your coffee, this is the product to look at closely.

Who This Is For

The Descent G2 is designed to cover a wide range of divers. It supports air, nitrox, and trimix, which means it works for recreational divers on standard air just as well as it works for technical divers running multiple gas mixes.

It also includes a freedive mode, so if you split your time between scuba and breath-hold diving, one device handles both.

Where it may not be the right fit: if you want a stripped-down, dedicated dive computer and have no interest in smartwatch features, the Descent G2 is more complex and more expensive than it needs to be for that use case.

The Display

The screen is a 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen with adjustable automatic backlight.

AMOLED displays produce deep blacks and sharp contrast, which makes data easy to read in low-visibility conditions and at depth. Bright surface conditions can wash out some watch displays, but this one is designed to stay readable in direct sunlight.

Dive Modes and Gas Support

The Descent G2 covers the three main diving disciplines:

• Scuba with full decompression tracking on air, nitrox, or trimix.
• Freedive mode for breath-hold diving, logging depth and surface intervals.
• Gauge mode (implied by the depth sensor and custom dive alarms) for running your own profile.

Trimix support is the detail that separates this from most recreational-only computers. If you are working toward technical certifications or already diving trimix, the Descent G2 does not ask you to upgrade your computer when you get there.

Custom dive alarms let you set your own thresholds for depth, ascent rate, and safety stop reminders. A safety stop is a brief pause at around five meters at the end of a dive to allow nitrogen to off-gas safely before surfacing. Having an audible reminder for this is a small but genuinely useful feature, especially on repetitive dive days when fatigue sets in.

GPS and Dive Logging

The Descent G2 uses multi-GNSS tracking, pulling from GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo satellite networks. At the surface, it marks your entry and exit points so you have an accurate record of exactly where each dive took place.

Dive logs sync to the Garmin Dive app on your smartphone. From there you can review profiles, store favorite dive sites, and share logs. For anyone building a serious dive record or planning return trips to specific sites, this is a practical and well-integrated system.

Battery life in dive mode is up to 27 hours. Across a week of multi-dive days, that is a comfortable margin. In GPS mode it extends to 48 hours, and in standard smartwatch mode it reaches 10 days.

Build and Materials

The case uses recycled ocean-bound plastics, which is a material choice worth noting both for durability and environmental reasons. The lens is sapphire crystal, one of the hardest materials used in watch lenses and resistant to scratching. The bezel is fiber-reinforced polymer.

Water rating is 10 ATM (100 meters). The buttons are leakproof. The strap is silicone.

At approximately 80 grams, this is a lightweight wrist unit for the amount of technology packed into it.

Dive Readiness and Recovery

One feature that is genuinely relevant for active divers: the Descent G2 monitors sleep, stress, and exercise load to produce a dive readiness indicator.

Diving on poor sleep or high fatigue carries real physiological risk, particularly around nitrogen absorption and decision-making. Having a device that tracks those inputs and flags low readiness before you get in the water is more than a fitness gimmick for divers.

The watch also tracks heart rate continuously, measures blood oxygen saturation via its Pulse Ox sensor, and generates a Body Battery energy score. These are not dive-specific features, but they feed into a useful picture of how recovered you are between dives.

Smartwatch Features

Away from the water, the Descent G2 functions as a full GPS sports watch. It includes:

• Built-in sports apps for running, cycling, swimming, and more.
• VO2 Max tracking and training insights.
• Smart notifications for calls, texts, and app alerts when paired with a phone.
• Garmin Pay for contactless payments at compatible banks.
• Connect IQ app store for custom watch faces, apps, and widgets.
• Music storage and playback compatible with select streaming services.
• Find My Phone and Find My Watch features.
• Compass, barometric altimeter, gyroscope, and accelerometer.

If you are already a Garmin ecosystem user, the integration with Garmin Connect and the Dive app will feel natural. If you are coming from a different platform, the learning curve is moderate but the features are well-documented.

One Honest Caveat

The Descent G2 packs a lot into one device, and that is its strength. But it is also a consideration: more features mean more menus, more settings, and more time in the manual before your first dive.

For a diver who wants simplicity above everything else, there are more straightforward computers. For a diver who wants one serious wrist device that grows with their diving and works on land too, the Descent G2 is a well-built, capable choice.