Garmin Descent Mk2 Watch-Style Dive Computer Stainless Steel

The Garmin Descent Mk2 is a watch-style dive computer that also works as a full training watch, and this page covers the stainless steel case with the black band. Six dive modes, a log that holds up to 200 dives, a 1.4-inch colour screen and up to 80 hours of dive-mode battery, on a wrist you keep wearing after the boat ties up.

Who this suits

The diver who logs regularly, trains on the surface between trips, and would rather own one wrist device than two. Everything the Mk2 does above water, from wrist heart rate to sleep tracking to the multisport apps, is there whether you use it or not, so you get your money's worth by wearing it daily rather than only on dive days.

It also suits a diver moving past a first computer. Six dive modes and a 200-dive log mean you are unlikely to run out of computer before you run out of interest.

Skip it if you dive twice a year and want a simple depth-and-time computer. You would be paying for contactless payment, music storage and a whole training platform you will never open. Skip it too if you need a low-profile computer under a drysuit seal: this is a steel-cased watch and you will feel it there.

Six dive modes, a 200-dive log, and no GPS underwater

The listing states six dive modes. That is the line between a watch that tells you the depth and a computer that follows you as your diving changes. The rows do not name which six, so if one specific discipline is your deciding factor, get the retailer to confirm it is on the list before you buy.

The watch stores up to 200 dives on your wrist and syncs to the Garmin Dive app. 200 dives is a lot of logbook, enough that most recreational divers will go years before it matters, and it means a flat phone on a liveaboard does not cost you the record of the week.

Underwater you get a compass and full ABC sensors, which is altimeter, barometer and compass. What you do not get is GPS while you are down there, and the listing says so outright. Satellite signal does not travel through water. You get your entry and exit points and a heading you can hold, not a plotted line along the reef.

Battery: 80 hours in dive mode, 16 days as a watch

Up to 80 hours in dive mode is the figure that decides trips. Four dives a day at an hour each is four hours of dive-mode use, so charging becomes a once-a-trip job rather than a nightly ritual with the one free socket in the salon.

As a plain smartwatch it runs up to 16 days. Turn on GPS with music playing and it drops to about 15 hours, which is the honest cost of using it as a running watch with your playlist on the boat.

The 1.4-inch screen

1.4 inches, colour, sunlight-readable, and 36% larger than the model before it. On a bright deck, or in the shallows with sun cutting through, screen size and contrast decide whether you read your no-stop time at a glance or hold your arm up and squint at it.

Bigger screen means bigger watch. That trade sits at the heart of this computer: you are buying the display and accepting the wrist real estate that comes with it.

Which version this page covers

This page is the stainless steel case with the black band, part number 010-02132-00. Garmin builds the Descent line in other case materials and finishes, so if a specific one matters to you, match that part number on the retailer's page rather than the model name alone.

The bottom line

A serious wrist computer with the dive side properly built out: six modes, a 200-dive log, a compass and ABC sensors, and 80 hours of dive battery behind it. The training and smartwatch half is a real Garmin, not a token feature list.

It is not small, it is not simple, and it is not a first computer. If you dive a handful of times a year, most of what you are paying for will sit unused on your wrist.

Specifications