Garmin has announced the Descent Mk1, a smartwatch designed to help divers when exploring the seas.
The Mk1 is designed for recreational, technical and free divers, giving them the ability to plan their underwater expeditions on the watch and use GPS waypoints to mark entry and exit points. GPS however will not work underwater. The Descent Mk1 offers various multiple dive modes, as well as providing in-dive data, a 3-axis compass and heart rate tracking.
Read this: Choosing the right Garmin watch
While supporting up to six gases (including air, nitrox and trimix), divers will be privy to data pages showing depth, dive time, a diving compass, ascent and descent rates, temperature and decompression information. Naturally, as is the case with the rest of Garmin's crop, Descent Mk1 wearers will be able to access their logs through Garmin Connect, too.
The smartwatch will be available in two styles: the regular version coming with a stainless-steel bezel with a silicone watch band and the premium version with titanium bezel and a scratch-resistant titanium bracelet. Both will support Garmin's QuickFit interchangeable bands. It also offers a 1.2-inch display with LED backlighting, is suitable for dives up to 100 metres depth and should deliver battery life of around 40 hours in dive mode.
If you need to stretch that out, Garmin hints that the Descent Mk1 can last 19 days in watch mode, 10 days in smartwatch mode, provide 20 hours of GPS and heart rate monitoring activity and a whopping 30 hours in its UltraTrac mode.
And while it premieres as a diving watch, the Descent Mk1 also doubles up as a fairly complete multi-sport watch. With GPS, GLONASS and ABC sensors on board, users can take advantage of sports modes such as swimming, running, biking, hiking, skiing and rowing. Of course, since this is also paired to your phone, you also have the option to view notifications for the likes of texts and emails.
As you might expect, a smartwatch possessing this much meat doesn't come cheap, though. Although no official date has been pinned just yet, Garmin notes that the Descent Mk1 will be landing before the year is out, with the stainless steel version coming at a whopping and the premium version costing . Best start saving, diving fans.
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Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.
Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable's considerable how-to-based guides.
He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror.