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The Editor says: Ever since learning to dive, a dive computer has been a must-have piece of gear for every diver — not only to keep you safe underwater, but also as a stylish personal accessory. With so many dive computers on the market, figuring out which one best suits your needs really comes down to personal taste. Let the Editor walk you through the Garmin Descent Mk1, released in 2018 by outdoor smartwatch brand Garmin, and show you how it takes us from the mountaintop to the ocean floor! Garmin Official Website.
Before diving into the article, let's watch an introductory video from Garmin to get a feel for the watch's design and highlights!
Now that you've seen the official video, let's get straight to the point without wasting anyone's time. For the impatient divers out there who want the verdict first — is it worth buying or not?
- Design Rating: ★★★★☆
- Features Rating: ★★★★★
- Value Rating: ★★★★☆
What?! Some of you are probably thinking the Editor has lost it — how can a dive watch with an official retail price of NT$32,990 earn such high ratings in a fiercely competitive dive computer market? Let the Editor explain.
Garmin Descent Mk1 Dive Computer — Design Rating:
When it comes to design, let's do things properly and start with an unboxing, step by step!
The outer packaging is clean and minimal
The back of the box highlights the key features of the dive watch (surface GPS, electronic compass, heart rate monitor, and dive modes)
Open the box, and the Descent Mk1 itself is the first thing you see — the stainless steel dial design earns a solid +100 points.
Ta-da! A blinding flash of gold upon opening — well, stainless steel, to be precise
Accessories included in the box
Size comparison of the Descent Mk1, Deepblu, and compass
Different straps, different personalities
Overall Verdict:
The Descent Mk1 boldly adopts a stainless steel bezel design that speaks directly to the free-spirited, athletic crowd. Its refined look pairs equally well with sportswear and formal attire such as a suit — shedding the "too bulky for everyday wear" stigma that plagues some dive watch brands. The large case size may feel a touch oversized for some female wrists, and the primary buyer demographic will likely skew male, though it certainly carries a strong character on anyone. The strap is made of silicone and works with Garmin's patented QuickFit® quick-release band system, so you can swap it out on a whim. For those who prefer metal, optional stainless steel or titanium bands are available as add-ons — clearly targeting the premium end of the market!
Beyond the built-in watch faces, you can download custom faces via Garmin IQ to personalise your display at any time. One minor disappointment is that, as of this writing, there are no dive-specific custom watch faces on Garmin IQ (missing surface interval time and no-fly time displays). Hopefully a talented developer will fill that gap someday.
All things considered, in a market dominated by function-first dive computers, the Descent Mk1 offers consumers a genuinely different aesthetic. The Editor's design rating: ★★★★☆.
Features Rating:
For the features section, we'll split our coverage into hardware and software. First, let's look at the charging accessories and heart rate sensor.
The heart rate sensor — useful for freedivers. The charging port is visible alongside it
The charger uses a clip mechanism to secure it to the back of the watch
The charging module fast-charges via USB and stays firmly clipped in place
In real-world testing, charging from 0% to 100% takes approximately 2 hours via USB — compatible with standard power banks and phone chargers, making it very convenient.
As for battery drain — the stat every diver cares about — testing showed that after three dives a day over four consecutive days (twelve dives total), plus continuous use of heart rate monitoring and step counting on the surface, the battery still had 20% remaining. Battery life is genuinely impressive. It can't compare to a traditional dive watch that goes years between battery changes, of course, but that's ultimately a matter of personal preference.
Official specs: Dive mode up to 36 hours · Smartwatch mode up to 10 days · Watch mode up to 18 days · GPS mode up to 20 hours.
In terms of usability, the Descent Mk1 is straightforward to operate. Aside from the backlight button in the upper-left corner, you have only the up/down menu buttons on the left and the confirm/back buttons on the right — an intuitive layout that's easy to pick up quickly.
Button layout
Now for the software side of things. The most powerful feature of any smartwatch is connectivity with your smartphone, and the Descent Mk1 is no exception. Before pairing, you'll need to download Garmin Connect to your phone.
After selecting your preferred language, choose to pair with your phone
The settings screen in the phone app — the visual design is quite polished as well
Pairing the phone with the Descent Mk1 via Bluetooth
Once synced, let's take a look at some of the basic settings screens.
Surface interval time, residual nitrogen index, and CNS oxygen toxicity index
Browsing the dive log — the watch can store up to 200 dive logs and sync them to your phone via Bluetooth at any time
Smartwatch essentials: message and call notifications, calendar
Altimeter and bearing
Step counter
With the basic settings covered, let's move on to what divers really want to know — the dive modes and their settings. First, a quick note: the Descent Mk1 uses the Bühlmann ZHL-16c algorithm to calculate NDL, and gradient factors can also be adjusted for more conservative decompression settings.
Underwater modes include the following:
- Single-Gas
- Multi-Gas: supports up to 6 cylinders, with switching between air / enriched air nitrox (EANx) and trimix
- Gauge
- Freediving (Apnea)
- Freediving Hunt (Apnea Hunt): disables underwater alert notifications
Enter the main menu to select the type of dive activity for this session
Adjusting individual parameters (using Single-Gas as an example)
From this screen, you can select "Edit" at the bottom to fine-tune dive parameters, including air or nitrox, PO2, safety stop duration, decompression conservatism, fresh water or salt water, alert tone settings (multiple alerts can be set — for example, one at 18 m and another at 30 m), and backlight brightness.
Let's borrow an official image to walk you through how to read the various data displayed on the watch face. The Descent Mk1 offers multiple underwater display modes, including the basic mode shown above, a decompression stop mode, a training mode, and a compass mode — making it easy for any diver to switch between views.
The underwater backlight brightness can be adjusted to suit your preference. The Editor was thoroughly satisfied with it in real use, and for night diving, it's particularly impressive — check out the side-recorded video below.
After a dive, simply stay within Bluetooth range of your phone and the watch will begin syncing automatically. Let's see how the dive log looks inside the app.
The app lets you quickly navigate to the dive log menu
Each dive log shows depth profile, entry/exit point location, heart rate, depth, and water temperature changes
Overall Verdict:
On the hardware side, the Descent Mk1 impresses with the QuickFit® quick-release band system and clip-on charger as thoughtful design touches, and breaks new ground by adding an optical heart rate sensor — a genuinely welcome addition for sports enthusiasts. Real-world testing confirmed solid charging efficiency and respectable battery life. Any Descent Mk1 purchased in Taiwan (Taiwan version) comes with a 2-year battery warranty from the manufacturer.
One important note: the Descent Mk1 is region-locked. If you buy the Taiwan version, it will default to Traditional Chinese and English, with full map data for Taiwan and overview maps for the rest of the world. Language packs and maps cannot be updated OTA. So don't go buying the German version hoping to switch it to Traditional Chinese — it won't work!
On the software side, the Descent Mk1 covers recreational diving, decompression diving, freediving, and more, comprehensively addressing the needs of all types of divers. For anyone considering technical diving in the future, a single watch is all you'll need. The on-screen interface uses colour coding to differentiate data metrics, paired with a clean layout that's very easy to navigate.
Based on all of the above, the Editor's features rating: ★★★★★.
Value Rating:
The menu lets you switch between all available modes
When people talk about good value, they usually mean cheap and feature-packed. So why does the Editor give the Descent Mk1 such a high value rating, given that it retails for NT$32,990? Entry-level dive computers can be had for under NT$10,000 these days — what justifies Garmin's pricing?
The answer lies in what Garmin is: a world-class outdoor sports smartwatch brand. Beyond the basics like heart rate monitoring and step counting, the Descent Mk1 includes a full suite of sport modes that the Editor personally relies on — treadmill, road running, and swimming — plus more specialised modes like cycling, triathlon, and golf. It covers virtually every sport you can think of.
The menu lets you switch between all available modes
Statistically speaking, more than 30% of divers also have other active sporting hobbies. The Descent Mk1 offers a one-stop solution, so you no longer need to switch between different sport-specific watches depending on what you're doing that day.
Every sport mode is presented with a clean, minimal display
As a sports-loving, slightly pudgy editor, the Editor hits the gym for a run every day and squeezes in an occasional swim on weekends. A full-featured dive computer like the Descent Mk1, capable of covering the full spectrum of athletic activity, makes a genuinely compelling case for itself. The Editor's value rating: ★★★★☆.
Key Takeaways:
Thank you for sticking with the Editor through this lengthy unboxing article! Here's a quick summary of the highlights:
- This is a stylish dive computer that works just as well as an everyday watch
- It breaks the mould of conventional dive computers by combining features across scuba diving, freediving, and technical diving — all in one device
- If you enjoy other sports, this watch has you covered as an athlete who also dives
Most importantly — start saving now!!
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