Garmin entering the dive industry?

[mdb]

View attachment 433371 View attachment 433372 View attachment 433371 Here are a few pics from the show.

Thank you for the pics tridacna. Nice post.

 

[NicKara]

Huge thanks for the close-up shots! I don't think there are any out there right now.

That new silver sapphire screen looks awesome. I'd say better readability than Fenix 5X. And maybe it's a halo effect, but the screen appears a tad sharper than Fenix as well, even though it's supposed to be exact same display. Better optical bonding mayhaps...

Was there a steel bezel version around? The one in pics is a premium, metal band version that retails for $1499. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, $1499 without air integration! If Apple can sell you a $1000 phone, it appears Garmin will soon make an attempt at selling you $2000 diving computer

 

[RainPilot]

My friend has been looking for a replacement for his Fenix 1 for a while. He has also been looking for a DC to use as a beginner but which can grow with him.

This is an absolute no-brainer for him.

 

[tridacna]

I’m not sure what material they use for the case and strap but it was so light and comfortable on my wrist. I asked about AI and both reps said that it was in the works. I wear a Fitbit and would change to this in a sec. The watch display is absolutely gorgeous. I wear reading glasses and had no problem seeing the time without them. Big deal for me.

In DC mode, you tap the screen lightly to flip to the compass. Super easy.

There are about a half dozen chinese DC manufacturers at the show all showing AppleWatch sized computers. Quite amazing and portend the upcoming DC evolution. The companies with the least amount of innovation were the big guys: Mares and Cressi far behind everyone else. SP had the hosed G2 which looks nice; Suunto Core looks fantastic. I have not yet stopped at AL (today).

 

[NicKara]

I asked about AI and both reps said that it was in the works..

Looks like Mk2 will be a killer product. At least, for those of us who prefer smaller, watch-sized dive computers. If my experience with Garmin is any indicator, they will throw AI in as a new version feature at no or little extra cost. Maybe even release a sub-$250 pressure transmitter of their own. Seeing other Garmin accessories are usually priced fairly competitively compared to the field (looking at you, Adidas!), reliability aside, this would be a dream come true!

In DC mode, you tap the screen lightly to flip to the compass. Super easy..

Ah, so they figured an accelerator-based gestures too without touch-sensitive screen! I'm wondering how good it is at distinguishing a finger tap vs slamming a watch against a rock or equipment. Still pretty sweet for when you simply want to flick through screens/modes and don't want to fiddle with buttons. Kind of addresses "thick mittens" dilemma a bit.

 

[kelemvor]

I like the white on black display, that's kind of nice.

 

[stuartv]

Maybe even release a sub-$250 pressure transmitter of their own. Seeing other Garmin accessories are usually priced fairly competitively compared to the field (looking at you, Adidas!), reliability aside, this would be a dream come true!

I would be very interested if they add AI. But, only if they use the same transmitter as Shearwater, Oceanic, AquaLung, etc.. If they do their own transmitter, that would probably stop me from buying one. I want my stuff to work together, even if it's different brands. My Oceanic computer and my Shearwater both use the same transmitters. It's why I use Subsurface for dive logging. My log has downloads from about 5 different computers (4 different brands) in it. The same dive downloaded from 2 different computers is automatically merged, so it only shows once in the log, but I can select it and view the profile from either computer.

Proprietary stuff sucks. Whether it's AI transmitters, electronic dive logs, computer algorithms, reg hose fittings, LP inflators and fittings, etc..

What I would like to see now is pictures of the Descent on someone's arm, to see kind of how big it is. A sorta closeup of computer and arm and a wide angle shot showing most of the person and the computer, to have an idea how big the person is and how big the computer looks on them.

I have a Moto 360 smartwatch, which I like pretty well. But, a replacement that has an always-on screen (vs what I have now that stays on but goes to a black-and-white power saving mode after a few seconds), is waterproof, and is also a solid trimix dive computer that works with my existing AI transmitters would be SUPER sweet!

@tridacna Can you find out if it has any capability to pair with an Android phone and work with Google Maps for navigation? One thing I use my smartwatch for a lot is starting Nav on my phone (in Google Maps) and then looking at my watch screen for upcoming turns. I don't bother to mount my phone on the dash. It would be cool if the Descent "smart" capability extended to showing the directions coming from Google Maps on my phone. Or maybe there's a ConnectIQ (or whatever they call it) app for that? The key for me is working with Google Maps. I trust GM for good routing that reflects current traffic conditions. I don't have that level of trust for non-GM alternatives. Mostly, I use the Garmin nuvi mounted on my dash for navigation. But, in the DC metro area, routing based on traffic is critical and my nuvi is older and does a crap job of that. So, if I'm going somewhere towards DC, I use GM on my phone instead.

 

[NicKara]

But, only if they use the same transmitter as Shearwater, Oceanic, AquaLung, etc.. If they do their own transmitter, that would probably stop me from buying one. I want my stuff to work together, even if it's different brands.

Garmin has always been pretty good playing with others within ANT+ standard, for example. I have been using Wahoo Tickr heart rate strap and Scosche Rhythm+ arm band with their watches for years. And now they are opening up to Bluetooth too. Polar H10 works just fine with Fenix 5. So, if there's an emerging AI standard within the dive industry I'm sure Garmin would follow it.

What I would like to see now is pictures of the Descent on someone's arm, to see kind of how big it is.

My understanding is that Mk1 size follows Fenix 5X, which is a bit thicker but otherwise equivalent to Fenix 3 (Fenix 5 is actually smaller than 3). I still have Fenix 3 in the drawer, wanna a pic of that?

Can you find out if it has any capability to pair with an Android phone and work with Google Maps for navigation? ... It would be cool if the Descent "smart" capability extended to showing the directions coming from Google Maps on my phone.

I talked to Garmin reps about Mk1 since I had some concerns about how it would handle non-diving functions. Their response:

It is essentially a fenix 5 but with diving features

Which means three things:

• Unless somebody builds a ConnectIQ app talking to Google Maps service (and I'm not even sure ConnectIQ SDK allows for such connected apps), this sadly won't work. Android Wear this isn't.
• Garmin would very much prefer you pay them $60 to buy their maps than to use free Google Maps
• No routing around traffic, alas

 

[stuartv]

My understanding is that Mk1 size follows Fenix 5X, which is a bit thicker but otherwise equivalent to Fenix 3 (Fenix 5 is actually smaller than 3). I still have Fenix 3 in the drawer, wanna a pic of that?


I talked to Garmin reps about Mk1 since I had some concerns about how it would handle non-diving functions. Their response:


Which means three things:

• Unless somebody builds a ConnectIQ app talking to Google Maps service (and I'm not even sure ConnectIQ SDK allows for such connected apps), this sadly won't work. Android Wear this isn't.
• Garmin would very much prefer you pay them $60 to buy their maps than to use free Google Maps
• No routing around traffic, alas

Thanks.

I found some pictures of the 5X, so I have an idea of the size now. Hyyuuge!

The built-in maps support City Nav type turn-by-turn routing? You pay extra for City Nav maps?

And then even if you pay extra, you don't get traffic-based routing?!? Not even if you have a data connection via a smartphone??

I realized one other thing I don't like - the watch band situation. A normal watch strap is fine for daily wear. But, when diving, I strongly prefer to use a NATO-style watch strap. If the computer catches on something and I break a strap pin, I don't want the whole computer to fall off. It looks like trying to use a NATO strap on the Descent would be troublesome - if you also wanted a normal length strap and to switch back and forth for diving versus daily wear. If I put on a NATO strap that is long enough to fit around my drysuit sleeve, I would not want to use that strap for daily wear. Plus, with a NATO band, I'm guessing the HR monitor won't work.

 

[Damselfish]

Am I the only one that thinks this computer is cheap for what you get. I've shelled out a lot more money on a lot less when it comes to scuba. At the end of the day, this is an amazing Gen 1 product, but everyone has their biases and preferences. My liquivisions and Aeris dive computers are completely out of warranty, so I doubt they will last long enough for Garmin to come out with AI (I've had all my dive computers replaced under warranty twice (ie: 6 dive computers in 2 years), and two of them have failed again out of warranty). So my bar isn't very high; I just want a computer that lasts more than 50 dives before needing replacement and has AI.

I dive an Oceanic VT3 that is 7 1/2 years old, nearly 1000 dives, way over 1000 hours, that works absolutely perfectly. This is what I expect from my dive computer.

ditto, my bar is way higher than that. We dive cheapo Suunto Gekkos and Vypers and I have no idea how old any of them are at this point, but probably mostly 10-20 years. I dove with some early Suuntos 20-25 years ago that I only upgraded for features, not failures. I wouldn't be surprised if they're still out there someplace working fine.