Garmin MK3i reviews

[AgentKooper]

My 51mm Mk3i arrived yesterday. I won’t get to dive with it for another couple months, so for now I’m focused on the daily use aspects.

My first impression: it’s big! I’d tried on an Mk2i a while back and it seemed fine. But when I put mine on yesterday it seemed huge, even though it’s 1mm smaller. My wrist is about 7.25 inches, and, while the Mk3i doesn’t look ridiculous, it’s definitely on the large size, and I wouldn’t want it any bigger. My main concern is that it stays secure during runs and workouts so the the HR sensor is as accurate as possible. So far that doesn’t seem to be an issue, and I’m getting used to the size already. I use a nylon watch band, which helps keep everything tight. I went for a run this morning wearing my Mk3i on one wrist, and my G1 on the other, and my average HR was within 2 bpm between the two.

My second impression: the screen is huge! It’s really great. I abandoned an Apple Watch for the Descent G1 because the Apple battery life was unacceptable. I really like the G1, but its big weakness is the 80s-era screen. It’s been great while diving, but day-to-day on land, it feels small and dark. The AMOLED screen on the Mk3i is just beautiful. The brightness, combined with larger screen, is a revelation. The screen acreage allows more data to be displayed during a run, and it’s much easier to see.

For now I have the display set to always-on, and my battery life on a full charge was estimated to be 10 days, according to the watch. When I deactivated always-on, it told me the battery life was 25 days. That is with the display brightness set to 2/3. Twenty hours later, including 30 minutes of GPS use, my battery is still at 93 percent/10 days remaining. I’ll be keeping a close eye on battery life on various settings and will update on this.

So … so far so good. I’m blown away I can get this screen with this battery life, and I can’t wait to get into the mapping and scuba functions.

 

[AgentKooper]

Following up …. I’m a week and a half in with my Mk3i, and the battery life has been as advertised. I put a full charge on it on a Friday as described above. Eight days later on Saturday night, with display set to always on (AOD), and with 9 hours of GPS tracking (running, strength training, and skiing) logged , my battery was at 22 percent, or an estimated two days remaining. I switched off the AOD, and my remaining days jumped up to six.

My hope was to get a week’s battery life with heavy GPS usage with always-on display, and it passed with flying colors.

I prefer the display always-on. With AOD off, the wrist gesture is pretty good, but not perfect, and it was annoying enough to me that I preferred the AOD setting on. If I’m getting over a week with AOD, I’d rather not deal with the slight lag and occasional missed gesture, though many people probably won’t be bothered by those. It’s nice to know I can deactivate AOD to buy a lot more battery life if I’m going to be without a charger for some reason.

Other impressions:

The flashlight is awesome. If you use the light on your phone a lot like I do, you’re going to love this.

The training and dive readiness functions are very interesting. My training readiness reports tracked my subjective feeling very well, and seemed consistent with my activity and sleep levels. I’m looking forward to watching trends with this.

I prefer a nylon loop band. I’ve tried many brands and designs, and my favorite by far is the 26mm Abanen Hook and Loop Quick Dry Band. It’s identical to Garmin’s nylon loop band at nearly a quarter the price — with the exact same design and quality of construction. The Abanen material is actually a bit stretchier than the Garmin material, and in my opinion provided the more dialed-in fit between the two.

The display size and quality remain a delight. I’ve got some backcountry ski tours coming up this month and can’t wait to test the compass and maps.

 

[AgentKooper]

[Duplicate post deleted]

 

[Xterra]

I wonder about the maps how to add maps for Asia? Cant seem to find any

 

[AgentKooper]

It looks like you can buy and download Asia maps on the Garmin website. I don't know what other options might be.

 

[Xterra]

Found this video, says "Access to Topo Active mapping at no additional cost" at around 58 sec into the video.

 

[AgentKooper]

Found this video, says "Access to Topo Active mapping at no additional cost" at around 58 sec into the video.

Yes, the North America topo map comes pre-installed (at least if you buy in North America, as I did). The other maps that came installed are Courseview for the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Pacific. Not sure what Courseview is (EDIT: it's golf course maps).

EDIT: Looks like you can also download topo maps for the rest of the world, including Asia, for free in the map manager.

It also comes with DiveView and SkiView.

So far I've only used SkiView, which was accurate for the resort I was at in Colorado.

There's an option for Garmin Outdoor Maps+, which requires a subscription. I haven't explored that yet but might.

 

[RayLem]

I wonder about the maps how to add maps for Asia? Cant seem to find any

When you install the Garmin Express app on your computer (Mac or PC) and add your new MK3i, it will display some "updates" for your device. If you click on "Manage Maps" you can select your default country and map. So select the maps you want to install on your watch, it will take about 10-15 minutes to upload maps.

 

[jodeci888]

Following up …. I’m a week and a half in with my Mk3i, and the battery life has been as advertised. I put a full charge on it on a Friday as described above. Eight days later on Saturday night, with display set to always on (AOD), and with 9 hours of GPS tracking (running, strength training, and skiing) logged , my battery was at 22 percent, or an estimated two days remaining. I switched off the AOD, and my remaining days jumped up to six.

My hope was to get a week’s battery life with heavy GPS usage with always-on display, and it passed with flying colors.

I prefer the display always-on. With AOD off, the wrist gesture is pretty good, but not perfect, and it was annoying enough to me that I preferred the AOD setting on. If I’m getting over a week with AOD, I’d rather not deal with the slight lag and occasional missed gesture, though many people probably won’t be bothered by those. It’s nice to know I can deactivate AOD to buy a lot more battery life if I’m going to be without a charger for some reason.

Other impressions:

The flashlight is awesome. If you use the light on your phone a lot like I do, you’re going to love this.

The training and dive readiness functions are very interesting. My training readiness reports tracked my subjective feeling very well, and seemed consistent with my activity and sleep levels. I’m looking forward to watching trends with this.

I prefer a nylon loop band. I’ve tried many brands and designs, and my favorite by far is the 26mm Abanen Hook and Loop Quick Dry Band. It’s identical to Garmin’s nylon loop band at nearly a quarter the price — with the exact same design and quality of construction. The Abanen material is actually a bit stretchier than the Garmin material, and in my opinion provided the more dialed-in fit between the two.

The display size and quality remain a delight. I’ve got some backcountry ski tours coming up this month and can’t wait to test the compass and maps.

Hello. You're probably the perfect person for me to ask about the post that I made which is I currently have a Teric and I was thinking about picking up the MK3 because of the distance with the transmitter because my daughter is getting certified in April.

Not sure if you've ever used a Teric, but if so what's your thoughts on that? My main concern is being able to monitor her at 16 years old.

 

[Belzelbub]

I currently have a Teric and I was thinking about picking up the MK3 because of the distance with the transmitter because my daughter is getting certified in April.

Not sure if you've ever used a Teric, but if so what's your thoughts on that? My main concern is being able to monitor her at 16 years old.

My thoughts on this. I have two daughters that dive. Both started at 10 and are now 15 and 18. I have both a Shearwater and a Garmin.

The Garmin transmitter will absolutely work over much longer distances than the PPS/Swift transmitters. So, it could be used to monitor another diver's supply. With the T2 and an MK3 on the diver's wrist, it can also provide depth and distance information. None of the other DC manufacturers at this point can even come close to Garmin for diver connectivity.

That brings up the question of should you need to monitor your daughter's tank pressure. When my daughters were first learning to dive, Garmin hadn't yet entered the market. Instead of adding a transmitter on their regulator and checking on my wrist, I opted to get them in the habit. At random intervals, I signal for them to tell me their air pressure. This works fine, and in every instance, I've found that their gas supply is not limiting the dive. It's mine. We get pretty close with me using a 120 and my youngest using an 80, but just given our size differences, their SAC is significantly lower than mine.

My recommendation is to get her in the habit. You shouldn't need to be monitoring her gas supply. She should do it and communicate it to you.