New "Smart" Watch Style Dive Computer

[Ez E]

Is the Garmin Decent Mk3 not an option? Or are you looking for cheaper?

Ive had my Garmin D2 Delta for probably six years and have no complaints. Battery life is still excellent. And Garmin has some of the best service you can expect from a company.

I will be pairing a Mk3 with my Peregrine this summer.

 

[ScottishTapWater]

I wanted to have a dive computer that i could wear like many people have said (get the value and novelty out of it) and don't particularly care to wear a smart watch, but why not have some of those options to play with. I got intrigued by the Atmos Mission 2. I received it and seems to have lots of trouble with altitude, GPS, step counter seems to be way more than i think i walk and pretty sure by my belly I'm not burning that many calories. I updated the watch 2x and reset it to try to see if it would be ok but still seems off, having trouble putting my life in it's hands. I got to looking at most of the watches that have smart function even the new Garmin Fenix 8 and Suunto Ocean which are new seem to have horrible issues with too many features for the money they cost. Any of them good besides the top shelf options?
Thanks for taking time to read and respond!

Having tried to dive with my Apple Watch 2 Ultra, if we ignore the very limited feature-set, I have one primary complaint with this form factor of device: the screen is too goddamned small to read quickly at a glance in bad vis.

Now, if you don't dive in bad vis or have better eyesight than me, this might not be a problem for you but just figured I'd throw my thoughts in the ring

 

[Ken Ellis]

Is the Garmin Decent Mk3 not an option? Or are you looking for cheaper?

Ive had my Garmin D2 Delta for probably six years and have no complaints. Battery life is still excellent. And Garmin has some of the best service you can expect from a company.

I will be pairing a Mk3 with my Peregrine this summer.

They're beautiful and pretty amazing piece of gear, but since I can only dive part of the year I have a hard time justifying that price. I considered the Fenix 8, but they are having a heck of a lot of issues with that one and the Suunto Ocean lately. They make me nervous for the price unless they get their issues fixed. I think I'd feel most comfortable with a updated version of the Garmin G1.

 

[Ez E]

They're beautiful and pretty amazing piece of gear, but since I can only dive part of the year I have a hard time justifying that price. I considered the Fenix 8, but they are having a heck of a lot of issues with that one and the Suunto Ocean lately. They make me nervous for the price unless they get their issues fixed. I think I'd feel most comfortable with a updated version of the Garmin G1.

What mind of issues are they having? That is pretty uncharacteristic from the people I have known over the last 6 years with Garmin watches.

 

[Ken Ellis]

Having tried to dive with my Apple Watch 2 Ultra, if we ignore the very limited feature-set, I have one primary complaint with this form factor of device: the screen is too goddamned small to read quickly at a glance in bad vis.

Now, if you don't dive in bad vis or have better eyesight than me, this might not be a problem for you but just figured I'd throw my thoughts in the ring

My son bought an apple watch ultra and seems to like it. We went diving in Panama City beach and was happy with it, but he's 19 and has perfect vision. Hehe!

 

[Ken Ellis]

What mind of issues are they having? That is pretty uncharacteristic from the people I have known over the last 6 years with Garmin watches.

I don't know that the MK 2/3 had issues but I had purchased an Atmos Mission 2 and was having GPS connecting, altitude, and step counter issues. When I starting looking at the Fenix 8 and some others (not Garmin) alternatives I saw a lot of posts with people complaining about similar issues. That didn't make me comfortable spending 2 or 3 times what I had originally planned. I think heart rate and sleep monitoring irregularities were also mentioned.

 

[spatty99]

The Fenix 8 software is completely new and was nowhere near ready for release. I've been a big Garmin fan deep in their ecosystem for years and I'd call the Fenix 8 a dumpster fire. Aside from having lots of illogical, broken or unfinished features it also experienced frequent random crashes. I had two different 8's for a few months hoping each firmware update would make it worth keeping (the hardware is excellent, although the processor speed should have been increased) but issues persisted. Since returning them I've followed the forums very closely and it still sounds like there are tons of bugs. I stuck with my Mk3i and it continues to be (knock on wood) rock solid.

 

[Ken Ellis]

The Fenix 8 software is completely new and was nowhere near ready for release. I've been a big Garmin fan deep in their ecosystem for years and I'd call the Fenix 8 a dumpster fire. Aside from having lots of illogical, broken or unfinished features it also experienced frequent random crashes. I had two different 8's for a few months hoping each firmware update would make it worth keeping (the hardware is excellent, although the processor speed should have been increased) but issues persisted. Since returning them I've followed the forums very closely and it still sounds like there are tons of bugs. I stuck with my Mk3i and it continues to be (knock on wood) rock solid.

That's about what I've seen, sad. I'm hoping they update the G1 like they did the Instinct and hopefully it's not a dumpster fire!