Garmin Epix (Gen 2) vs Garmin Descent Mk2S
🗓️ Release Year
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): 2022
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: 2021
🏃 Activity
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Garmin Epix (Gen 2) is a high-performance multisport GPS smartwatch designed for serious athletes and outdoor enthusiasts, featuring a stunning AMOLED display. It offers comprehensive activity tracking, including steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes with personalized daily goals. Its extensive activity profiles and advanced performance metrics are tailored for a wide range of sports and adventures, providing detailed insights into every workout.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The Garmin Descent Mk2S is a compact, rugged dive computer and multisport GPS smartwatch designed for divers and athletes with smaller wrists. It provides precise tracking for dive-specific metrics, alongside comprehensive tracking for steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes. Its wide range of activity profiles caters to both underwater and topside sports, offering detailed data for performance analysis across diverse activities in a more streamlined form factor.
❤️ Health Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): This device provides continuous heart rate monitoring, advanced physiological metrics including VO2 max estimation, performance condition, and training status. It also tracks respiration rate, Pulse Ox for blood oxygen saturation, and offers detailed sleep analysis, delivering critical health and recovery data essential for optimizing training and overall well-being.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: This device provides continuous wrist-based heart rate monitoring, advanced fitness metrics, and in-depth dive tracking. It includes Pulse Ox for blood oxygen saturation monitoring, crucial for assessing acclimatization at altitude and during dives. Stress tracking and sleep analysis contribute to a holistic view of health and recovery, vital for dive readiness and overall well-being, scaled for a smaller device.
🔋 Battery Life
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) offers up to 16 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and up to 42 hours with continuous GPS tracking. While the vibrant AMOLED display impacts battery life compared to MIP displays, it still provides sufficient duration for multi-day activities and extensive training.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The Descent Mk2S offers robust battery life for its size, providing up to 50 hours in dive mode, up to 7 days in smartwatch mode, and up to 30 hours in GPS mode, ensuring reliable performance during extended diving trips and multi-day activities, balancing compact size with power efficiency.
😴 Sleep Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Advanced sleep monitoring on the Epix (Gen 2) tracks detailed sleep stages and utilizes the Pulse Ox sensor to monitor blood oxygen levels during sleep. This provides valuable data for assessing recovery quality and informing training decisions, especially important for athletes managing demanding training loads.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: Advanced sleep tracking on the Descent Mk2S monitors sleep stages and provides valuable insights into sleep quality, contributing to a better understanding of recovery essential for both athletic performance and dive safety. Consistent tracking is supported by the device's battery performance and comfortable wearability.
📍 GPS Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Equipped with advanced built-in GPS capabilities, the Epix (Gen 2) provides highly accurate outdoor activity tracking and navigation without requiring a paired smartphone. It supports multiple satellite systems and offers detailed preloaded mapping features, essential for exploring remote areas and navigating complex routes.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: Equipped with built-in GPS, the Descent Mk2S provides accurate outdoor activity tracking and mapping capabilities on the surface. This GPS functionality is also integrated into dive logging for recording entry and exit points, and for surface navigation back to a dive site.
🏋️ Workout Modes
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) supports an extensive range of multisport and individual workout modes, including running, biking, swimming, hiking, trail running, skiing, strength training, and more. Its customizable profiles and extensive real-time data screens provide comprehensive metrics for performance analysis across diverse activities.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The Descent Mk2S supports an extensive range of multisport and individual workout modes, including dedicated profiles for various types of diving (single-gas, multi-gas, CCR, freediving), swimming, running, biking, hiking, and strength training, providing relevant metrics for each activity.
💫 Exercise Recognition
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The device includes automatic exercise detection for common activities like walking and running through its Move IQ feature, ensuring seamless recording of basic movements within the overall activity log, even during varied training days.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The device includes automatic exercise detection for common activities such as swimming, running, and cycling through its Move IQ feature, ensuring these basic movements are captured in your activity log alongside detailed dive data.
🍎 Compatibility
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for seamless data synchronization and smart notifications.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The Descent Mk2S is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth for seamless data synchronization, detailed dive log management, and smart notifications.
📲 App Support
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Synchronization with the comprehensive Garmin Connect app is central to the Epix (Gen 2) experience, providing in-depth analysis of all tracked data, performance metrics, training insights, and recovery recommendations. The app allows for creating and syncing detailed training plans, courses, and customizing device settings.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: Synchronization with the comprehensive Garmin Connect app is central for topside activity and health tracking, while the Garmin Dive app is specifically designed for detailed dive log management, analysis, and sharing, providing a complete ecosystem for both fitness and diving data, accessible from your smartphone.
💡 Smart Features
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Beyond its primary focus on sports and outdoor performance, the Epix (Gen 2) includes practical smart functionalities such as on-wrist notifications, Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and on-device music storage with support for streaming services, offering convenience during training and daily use.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: Beyond its primary focus on diving and sports, the Descent Mk2S includes practical smart functionalities such as on-wrist notifications for calls, texts, and calendar alerts. It also supports Garmin Pay for contactless payments, enhancing convenience on and off the dive boat, all within a compact form factor.
💦 Water Resistance
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): With a robust water resistance rating of 100 meters (10 ATM), the Epix (Gen 2) is engineered to withstand swimming, showering, and various water activities, making it suitable for serious water sports and providing durability in wet environments.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: With an impressive water resistance rating to 100 meters (10 ATM) and built-in dive computer functionality, the Descent Mk2S is specifically designed for scuba diving, freediving, and other underwater activities, providing essential dive data and safety features in a smaller size.
⌚ Display Quality
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) features a stunning AMOLED display with high resolution, offering vibrant colors, deep blacks, and exceptional brightness. This touchscreen display provides excellent readability in various lighting conditions, including direct sunlight, enhancing the visual experience for mapping and data review.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The Descent Mk2S features a 1.2-inch, sunlight-readable, color display with high resolution, optimized for visibility both above and below the water. This screen provides clear and easy-to-read data during activities and dives, scaled for a compact device.
👌 Ease of Use
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The device offers a dual interface with reliable buttons and a responsive touchscreen, providing flexible and easy navigation through menus, data screens, and mapping features during both activities and daily use. The user interface is designed for intuitive operation and quick access to critical information.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The device utilizes a user-friendly interface with a combination of buttons and a touchscreen, designed for easy navigation and access to features both on land and underwater, prioritizing reliable operation in various conditions and providing quick access to critical dive information in a smaller size.
✨ Design and Comfort
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) features a premium and durable design with a high-quality titanium bezel and stainless steel or DLC coating, built to withstand extreme conditions while maintaining a comfortable fit for all-day wear and extended outdoor use. The design balances robust construction with aesthetic appeal.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The Descent Mk2S features a compact and lightweight rugged design built for the demanding conditions of diving and outdoor adventures, specifically tailored for smaller wrists. It maintains a comfortable fit for all-day wear and long dives, balancing robust construction with practical wearability.
🩸 SpO2 Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): An integrated Pulse Ox sensor allows for on-demand spot checks and continuous monitoring of blood oxygen saturation levels, particularly valuable for acclimatization at altitude, monitoring sleep quality, and assessing overall physiological status during demanding activities.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: An integrated Pulse Ox sensor is a key feature, allowing for monitoring blood oxygen saturation levels during dives, at altitude, and throughout daily activities, providing crucial data for assessing physiological status and dive readiness in challenging environments, integrated into a smaller device.
💖 ECG Functionality
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): It is important to note that the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: It is important to note that the Garmin Descent Mk2S does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality.
🧘 Stress Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) tracks stress levels throughout the day based on heart rate variability and offers guided breathing exercises to help users manage stress and promote mental well-being alongside physical training and recovery.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The Descent Mk2S tracks stress levels throughout the day based on heart rate variability and offers guided breathing exercises to help users manage stress, contributing to overall well-being and focus, important for both athletic and diving performance and safety.
🩹 Recovery Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The device provides advanced recovery insights, including a daily readiness score, recovery time advisor, training status, and training load focus, offering detailed guidance to help athletes understand their recovery needs and optimize their training schedule to prevent overtraining and improve performance.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: The Body Battery energy monitoring feature provides insights into the body's energy reserves based on activity, stress, and sleep data, helping users understand their physiological readiness for training or the need for rest. This is a key feature for optimizing recovery, essential for demanding sports and diving activities.
💳 Subscription
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): A significant benefit of the Garmin platform is that all features and data tracked by the Epix (Gen 2) are accessible through the free Garmin Connect app, requiring no additional subscription fees for core functionality or advanced training analysis, providing comprehensive value for a premium device.
2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: A significant benefit of the Garmin platform is that all core features and data tracked by the Descent Mk2S, including its extensive dive computer functionalities and access to the Garmin Connect and Garmin Dive apps, are available without an additional subscription fee, providing comprehensive value for a specialized compact professional device.
🏷️️ Price
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): $999.99
Check Garmin Epix (Gen 2) Price *2️⃣ Garmin Descent Mk2S: $1,199.99
Check Garmin Descent Mk2S Price ** If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you