Updates

I had gone back and forth about whether to post this type of topic, fully knowing that 1. It would not be a popular topic and 2. That I’m sure I’ll get some negative feedback for doing so (if not a deleted topic). Well, I’ve never been one to shy away from making an unpopular decision, so here we go.

The Descent Mk1 was released in Jan ’18, where its sibling the 5x was released in Q1 ’17 and the Tactix Charlie was released in March ’18. I’m specifically mentioning these watches because they’re part of the same family, in fact it’s even mentioned on the Descent Mk1 page that this watch had all of the best features of its sibling the 5x (as stated on Garmin’s website): “offering the best features of our f?nix® 5Xultimate multisport GPS watch”. Ok, so the watch release timeline is done.

Back on 11/13 we received an email stating that a “simple software update was coming soon” for the Descent Mk1 and it specifically mentioned adding CCR support. I’m sure that there would have been other “updates” that go along with this “simple software update” but none were mentioned. Well, it’s now 12/22, well over a month since that Black Friday “we want to sell more watches” email… and no update. The last update for the Descent Mk1 was on 8/23…4 months ago. Meanwhile, it’s “siblings” have since received updates to enable Galileo, native Sunrise/Sunset widget, ALT. Time zone widget, Explore App Support and many other updates that have been available for these models since June/July (yes CIQ exists but the widgets, etc are slow and quite frankly poor as opposed to the baked in items). Yet the most expensive “base” Garmin model has been the least supported watch since its release.

Now, I had spoken to a Garmin employee via PM about the last of support/updates for this watch and after going back and forth, it was insinuated that I wanted a rushed product, yada, yada, yada. I by no means want a rushed product but when a Garmin employee that didn’t have to pay anything and/or full price for a $1k watch says something like that, it really burns my britches. I knew buying this watch that it wouldn’t have the “beta” side of updates. I understood that as this watch was geared towards a Life Support Sport and Garmin had to take a slower road to updates. I understood that. But the path to updates to bring it seemly closer to its siblings has not only been slow, but at a snail’s pace (I reported in January an issue with the Diving Compass pointing only to True North and not Magnetic North and it took them over 3 months to come out with an update to fix it). This would be different if this watch was solely designed for diving. I don’t wait for monthly updates for my Shearwater Perdix, Sherwood Wisdom 3, Sherwood Profile, Oceanic PP3, etc. I don’t expect monthly updates for the Mk1 but maybe even communication from Garmin reps that I know visit this forum giving us a “generalized” timeline of what’s to come would be appreciated. When you call Garmin’s Customer Support, they do an EXCELLENT job with handling issues. Unfortunately the representation on the Garmin forums though is nowhere near the same and quite frankly needs to be vastly improved.

Ok, to wrap up this long post. I know that once changes are done, they have to be tested. But I’ve wondered why a company like Garmin couldn’t do updates to other parts of this watches software without keeping it separate from 3-4 diving activities.

Are we a bit spoiled at seeing other watches have more frequent updates? Yes we are. Is it realistic to think the Mk1 can be the same? No. But when you are months and months behind models that are a1+ years older than yours, you start to wonder has the how serious are they taking this? When they do eventually update the watch, how many more or how much longer will they continue to support the watch when the Mk2 is already in the pipeline? They seem to only support watches for about 1 ½ - 2 years, as that’s fine, I understand that. Nothing lasts forever. I was told that I was in the minority that no one else was like me when it came to updates. This particular Garmin employee was wrong, as I also am a Garmin Dealer and I sold over 15 of these Descent’s to my customers, some of them that have come to ME to inquire about it since I sold it to them. These customers visit this forum but do not have a desire to post. This post is for them and anyone else frustrated by this process, not me. Due to the response from Garmin employee, I have since sold my Ti Descent Mk1. I have nothing to gain from this but I do feel for the other that has spent their hard earned money on this watch. Does the watch work? Yes it does, but could it be better within the construct of the Fenix 5 ecosystem?

Yes…

/end of rant


  • Good point! I love my MK1 and have been taking it over the world on many dive sites but we need Deezer app on it to listen to music while taking our watch for a run. Any updates on when we can get that app available? Tx!

  • Given we are 10 months now since the last update, I think the answer is never. Garmin has never really supported the Descent Mk1 worth a damn. Anyone holding out for an update will most likely be sadly disappointed. Garmin seems to be taking a page out of Samsung's book, fix issues in the next version of the product (assuming there is one in this case) and then tell customers to buy the newer version. While I may buy another Garmin watch, it is extremely doubtful I would purchase a Descent Mk2 given what we have gone through with the Descent Mk1. 

  • Hi , any news on the update? Is there some kind of petition we can sign? How can we get our message across to Garmin? Thanks!

  • I’ll sign a petition to have Deezer app available on Descent! Btw, I also think Garmin has to be a lot more conservative with releases to the Descent watch because once you are 20 meters under water, you don’t want your watch to have a major glitch or you risk your own life. Its not necessarily the same risk with running or biking watches... Saying that, Garmin team has to provide answers to our questions and address their customers needs timely. 

  • I’ll sign a petition to have Deezer app available on Descent!

    I don't believe the Mk1 has the hardware necessary to play music.  The Mk1 is based on the fenix 5X and you need at least the fenix 5 plus series for Deezer.

    See: https://www.activestride.com.au/buying-guides-help-articles/infographic-garmin-fenix-5-5s-5x-vs-fenix-5-5s-5x-plus-comparison

  • Thanks thats a great review for learning more about Garmin products. Technically though, I’m not so clear why Fenix 5X cannot install a music player and it does have enough storage capacity to store musics... So I understand Descent MK1 is not the latest platform but it should be powerful enough for that function. Thanks Anyway!

  • It is not just the storage or the ability to install the app.  The Mk1 (and the 5X, etc.) lacks the ability to play music files.  It's a hardware limitation.

  • Well again the Mk1 has a cpu, it has storage, you can add codecs by software update. That should be enough to enable it to play music files... Not sure it is limited by its Bluetooth chip not able to act as a host to send data to a set of earbuds? Interested to know more technical details on that if anyone has


  • we are reporting many and more times about the nonfunctional diving computer watch descent MK1 ,
    many times we had sent a messages to get your kind support as big company as Garmin but no any kind of care to your customers , we had reported before about a failed diving mode to run when we were navigating to a dive point for both me and a buddy , the depth altitude was not detected as fact it only read the depth from down 19 meter as 0 meter that time ,
    and that is not only the issues we had faced , the heart rate sensor broadcasting not stable in its read , it read for a while then nothing then read back , even now the heart rate widget not show and data for the previous 4 hours ,some times it is writing measuring but nothing after , also nowadays the backlight not working as its a programmed , the setting say to run 8 seconds but it does not , some time it work for 2 seconds and else more then stop at all , from time to time not working at all even by the left top light button , all of those issues we are facing from a diving computer watch costed us 1000$ and you still do not care , when will you give us ant considerations ?