Thursday I replaced my 3+ year old 5X with Mk2i.
Size, button position, menu layout surprisingly similar which is a good thing. Replacing the 5X on my Garmin Connect profile was made easy by the Garmin set-up wizard. The wizard gave me a choice to start fresh or transfer my 5x profile. Choosing the latter, the migration of data and settings all went smoothly.
I purchased my device in Taipei – has English, Traditional and simplified Chinese. After setting to English, I firstly disabled the annoying button vibration. The set-up was mostly intuitive and straightforward. You have to manually enable Pulse Ox. It’s off by default (and of course, wasn’t available on the 5X).
It was manufactured end of August and has a serial number in the 900’s. Firmware was v2.18.
I then synced the device to my android device, Nokia 9. I was surprised how it pulled my current week’s data from the 5X. I then checked for an firmware update in the settings menu and sure enough, it gave me v4.00. The update took about 5 minutes, then rebooted.
Took it out for a 10k run in the pouring rain – virtual partner, data fields all set same as my 5X. The map image is much better in 280x280 pixels - a nice upgrade from the 240x240 on the 5x. Same for data fields as all are easier to read just before sunrise.
Set up Spotify (synced a couple of play lists) and tried out Garmin Pay at local 7-11. Both apps worked flawlessly.
The watch came with the standard black silicon band as well as a 25cm long extension for dry suits. I also got the titanium band. The fitting is pretty easy – I had one link removed, then fine-tuned fit by moving the spring pin from the 4th to the 2nd hole in the buckle. Perfect fit. I run and cycle with an Amp Yellow band. Titanium is for the office. Moss Green silicon for casual.
Finally, Garmin Connect added a Diving Section to my profile menu. I just came back from a dive trip 3 weeks ago logging 12 dives in 4 days… manually added these to my Garmin profile. Kind of cool how it places the dives in between my runs and rides. Looking forward to bringing the mk2i on a dive trip planned at end of this month.
I was told the T1 transmitter will be available in January.
Cheers
