The duel: Apple Watch Ultra vs Garmin Descent Mk2S – The battle of the giants over adventure-hungry data addicts

Text/photo: Ola Jacobsen

Last autumn Apple released a completely new model of Apple Watch – for the first time since the introduction in 2015. The rugged adventure variant Apple Watch Ultra is bigger, more hard-wearing and more capable than any earlier watch released from the tech giant. 

It has been praised by critics and users. But is it the best? The new abilities are matched almost exactly by another and considerably less talked about watch in the same segment: Garmin Descent Mk2S. 

We have had Ola Jacobsen, our expert on tool watches, do a comparative test. 

When you write duels it's always tempting to reach for expressions like David's fight against Goliath. And Apple (founded in California in 1976) is certainly a bit of a Goliath compared with the considerably smaller company Garmin (founded in Kansas in 1989). 

Reversed roles apply for the companies in the training watch industry. Since 2015 Apple has made a single series of the training watch Apple Watch. The Apple Watch Ultra is Apple's second series. Garmin for its part has since 2003 made hundreds of models of training watches in 17 different series. Typical Goliath behaviour, quite simply. So when Apple introduced the Apple Watch Ultra with completely new diving functionality, Garmin of course already had a bunch of watches with the same ability on the market. 

What makes the Garmin Descent Mk2S in particular such a suitable watch to put up against the Apple Watch Ultra is:

• Functionality: Both are competent training watches with the ability to measure both pulse and oxygen saturation over several days on one charge. Both watches also have built-in depth gauges and can be used as real dive computers. 
• Size: The Apple Watch Ultra and the Garmin Descent Mk2S have slightly different shapes and are made of different materials, but both are are, given their impressive set of sensors, surprisingly wearable day to day. 
• Price: The Apple Watch Ultra costs 10 995 and the Garmin Descent Mk2S 11 399 kronor. 

Before we dive into the more detailed comparison it has to be said straight out: The Apple Watch Ultra is the second best dog trick after the MoonSwatch. Either people ask what you have on your arm or they know exactly what it is and want to know everything about it. Garmin's more traditional training watch aesthetic doesn't play in the same league at all. To put it simply: No strangers will ask you about your new Garmin. 

Worn like ultra light bettarini cases

Wearability. Both watches are bigger than the large version of the ordinary Apple Watch, but smaller than other training watches with corresponding functions. For anyone used to slightly bigger watches both will feel completely fine both to wear day to day and to sleep with on the arm. If you're going to compare them with an ordinary watch size-wise then a 44 millimetre bettarini case from Panerai is close at hand. Weight-wise both watches are considerably lighter though. Especially the Garmin Descent Mk2S, which only weighs 40 grams without a strap.

Loads of functions – but in slightly different ways

Both watches measure pulse, oxygen saturation, movement, position, dive depth and magnetic compass direction. The Garmin Descent Mk2S also has an altimeter on top of that and the possibility of measuring the user's breathing frequency. 

While the Apple Watch Ultra carries out its functions in the form of apps, Garmin has a lot built in from the start. 

Just like Apple, Garmin also offers the possibility of installing third-party apps and dials. This is really Apple's domain and the company does, as expected, a good job of setting requirements for apps, so that they measure up functionally and in terms of security. 

In Garmin's app store Garmin IQ it's a bit more free rein, which in rare cases can mean that apps, for example, use a huge amount of energy, or crash easily. But the ease with which developers can add apps also broadens the offering of small niche apps that might not be worth it for the developers to drag through Apple's whole review process.

For example I can't find any app for training breath holding for free diving for the Apple Watch Ultra, while I found an excellent free app in a minute for the Garmin Descent Mk2S. 

Big differences for divers

For anyone planning to dive with the watch the two watches differ a lot. The Apple Watch Ultra has in its basic form only a depth gauge. To be able to use the watch as a dive computer you need to subscribe to the app Oceanic+ for the Apple Watch Ultra. It's created for sport diving and free diving down to 40 metres. The app costs 135 kronor per month or 1079 kronor per year. 

The Garmin Descent Mk2S is usable down to 100 metres depth, more than twice as deep as the Apple Watch Ultra. The watch also comes with a range of different dive modes: sport and technical diving (including the gas mixes nitrox and trimix), depth gauge, free diving, spearfishing free diving as well as a mode for those who dive with a closed diving apparatus, so-called rebreather technology. All the dive functionality is preinstalled in the watch and is included in the price. No extra fees are added. 

The touch functionality on the Apple Watch Ultra's screen doesn't work under water. Instead the model has been graced with a completely new and large button, which can be preprogrammed to for example mark a position, start a countdown, or really anything at all. Without the button the watch would be almost unusable under water, but only having access to a single button is still quite limiting. 

During a dive the Garmin Descent Mk2S is considerably more flexible. But access to all the watch's buttons in the same way as on land you can easily change views and when needed go in and out of different programs.

Longer battery life with Garmin

The Apple Watch Ultra promises 18 hours of battery life with the mobile connection switched on and all the sensors at full blast. In its most power saving mode the battery lasts 60 hours. 

Here the Garmin Descent Mk2S offers more options. With all the sensors going as well as music streaming from the watch to headphones the battery lasts six hours. 18 hours you get if you refrain from streaming music with bluetooth, 30 hours in dive mode, 36 hours with the GPS on, seven days with the watch as a smartwatch and 21 days, in other words over 500 hours, in the battery saving mode where the watch no longer communicates with the phone. 

The titanium case something quite special

Both Apple and Garmin know how to mass produce durable electronics gadgets. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that over the years they have each made at least a billion units. Even though the watches are made in different materials, both hold a high build quality. 

The Apple Watch Ultra's titanium case is something quite special, and even if the new crown guard contributes to increasing the watch's outer dimensions it at the same time makes the watch strangely well balanced. 

Garmin's super light fibre reinforce polymer case gives a simpler impression. Unfortunately the polished crystal ring doesn't lift the overall impression. I would have wished that Garmin had chosen a brushed surface on the crystal ring, instead of this hybrid between training watch and bling.

More apps for the Apple Watch Ultra – the Garmin Descent Mk2S more competent as it is

With access to the App Store the Apple Watch Ultra is superior when it comes to customisation and access to all the world's different web services. It's easy to find and install apps and just as on the ordinary Apple Watch you can choose to automatically install sibling apps to apps you already have on the phone. 

Here Garmin is is a step behind, with a slightly messier Garmin Connect IQ Store. In Garmin's favour it should be mentioned that the Garmin Descent Mk2S works excellently for masses of different kinds of training and diving without you needing to download a single app. Excellen versions of that are already in the watch when you unpack it from the box. The Garmin Connect IQ Store you really only need for if you for example want to run Spotify, or another web service, or to use one of the oceans of third-party dials waiting in the Connect IQ Store. 

An Apple Watch on steroids

On the whole the Apple Watch Ultra is an Apple Watch on steroids: The whole user-friendly basic concept of the Apple Watch, but with an even better experience: A bigger screen, longer battery life, more sensors. 

For divers it's a shame that Apple didn't choose a solution with an app of their own for diving. For anyone buying the watch because it's the best Apple Watch so far it doesn't matter, but for anyone considering the Apple Watch Ultra as a diver's watch it maybe feels unfamiliar to have to pay a subscription fee on top of the watch to be able to use it. 

The watch pairs easily with the phone. The whole process of starting it up the first time is super simple and takes a couple of minutes. Settings and data are also quickly moved over to a new device when needed. 

The same applies for the Garmin Descent Mk2S. The watch pairs quickly with the phone and the app Garmin Connect. Garmin has chosen to give its specialised products dedicated apps instead of building out Garmin Connect into a monster app, so to get hold of advanced dive data you also need the app Garmin Dive on the phone. Both apps are simple to use and hold a lot of data to dive down into for anyone who's interested. My impression is that both apps pick data from the same database and always feel completely synchronised. 

Tried and tested and functional design

Design and user design have always been at the centre of Apple's products. The Apple Watch Ultra is no exception. I would like to travesty a well-known Apple boss and say that it's the best Apple Watch that the company ever so far. 

The two textile straps ”bergsloop” and ”terrängloop” are both comfortable and nice-looking. The rubber strap ”havsband” on the other hand is both fairly uncomfortable and unnecessarily eye-catching. Luckily it works excellently to dive with the watch on the terräng strap too, since it's easy to adjust the size with the watch on the arm. 

The Garmin Descent Mk2S follows closely in Garmin's fenix tracks. Even if it doesn't reach the same level of originality as Apple, it's still built on well-tried and functional design. 

The watch is delivered with a rubber strap that fits most wrists. On top of that a considerably longer replacement part is also included with which you can replace the part of the strap that attaches the watch six. The strap attaches with Garmin's own quickfit attachment, for quick and tool-free strap changes.  

Brightness in a class of its own

When it comes to the screen there are big differences between the watches. Both use colour screens, but Apple has chosen a much brighter technology than Garmin. The Apple Watch Ultra is very easy to read, from dark water to blazing direct sunlight. Perhaps the phenomenal brightness contributes though to the watch's, compared with Garmin's, short battery life. 

The Garmin Descent Mk2S is equipped with more normal screen performance. It's easy to read in almost all situations, but doesn't have the same blazing properties as Apple's watch in direct sunlight. 

Garmin has also chosen as a default setting to present more data during activities than Apple. That means a smaller degree on letters and numbers, which makes it harder to read off during for example running on dark and rainy evenings. Anyone who experiences that as a problem can easily fix it by going into the settings and changing the size of the text or the amount of data to be shown. 

The cheapest becomes the most expensive for divers

Both watches lie with their around 11 000 kronor in the upper price segment for training watches, but for anyone who is interested in both a training watch and a dive computer the price is easier to digest. 

The Apple Watch Ultra costs 10 995 kronor and the Garmin Descent Mk2S 11 399 kronor. To even want to be able to use for the Apple Watch Ultra as a dive computer you need to add a subscription to the app Oceanic+ for 135 kronor per month or 1079 kronor per year, which makes the Apple Watch Ultra considerably more expensive in the long run. 

Summary

For anyone who on top of a training watch also values the smartwatch aspect, with phone-like apps and functionality on the wrist, the Apple Watch Ultra is the given choice. For anyone who doesn't want a small phone on the wrist, but on the other hand values a more serious dive computer with many built-in functions for different types of diving, such as for example free diving, technical diving with different gas mixes or rebreather technology, the Garmin Descent Mk2S is the obvious choice. 

Technical specifications

Apple Watch Ultra 

Case width x length x height: 43,2 x 49,1 x 14,3 millimetres

Lug to lug: 53,8 millimetres

Weight without strap: 61,1 grams

Weight with terrängloop, textile and velcro strap: 70,8 grams 

Weight with havsband, silicone strap: 96,0 grams 

Water resistance: 40 metres, meets the requirements of EN13319

Crystal: Sapphire crystal

Case: Titanium

Strap width: Terrängloop: 26 millimetres. Havsband: 23 millimetres

Screen type: OLED

Screen size: 32 x 39 millimetres (active part)

Screen resolution: 410 x 502 pixels

Battery life: 18–60 hours depending on how the watch is used

Price: 10 995 kronor

Garmin Descent Mk2S

Case width x length x height: 42,9 x 42,9 x 15,2 millimetres

Lug to lug: 49,5 millimetres

Weight without strap: 41,3 grams

Weight with silicone bracelet: 60,1 grams 

Water resistance: 100 metres, meets the requirements of EN13319

Crystal: Sapphire crystal

Crystal ring: Stainless steel

Case: Fibre reinforced polymer

Strap width: 20 millimetres. Compatible with Garmin's tool-free replacement straps (Quickfit). 

Screen type: Transflective MIP (memory-in-pixel)

Screen size: 30,4 millimetres in diameter (active part)

Screen resolution: 240 x 240 pixels

Battery life: 6 hours–21 days depending on how the watch is used

Price: 11 399 kronor