Dive computers: Aeris f10, Drake, suunto D4f, smart apnea

[Ali Elkady]

hello fellow freedivers,
This is my first post here after reading lots of threads in these helpful forums, i'd like to thank everyone who is being part of this amazing community.

I am going to buy a new computer to use for pool training (static apnea, dynamic apnea), recreational freediving and deep line freediving.

Have been doing lots research for a few weeks and these are the options i came up with but its hard to really decide and that's why am posting this to ask experts here which one of these four you guys personally prefer and why

Suunto D4f - 450$

Oceanic f10 V3 - 400$

Mares Smart Apnea - 350$

Cressi Drake Titanium - 350$

 

[SubSub]

Got the regular D4. Love it cus my wife gave it to me. Ohh, and it’s awesome too... but I haven’t compared to the others so I can’t really say what it does better and what it does worse than the competition.

[emoji4]

 

[Spencer Vivian]

I also have the sunnto d4f and love it. Does everything I could want and more. It's simple and easy to use. Keep in mind it is the only dive watch I have used.

 

[Ali Elkady]

Thank you Spencer and Sub for ur replies, i wanna ask you, do youvuse it for pool training static and dynamic apnea? Is the dive mode automatic once it touches the water or does it have to pass a certain depth for activation?

 

[Spencer Vivian]

Thank you Spencer and Sub for ur replies, i wanna ask you, do youvuse it for pool training static and dynamic apnea? Is the dive mode automatic once it touches the water or does it have to pass a certain depth for activation?

It is automatic, as soon as I am in the pool or water it automatically goes to dive mode. I do not use it a lot at the pool only because there are large clocks on each wall I use instead.

 

[Auspicious Spearo]

I have the Drake, it is really nice and clear, great for everything free diving.
A friend has the Sunnto D4 (from a few years ago, may have changed) but I found it less free diving orientated. Too much going on without the simple basics. Surface countdown and the depth/time alarms which I find a really nice feature weren't there.
My brother has the Omer UPX1 which is also great and simple and clear. Maybe it is preference but I prefer the drake still.
Honestly you can't go wrong with it and it is a better price.

 

[J Campbell]

F10 here - it works fine for me in pool for dynamics. Starts timing dive when 2 feet under, stops when you surface. Then after you surface it begins timing surface recovery. But it has a flaw with the count down timer - it only counts down minutes, not seconds, so it's not very useful for doing repetitive breath holds when doing static tables - unless you want your statics rounded to whole minutes. I like to do the one-breath CO2 tables typically on a cycle of about 1.5 minutes. But since F10 can only do 1,2,3,4... mins I can't use it for my CO2 tables.

 

[Ali Elkady]

I have the Drake, it is really nice and clear, great for everything free diving.
A friend has the Sunnto D4 (from a few years ago, may have changed) but I found it less free diving orientated. Too much going on without the simple basics. Surface countdown and the depth/time alarms which I find a really nice feature weren't there.
My brother has the Omer UPX1 which is also great and simple and clear. Maybe it is preference but I prefer the drake still.
Honestly you can't go wrong with it and it is a better price.

Thank you Nicholas for ur help!
I was comparing between a few computers till i found the Drake and I was like forget about everything I’ll get the Drake. But then after some research, my only concern was viewing the dive history. I’ve read that u can’t view each dive history separately with its details and u can only view the average of ur whole session. For me it’s an important aspect in a freediving computer to be able to view the history of ur dives and follow ur progress. Is that true Nicholas?

 

[Auspicious Spearo]

Hi,
Regarding the dive history, and if you send me a PM I can try and take photos of some of the history info you can get with photos this evening.
In short; the dive history on the watch gives you an average of all session, and average of a particular session, you can then enter a particular session and get a little more info on that session; deepest dive, longest dive, water temp and a little more. But yes it is limited to the details on the watch after a session. After each dive within a session you can get loads of info while breathing-up on the surface. Rate of decent, bottom time, rate of assent. That is mostly when I look through my info if i'm training and not spearing. (Again I don't think it is any less than you get on the other watches...don't quote me though). I have never been too interested as for me it is mostly a safety device. I reminder not to over push my dive time, notify me at the depth I go negatively buoyant and to let me know with an alarm when I reach certain depths without always looking at the watch.
If you want real detail on the actual dive, get the PC link to plug into your computer and you will get everything about each dive in the history. This is an extra on the drake (about 60 euros) and comes normal with the omer.

 

[Ali Elkady]

F10 here - it works fine for me in pool for dynamics. Starts timing dive when 2 feet under, stops when you surface. Then after you surface it begins timing surface recovery. But it has a flaw with the count down timer - it only counts down minutes, not seconds, so it's not very useful for doing repetitive breath holds when doing static tables - unless you want your statics rounded to whole minutes. I like to do the one-breath CO2 tables typically on a cycle of about 1.5 minutes. But since F10 can only do 1,2,3,4... mins I can't use it for my CO2 tables.

Thank

Hi,
Regarding the dive history, and if you send me a PM I can try and take photos of some of the history info you can get with photos this evening.
In short; the dive history on the watch gives you an average of all session, and average of a particular session, you can then enter a particular session and get a little more info on that session; deepest dive, longest dive, water temp and a little more. But yes it is limited to the details on the watch after a session. After each dive within a session you can get loads of info while breathing-up on the surface. Rate of decent, bottom time, rate of assent. That is mostly when I look through my info if i'm training and not spearing. (Again I don't think it is any less than you get on the other watches...don't quote me though). I have never been too interested as for me it is mostly a safety device. I reminder not to over push my dive time, notify me at the depth I go negatively buoyant and to let me know with an alarm when I reach certain depths without always looking at the watch.
If you want real detail on the actual dive, get the PC link to plug into your computer and you will get everything about each dive in the history. This is an extra on the drake (about 60 euros) and comes normal with the omer.

Thanks Nicholas, you really helped me with the info I was trying to get online for so long. I didnt know that after each dive during the session it gives u details after each dive. I think am okay with that and incase i found it isn't enough I can get the PC link.

 

[Ali Elkady]

any more opinions on the chosen dive computers above?

 

[Tim B.]

I have the Cressi Drake (at least I hope I still do, I might have left it at the pool last thursday )
Guessing that you have read this thread https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/cressi-drake-review-2017.108007/ I will just point out some stuff that I noticed during use.

I love that watch! There is two depth modes, PRO and FREE. The FREE one being really clean in what it shows you but has some stupid restrictions regarding alarms. You can only set step alarms (alarm every 5/10/20m) in PRO mode, which sucks. I don't like using pro mode as most of the time I find the amount of information overwhelming.

The other thing is that pretty much nothing is self explanatory in the menu and it takes quite some time to get used to how to change settings and where to find things. But shitty UX-Design seems to be an overall problem with most of the monochrome dive computers.
Looking at the user manual gives a good impression of this https://www.cressi.com/easyUp/file/instructions/IB_Drake_EN.pdf
Once you do understand how the buttons are supposed to work and how they are assigned it works quite nicely. Not intuitively but I can manage to change settings on the fly.
There is the option of saving presets for different diving situations, with different alarms and settings for saltwater etc.
Problem is that they only are referenced by a A1-A9 and I find it really hard to remember which setting I saved to which slot.

I played around in the pool with the DYN mode and found it quite practical. It automatically activates pretty reliably and counts your dives. You only have to keep in mind how much distance you covered. ;-)

Although I would absolutely love to analyze and save my dive profiles on my computer (OR SMARTPHONE! 2018 people, come on!) shelling out more than 60 Euros for an infrared dongle is just ridiculous.
I am keeping my eyes open for a used one and hope that someone will come up with a DIY fix, but it does not look like it atm.

So yeah, love the watch despite its shortcomings!
It feels well made, the haptics of the buttons are nice and I hear the alarms most of the time.

 

[Aerwyna]

I’m going to use my f10 until it blows up. Only thing I dislike is the speaker for alarms it’s very quiet and almost silent with a hood on. Sunnto will be my next computer.

 

[Ama]

I have the Suunto D4I, which is not on your list. If you're looking for a "forever" watch, this is what I recommend. Unlike the D4F it DOES have depth and time alarms in Free mode. It also has an automatic surface timer. Free mode can be activated manually, or kicks in automatically at 4ft. In Free mode you can set it to sample depth once per second. Dive logs give you all possible information you could want. It also is a comprehensive scuba computer, if you're ever thinking that you'll need to switch back and forth.

If you're patient and you keep your eyes pealed, you can snag a D4I at the retail price of the D4F. I got mine for $450 US off Amazon.

 

[Ama]

Shoot. I forgot the suffix. It's the D4I NOVO. Don't forget the novo part!

 

[SubSub]

Shoot. I forgot the suffix. It's the D4I NOVO. Don't forget the novo part!

There are no functionality differences between the two. There are a few cosmetical updates such as metal buttons instead of plastic, silicone bans vs elastomer and colors. And the Novo includes the USB cable while it’s an accessory on the D4I.

 

[Ama]

The USB cable is a core need, and like $80 by itself. Better off getting the Novo.

 

[SubSub]

The USB cable is a core need, and like $80 by itself. Better off getting the Novo.

Yeah obviously if they’re the same price.

 

[Ama]

Yeah, so obviously I am correct in advising going for the Novo.

Ali, there's one for sale at an online dive shop right now for about $420.

 

[SubSub]

Yeah, well here there is about $100 difference between the two so = he’d save a couple of bucks on the “old” model even if he buys the USB separately.