Review of the new COSMIQ+ Dive Computer from Deepblu

Like many people I dread opening the morning post, the usual junk mail and bills that end up littering my desk. However today I had a rather pleasant surprise, I opened a small parcel to reveal a beautiful black zipped case. Intrigued I open the case to discover the new COSMIQ+ dive computer from Deepblu. Besides the computer inside the protective case housed the charging cable, spare NASA military style strap and bungee strap for use with dry suits were all neatly tucked away. Some of the more popular and expensive cases don’t get a case let along one this good.

Review of the new COSMIQ+ Dive Computer from Deepblu

In true male style, I took the computer out of its case without reading the manual and charged it on the USB port on my computer. It wasn’t long before I fired it up to see the brightly lit LCD screen. Flicking through the menu it has all of the features you would expect from a standard pixel black and white computer, this one has a crystal clear LCD display that leaps out from the screen. Even without reading the menu I found it easy to navigate my way around.

To give the COSMIQ+ a proper road test I headed to the Costa Brava for some coolish water dives (13 degrees). This location offered lots of sunlit shallow dives that would challenge the screen, and also some deeper darker dives where there was a large algae bloom. On all of these dives the screen remained cystal clear and easy read. As I’m in the final year of my 40’s my eye-site has begun to degenerate but being in denial I not yet succumbed to wearing corrective lenses. So, my trusty watch style computers now gather dust in my top beside draw. Even though the COSMIQ+ is possibly a little bit too big to wear as a watch on a day to day basis, it is more compact than many of the full-sized wrist computers making it an ideal travel companion.

Unlike some of the other computers I have tested it gives you the option to alter the safety factor settings such as conservative, normal and progressive. As I pass through the years I found myself opting for a more conservative setting so I found this feature really useful.

Then there is the rich number of features you’d expect on a top end dive computer; nitrox compatibility, altitude setting, sound and visual warnings, a rechargeable battery that lasts 7-12 hours (saving up to £50 for a battery change on a standard computer), changeable wrist straps that are included, the ability to integrate the computer via Bluetooth with the Deepblu digital dive log app and a 2 year warranty.

The computer synced well with the Deepblu App which even allows you to add pictures and video from your dives. This can give an interactive dive profile that pinpoints the exact depth and time that each photo was taken.

Priced at around £325 this puts the COSMIQ+ computer at the budget to mid-range end of the market, even though it is clearly a premium product. The main difference between this and some of the £550-650 computers is that it doesn’t have air integration. Most of the divers we take away on holiday don’t rely on the transmitter, some find it a gimmick and many find it a nice to have but not essential. So for an extra £200-300, and that’s without the price of the transmitter, you have to ask yourself do you really need it?

As my week in Spain came to an end I concluded that the COSMIQ+ is a very good recreational computer aimed at divers who want a good-sized computer that is very easy to read and doesn’t have bells and whistles that normally wouldn’t get used. Not having a transmitter is a bit like not having heated steering wheel in your car, if you’ve never had one then you won’t miss it, and if you do have it then it’s not essential to keep you from driving from a to b. This computer will last you to your old age even when your eye-site starts to flag a bit.

Mark Murphy
Oyster Diving, PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer. Aged 49 ½