I had the chance to test a COSMIQ kindly sent to me by our friends of Deepblu thoroughly and I must admit I have been impressed by so many things that I’m sure will make this little dive computer a huge milestone and a reference other manufacturers must take into account for their future productions, a road others will follow if they want to keep the pace on the innovation that Cosmiq brought in since its first appearance on the market.
They probably went after Steve Jobs’s philosophy when he used to say that a good product must have a good packaging. So even unpacking the Cosmiq is a pleasure for hands and eyes, Cosmiq comes inside a sturdy-fashion-nice looking black cordura case containing everything you need to run, charge and protect your Cosmiq; beside the computer you will find a quick reference manual, the wet contact magnetic charger cable and two protective films to prevent unwanted scratches on your brand new Cosmiq screen.
You can either run Android or IOS and downloading the app from the relevant store (for Free) is just a matter of seconds and in minutes you will be ready to pair your Cosmiq with your telephone. The app serves as a dive log where you can add many informations like place, divespot , buddies, gear and so on but also Photos in case you are an underwater photographer you will always remember where and when you took that amazing shot; the app also serves as Computer’s settings manage: it is via the app you set for example the percentage of oxygen you will have in your tank, so Nitrox divers will very easily and conveniently be able to set up the right percentage in seconds and remembering complex wet touch buttons combination to get into the settings is not required anymore, and in my opinion this is another good reason to buy a Cosmiq.
Ok, now you switched on the computer, paired it to the telephone set it up and you are now ready to go into the water.If you are a normal diver and by normal I mean two dives / 1 hour each a day you will be able to dive two days without recharging the computer, if you are a heavy duty diver doing three or four dives 1.5 hours each you can expect your battery to support you throughout the day (recharging is very easily achieved by using the magnetic wet contact recharge cable which will charge the batter by using the computer’ wet contacts and any USB charger ). The wrist strap is very easily adjustable to fit any size thanks to a velcro strap and a couple of stainless steel clasps: here the Cosmiq reveals one of the two minor weaknesses I found ,that’s to say if you don’t make very sure your velcro is very well closed and for whatever reason it looses while underwater there is the chance the computer might fall off your arm; the guys and girls at Deepblu assured me they are working to fix this issue. This is a theoretical weakness as I have been using Cosmiq for more than thirty dives without any problem with the velcro. .Cosmiq comes with an additional bungee cord that can be used instead, especially for drysuit divers.
After few minutes into the water Cosmiq reveals what in my opinion is its second and last weakness: being the size of a big
watch and flat back kind of case you must wear it exactly as a watch giving some hard times to read it especially if you are a photographer; having the chance to wear it on the side of your wrist would offer a greatly enhanced visibility for everyone but especially for photographers, but hey! if you don’t mind to turn your forearm to have a look at the display then I can assure you will be amazed by the clarity of the digits and the information…During nightdives Cosmiq retro illuminated screen will offer its best performance offering all the required information promptly at a sight, no need to touch,bump or press the computer or any button.
WORDS by Marino Palla
