TESTCENTRE
Screen of dreams
Suunto Nautic
COMPANY: SUUNTO PRICE: £ 625(£ 825 WITH TANK POD) WEB: SUUNTO. COM
Finnish manufacturer Suunto and diving have a long history together. From their ground-breaking recreational diving computer, 1987’ s SME-ML, through to the first wristwatch Spyder and the current Ocean, there are milestones throughout.
In 2013 the first wristwatchsized, rebreather-compatible DX was launched, followed by the EON Steel and its more compact sibling, the EON Core.
The majority of the Helsinkibased company’ s output since has stuck with the wristwatch format, but just like the Steel and Core, the latest addition to Suunto’ s range is a dive-specific wearable device.
Measuring approximately 100x65x26mm( give or take the odd millimetre), the Suunto Nautic has a rectangular body constructed from fibre-reinforced polymer with a Panda glass screen.
Weighing 227g it has a good, solid feel to it, while retaining a compact form. There are two mounting options: a bungee cord or textile strap; the former was supplied to
Test Centre. It was a simple task to thread the supplied bungee cords through the unit’ s quartet of integrated strap mounts and tighten them accordingly. If you want a comfortable and easily-adjustable
The Nautic’ s system for a drysuit / bungee cords dry gloves combination then this works really well.
As so many devices have touchscreens these days, my initial inclination was to attempt to tap and scroll in the accustomed manner. Nothing happened however, as the Nautic uses a conventional four-button system to access settings and features.
The computer can be orientated for use on the left or right wrist and the pushbuttons are prominent and just as easy to use with bare fingers or encased in thick gloves. The outer top and bottom buttons scroll up and down respectively, while the inner top button scrolls to the previous‘ page.’ The inner bottom button moves forwards and selects.
The AMOLED screen is clear and bright with three settings: low, medium and high. I was happy enough with the lowest setting which also helps extend the rechargeable lithium-ion battery towards its upper duration of 120 hours.
The display is easy-to-read, concise and divides the pertinent information into max depth, dive time, NDL / TTS, surface time, active gas, PP02 / MOD and battery level / temperature.
Also included is a handy colour-coded( grey / yellow / red) ascent graphic, while at the push of a button a digital tilt-assisted
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