It has been a lot of fun reviewing the all-new Crest CR-5 Dive & Sports Watch. Choosing a dive computer is never an easy feat with all the choices out there, and between my old Mares Nemo and my current Suunto D4i, I can confirm, the Crest CR-5 has been the simplest dive computer I’ve used yet even with all the extra options available. It’s also the most comfortable to wear long term with its more flexible and soft medical grade liquid silicone rubber wristband. It’s more lightweight than my D4i – only by 5 grams – but it has a larger, more attractive colour screen, weighing in at only 80 grams. It is also programmable to be personalised to you and monitors your heart rate.
The multi-coloured monitor for one, is a game changer. It’s definitely easier to visually keep track over your diver profile with some pop of colour. The temperature shows throughout the dive, which neither of my previous computers did, until after the dive had ended. I especially like it when passing through thermoclines and can see how much the temperature drops in real time. I can also now see the time of day displayed on the screen, right next to my dive time, NDL, my depth, and my ascent or descent speed. And it has a compass built into it which is easily calibrated under the instructions provided. I was sold on the first dive.
I especially love I am now in complete control of my computer’s battery life with the handy USB charger. There will no longer be any emergencies to get a battery changed at a last minute’s notice before a big trip away. This has happened to me a couple of times, with one service centre’s pressure test failure flooding my dive computer within the first few metres of descent while away on a livaboard. Now, there are no pressure tests needed, and I can charge it myself. It takes just over an hour to fully charge and the battery lasts an age. I’ve not yet had to recharge it and I’ve been playing around with it for a week between dives and checking the sports mode with my bike – it has worked a treat.
The CR-5 uses the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) which uses the US positioning system of GPS as the default. It can easily be turned on or off when needed.
This may not be one for the technical divers, but if you like your sports on top of your pleasure diving, such as running, biking, hiking, and swimming (there is more), the Crest CR-5 provides you with one dive computer/sports watch all-in-one option. Priced at $676, it may be a bit steeper in price than some of the other new dive computers on the market, but this one does so much more with the added bonus of also being a sports watch. You no longer need two different devices, which saves you a lot in the long run.
The dive mode supports the usual Air, Nitrox, and freediving, and there are also gauge, and plan which are new to me. The Crest CR-5 can be set to Conservative, Normal or Aggressive safety modes which I have not been able to choose on my previous computers.The Sunnto D4i is known to be conservative, and I set my CR-5 to Normal and was on par with my D4i on all four dives. I have yet to check the other safety modes and do a deep dive – these were all shallow dives done at a maximum depth of 15 metres with one dive done on Nitrox to test it out. It’s incredibly simple to set to Nitrox and set back to Air which is not at all the case with the D4i. I even had my buddy test it (my model for the shots), and he loved it.
The only qualms I’ve had with the watch, is the Altitude has a mind of it’s own and while being sat at ground zero, I’ve been up in the clouds. Thus it’s not reliable when moving from sea level to high mountain areas after a dive. We all know step counts are inaccurate, but in this case, they were sometimes not counted at all, or I was clocking steps while sat at my desk, but despite that, no other complaints.
You need to download the Divestory+ app to your phone to upload your dive logs, and you need to manually insert the dive sites once they are on your phone. The app also takes care of your firmware upgrades which is recommended to be done once a week to keep your CR-5 up to speed. I’d like to point out, I have never been able to upload my dives to my laptop from my D4i with the cable provided, and Suunto never solved my issue when I got in touch with them. With my CR-5, it’s wirelessly simple. To download your sports logs, there is a separate app called Marathon’s World to download which shows your average heart rate, some crazy altitudes, and a map with your route outlined. These have both been great.
Do I recommend it? Why yes, yes I do!
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Website: www.crestdiving.com
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