Mark Evans: Mares have had wristwatch-style dive computers in their line up before, and while they were more than capable units, they just didn’t set the world alight the same way that products such as the Shearwater Research Teric or the Garmin MK2i did on their release.
MARES SIRIUS | SRP: £671
Design and Comfort
That all changes with their latest watch-style dive computer, the Sirius, which Mares says ‘perfectly combines technology and elegance in a top-of-therange, intuitive dive computer for both recreational and extended range divers’.
The Sirius is certainly a good-looking unit, especially in the black/silver version we had on test. The MIP-colour, high-resolution screen is very easy to read, and we liked how in watch mode you can cycle through three different ‘faces’ and numerous colourways at the push of a button.
It is easy to see why Mares made the above statement.
The computer is rechargeable
Display and User Interface
It is powered by the tried-and-tested ZH-L16C algorithm with gradient factors and predictive multigas, and offers hoseless tank data integration via the LED Tank Module 2.0 (an optional extra which can be purchased separately).
For the recreational diver, the Sirius can just display all of the salient points you need, such as dive time, max depth, current depth, NDL remaining, but then extended range and tech divers can bolster this information by adding up to five nitrox and trimix mixes.
It will handle nitrox from 21-99%, and can deal with hypoxic and normoxic trimix, and the maximum displayed depth of 150m is more than enough for most technical divers.
Dive Features and Customization
The dive display is very intuitive – it can be personalised in multiple colour variants, and alarms for deco stops, fast ascents, etc, are extremely vibrant – let’s put it this way, you are not going to miss them!
Cycling through the menu is straightforward, using the four push buttons, and around the face and on the edge of the body, it reminds you the function(s) of each button.
I was able to bounce around the menu with no issues after a few minutes of ‘playing’, but the handy quick-start sheet makes it very simple, showing what is accessed with a quick press, and what with a long press.
Ease of Use
The chunky silicone strap is very comfortable on a bare wrist when used as a watch, but it is also long enough for a thin wetsuit. If you are using a thicker wetsuit or a drysuit, it also comes with an extended strap. Swapping straps is a doddle as it has a quickrelease mechanism.
Recharging and Battery Life
The computer is rechargeable, and charging it is a piece of cake – no faffing around with clips, or having to get it sat ‘just right’ in a cradle.
No, here you just sit it on the charging pad and that’s it. Straightforward and easy.
You get 30 hours dive time out of a charge, which is more than sufficient for a week of diving, but as charging is so easy, we just chucked it on the pad half-way through our liveaboard week (we were doing up to five dives a day) to ensure we never ran low on power.
The Sirius also has a full-tilt digital compass with bearing memory, and Bluetooth connectivity means you can pair it up to your smartphone with ease for downloading dive data, etc.
The Sirius is available in two colour versions, black or black/silver, and has a range of accessories to fully personalize to your own tastes, including straps in colourways such as aqua, red, and blue. It comes in a neat zippered, padded case.
This article was originally published in Scuba Diver UK #76.
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Just finished eleven nitrox dives in Roatan using the Mares Sirius. The computer was very easy to understand and operate. Some issues: (1) a MIP screen cannot compare to an OLED screen — unless you’re diving in bright sun, the MIP screen is very hard to read; (2) on a night dive, I had to use a torch to see the screen because the backlight didn’t work underwater (it worked fine in the hotel, in the boat, even while floating at the surface…but as soon as I got underwater, no backlight. (3) When the backlight worked, it was the upper right button that turned it on, not the upper left as shown in the Quick Start guide. (4) I was doing only nitrox dives on this trip and the computer is supposed to default to whatever gas mix you used on your previous dive but, on one dive, I jumped in the water and, while luckily still at the surface, happened to see that the gas was set to “air”; had to shut off my tank, wait for the computer to reset and manually set it back to nitrox. (5) The Mares app that works with the Sirius dive computer STINKS — it needs a major overhaul. Very clunky and keeps losing information (it doesn’t lose dive log info, but it loses all other info, like equipment info; have to keep re-entering).