Newly launched Mares Smart Apnea is a 100% freediving (and spearfishing) computer watch, as the name itself indicates. Interesting functions are the alarm that reminds about necessity of re-hydration, the measure of descent and ascent diving speed. List price is 279 Euros/400 USD.
General Comments
Great materials and functions, very practical the use of only two buttons for menu select. Smart Apnea is a high quality product. Minor weaknesses are small visual imperfections in the alignment between the watch-case and the strap and the day of the week missing from the date.
Materials and Design
The Watch-case is made of glass filled polymer, a strong and resistant material, used in many marine components. The quadrant is modern, with an external ring made of steel, just as the two menu buttons, and the internal part showing graduated scale for seconds. Glass is mineral scratch-proof. Material of the strap is of a comfortable elastomer, with two colors, either grey/black or orange/black. Not an easy solution, as this needs a specific technology of stamping with two different color elastomers. Final solution is good, but not perfect, as some lines of junction between the two colors are slightly imprecise.
Functions and Features
As many modern wrist computers, Smart Apnea can be used as a simple watch, with all relative functions. Quite odd is the fact that the day of the week is not indicated together with the date.
Interesting functions are the alarm that reminds the need to drink for re-hydration, very useful for spearfishermen, and the measure of descent and ascent speed, much indicated for freedivers. Also, depth alarms, up to 6 and with possibility to be deactivated singularly, are useful. Now present on almost all computer dive watches, but extremely important, is the indication of surface recovery time.
Of great interest is the possibility to download data on PC or MAC, thanks to a cable and Dive Organizer software, downloadable from Mares Pure Instinct website. Each dive will have the possibility to be analyzed, with the chart of descent and ascent, and relative speeds. Max and minimum temperature for each dive is also shown, together with max depth, dive duration and surface time, date and hour of the dive and additional information, which can be added on the PC/MAC by the user.
The battery, which has average duration (indicated by Mares) 200 hours of immersion, can be substituted by the user, but Mares suggests to go to a dealer for better results and warranty validity.
Features and Functions Available
Surface Mode Functions:
- Hour
- Date
- Alarm
- Air temperature
- Secondary hour and adjustable time zone
- Seconds display
- Back-light (available in all modes)
Training Modes & Options:
- Stopwatch
- Countdown
- Repetition cycles up to 99
- Auto restart of countdown
- Apnea Mode
- Instant depth
- Max depth
- Dive duration
- Water temperature
- Descent and ascent speed
- 6 adjustable and deactivated depth alarms
Surface data:
- Adjustable water density
- Back-light
- Max depth of last dive
- Number of dives
- Surface time interval
- Dive duration
- Minimum temperature
- Hydration alarm
- Minimum recovery surface time
- Max descent and ascent speed
Technical data:
- Case diameter: 50 mm*
- External diameter of the quadrant (including seconds graduated scale): 38 mm*
- Internal diameter of the quadrant (excluding seconds graduated scale): 31 mm*
- Weight: less than 83 gr*
- Lithium battery with 200 hours duration in immersion
- 130 hours of dive sampling
- Temperature utilization range: – 10°C a 50°C
- 30 hours of dive memory
- PC and MAC interface for data download
* Measurements by DeeperBlue.com
