UEMIS Zurich SDA review

A pretty [expensive] computer with lot of promise

by Bill Stone

Quick disclosure; I was a Sales Representative for UEMIS from November 2009 – August 2010.  I am not currently associated with UEMIS due to forces outside my control and therefore feel I can now offer an unbiased review.

The Next Generation Dive Computer?

That’s what the bright folks at Uemis have set out to produce.  And considering how far and how fast mobile phones have come I think a scuba computer revolution is overdue. 

The first thing that you notice is the beautiful color OLED display.  OLED = Organic LED and very next-gen.  We will be seeing OLED used more and more as the technology and manufacturing processes mature.  Two wonderful characteristics of an OLED display are deep black levels and low power consumption (around 50% less than LCD).  The Zurich makes good use of the color display especially while diving.  The computer uses a traffic light color logic.  If the screen is green you’re okay, orange is warning, and red is bad.  Very common and easy to understand.  The screen has 6 brightness levels and “min” is plenty. (uemis does not offer a screen protector but I highly recommend one as one of the demo units was scratched on its second dive; it still works fine and is only noticeable on the surface)

The second thing people usually notice is the solar panel on top of the Zurich.  Yes, I said solar panel.  The UEMIS is the first and only scuba computer I am aware of that has a solar panel.  However, the solar panel is not able to function as a primary recharge option but rather as maintenance or trickle charger.  The primary recharging method is via a USB cable and the proprietary adapter.  Once charged the SDA is good for 10 hours of diving without recharging.  The solar panel is able to provide a little help in the field or live aboard where sunlight is plentiful and USB ports are few.  The battery itself 'exchangeable' by a trained technician.

The menu and controls are also very next-gen.  The Zurich has 3 magnetic switches; the one on the right slides up and down, the bottom one slides left and right and the lower left functions like an ‘enter’ key.  Once this is explained most people are able to navigate the menu without ever looking at the guide or manual.  As easy as the menus are I think there is room for improvement.  The designers chose to use a selection keyboard solution which means you see a ‘virtual keyboard’ on the screen and must move the ‘cursor’ up, down, left, right to select the various keys and then hit ‘enter’.  This is a functional solution and studies have shown it to be one of the faster text input methods but it seems tedious and old fashioned to anyone with a modern mobile phone.  I would prefer and recommended a date stamp entry method.  The date stamp method is familiar to people who have entered their initials on the high-score screen of an arcade game. This method gets its name from a post office stamp that has rotating dials for each character.   Regardless of my feeling about the input method the menus are well organized.  The only item that might be out of place is the Air/Nitrox/Multi-gas permission setting.  Many divers expected to find it under Dive Settings>Gas but is actually under the User profile.  That makes sense to me.

Today the Zurich SDA is just a three transmitter nitrox computer which is not next-gen.  The company site and product literature states that a FREE trimix upgrade is due in 2010, followed by a SCR/CCR (rebreather) upgrade in 2011.  Without trimix I found most divers baulking at the $1,680 MSRP.  The computer also does not have Gauge mode [Guage mode released 14 September 2010 in Firmware 1.20] or Dive Planning mode which are functions common on much cheaper and older computers.  I understand these functions are in the works but will remain skeptical and disappointed until they are released.  At the same time I know the the overwhelming majority of divers do not have trimix certification and do not use Gauge mode or Planning mode.  So, these common functions will probably only be missed by trimix technical divers.  Right now the SDA does handle decompression dives with up to 3 different [nitrox] gasses (bottom, travel, deco). The SDA does not have a digital compass that seems to be a next-gen requirement and that cannot be address with software/firmware.  I still prefer an old fashion compass so this is not a big issue for me.

Like every other hoseless computer the transmitter(s) must be paired to the computer the first time and after a battery change.  This was a fairly easy task and the SDA provides good feedback so you know whether or not you have succeeded.

In the water is where the OLED screen really makes the other divers jealous. The screen is always lit and easy to read at any angle. IF there is another SDA within about 8 feet the computers can communicate to each other allowing you to see basic information like remaining gas time and or deco time.  The ‘buddy’ function is revolutionary but I was a little disappointed with the limited range.  I think the 3m range is only possible under optimal conditions as I often had to be within 6 feet for a successful link.

After the dive you will have access to all the usual information and much more.  These next-gen computers allow you to see the dive profile and the ‘dive view’ at that moment which was captured in 5 second increments.  Using the USB adapter you can synchronize your logbook with an online database hosted by UEMIS.  Uemis has sponsored an online community at uemis.org where divers can share profiles, sites, etc (sample profile). When updates are available they can be installed quite easily; just connect your SDA to any online computer via the USB port and the SDA will act like a USB flash drive.  Uemis also plans to offer remote assistance via the internet through this same USB-Computer-Internet technique (another next-gen point).

Unfortunately not everything can be fixed remotely.  I am aware of several computers that have had to be sent back to Switzerland for repair and or replacement.  Needless to say it sucks when your fancy new computer doesn’t work.  I wish I knew the ratio and or final diagnosis but I do not have those facts.  I can only say that I never experienced a failure myself.  I do know a few people just needed to let the SDA charge 12 hours…

An inexpensive but really nice feature is the option to choose from six different cover colors; red, blue, pink, yellow, black, or grey and from three wristband sizes; small (232mm, 9.1 inch), medium (330mm, 12.9 inch), or large (410mm, 16.1 inch).  The wristbands are also well thought-out with a quick release that is easy to open and close even wearing gloves.

At the end of my time with the UEMIS Zurich SDA I find myself easily drawing analogies with the iPhone. Both have revolutionary aspects that will change the market and are frustratingly disappointing at the same time.  They are both justifiably criticized for not offering common functionality found in competitor’s models while asking a price above the competition.  I know you want a judgement, so I am going to recommend the computer with reservation until gauge mode, and trimix are proven because the computer certainly has the potential, it just needs a few firmware upgrades to justify the price.  Even without the upgrades it is still a good computer for recreational and even moderate decompression diving.  The fact is most people love the OLED screen so much they are willing to take a chance with the uemis Zurich SDA.  I just hope UEMIS is able to fulfill the potential this computer has  soon because in a couple years OLED screens will be common and the SDA will have an even harder time justifying that premium price tag.

Technical Specifications