Atomic Aquatics Cobalt vs Galileo Sol

[travelrider]

I really want a wrist computer, and I had just about decided to buy the Galileo Sol, but the Atomic Aquatics Cobalt seems like an advancement over the Sol if for nothing else but the beautiful screen and easy navigation through the menus. Not to say that the Galileo is hard to use, but there are short and long presses, and it doesn't seem QUITE as user friendly. Does the Atomic do anything that the Galileo won't (or visa versa)? Arghh.. Decisions decisions. If the Atomic were a wrist model with AI, the choice would be much easier.

 

[RonR]

There is a fairly comprehensive interactive guide to the Cobalt online here: Cobalt Guide: Home

Apart from the higher resolution OLED display on the Cobalt, the biggest difference is going to be found in the way one interacts with the computer, the user interface, rather than in feature lists. There are some features unique to each- no-stop calculator and graphic planning on the Cobalt, heart rate monitor option and graphic charts on the Sol, and of course one is a wrist, and one a console. But as to basic computer functions, they are reasonably comparable. Both are good products and you won't go wrong with either.

I'm one of the developers of the Cobalt, and try to keep active here, let me know if you have any questions.

Ron

 

[TechDeep]

RonR, I have seen the Cobalt in use and it is truly a fine computer. Ron should be proud to work on a project where they are pushing the technology envelope and are making a huge contribution to the advancement of the sport. The OP would be well served with either of his choices. I would just add the Mares icon hdto the mix if I were the OP. It too has trade offs, no one computer has everything, but it is a wrist mount, has a color display that is lcd compared to the OLED of the Cobalt. There is an AI and a non AI model available, but in my opinion, the best display is the OLED.

I have no ties to Mares except that I just bought an icon hd, and so far, so good. Like the OP said...decsions decisions....but what a great problem to have eh?

 

[Hatul]

I recently went with the Sol after returning the Mares. The Sol has polished software both on the device and for the PC. My guess is that in 1-2 years both Atomic and Uwatec will come out with an OLED wrist AI computer and you'll be able to get the best of both worlds.

By the way one feature I like and that's missing on both the Mares and the Sol is an on-board simulator. Don't know if the Cobalt has one. My Suunto Vyper has it and I find it very useful for learning the display.

Another useful feature is a bungee mount, perhaps Ron can suggest to Atomic when they make the wrist model.

Adam

 

[travelrider]

I recently went with the Sol after returning the Mares. The Sol has polished software both on the device and for the PC.

Why were you unhappy with the Mares. It looks like an interesting option albeit the most expensive one of the bunch.

 

[RonR]

<snip>
By the way one feature I like and that's missing on both the Mares and the Sol is an on-board simulator. Don't know if the Cobalt has one. My Suunto Vyper has it and I find it very useful for learning the display.

Another useful feature is a bungee mount, perhaps Ron can suggest to Atomic when they make the wrist model.</snip>

Adam

Here's a link to the first page of the interactive guide for the Cobalt simulator- Cobalt Guide: Simulation Menu The series of pages shows how it works, just click the onscreen links. It basically duplicates desktop simulation software, with a graphic representation of the dive and a scaled down version of what the dive display would look like, except you have the option of starting with your actual saturation as stored in the computer. All other parameters, gas mixtures, surface intervals, conservatism, gas consumption rate, etc. are adjustable. It works quite well for gas requirements planning, and it can generate deco schedules in a list format for making backup tables.

I am also a fan of the bungee mount.

Ron

 

[Hatul]

Why were you unhappy with the Mares. It looks like an interesting option albeit the most expensive one of the bunch.

The Mares did look interesting as it was the only wrist color computer with AI. But I kept running into software problems from the beginning. The first unit would not connect properly with the Dive Organizer (the Mares PC software). After spending hours attempting to solve the problem I sent it back.

The second unit looked more promising as the previous problem was resolved and it connected flawlessly to Dive Organizer. I took it on a solo night dive at Crescent Bay to check out the display. I found the fonts quite small and not as easy to read at night as I hoped, even with my bifocal mask. But then I uploaded the data from the dive to the Dive Organizer. Both the Dive Organizer and the Icon were set to Imperial units we use here in the US. I was shocked by what I was seeing. My tank was showing as 80 L, operating pressure of 3400 Bar, tank reserve of 10878 psi, and average gas consumption of 6.4 cu/ft/min. In other words the software was mixing Imperial and metric units and coming out with garbage. It was obvious no one had tested the software.

One other user on Mares forum reported each of the above problems, so I know I was not the only one. Email sent to Mares went unanswered, and when I got through to Mares US by phone, I was told to wipe the contacts and to remove the rechargeable battery to reset the computer, advice I know would not have solved the problem. Furthermore to remove the battery requires a special tool to mate with the two small holes in the battery cover, not provided with the computer. The software problems and the poor customer service finally tried my patience and I returned the thing.

The other issues were the heavy weight and large size of the wrist unit, and that the battery drained by 4-5% per day even when the unit was asleep. This means it must be always plugged in even when not diving.

I replaced it with the Galileo Sol, and it seems to me that Mares took the ideas from the Uwatec, simplified it and dummed it down, but in a sloppy way introducing some annoying bugs. The display is bright, but the fonts are not controllable and not that large. The display has a big dead space area only covering a part of the face of the computer.

The Sol seems to have a more complex interface and lot more options, but also offers more control. For example in the Sol for night diving you can use the Basic display with large fonts and keep the backlight on throughout the dive. It will do for now until Uwatec or Atomic come up with an OLED AI wrist unit.

Adam