Kraken KRH06 vs Sealife Sport Diver housing...

[Div3b0y]

I'm ready to pull the trigger on one of these not sure which one though, both have great features but gearing towards Kraken for the more rugged housing and not have to use Moisture Munchers like the Sealife SD as this I'm reading can get costly. Anyone have experience with the Kraken KRH06, it's a newer version housing apparenlty. Thanks in advance!

 

[d^2b]

Maybe not relevant, but in my polycarbonate housing (but for a mirrorless camera) generic silica gel packets work fine. Maybe there is no room in the smartphone housings?

 

[tursiops]

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[Div3b0y]

Maybe not relevant, but in my polycarbonate housing (but for a mirrorless camera) generic silica gel packets work fine. Maybe there is no room in the smartphone housings?

Yeah, the Kraken and Sealife both looks like there is room to use those moisture pads for GoPro housings, that's what I use in my GoPro setup, wonder if you can do the same. The Kraken does not require any moisture wicking at all but the Sealife does. I believe the aluminum housing plays a big part with moisture in the housing.

 

[umhlangan]

I can’t offer a comparison but I can say that my kraken housing does not seem to need any of the moisture packs. Having said that, there does seem to be room for one if it was needed.

 

[James Casteel]

I have both a Kraken and a Sealife. The older Kraken I have does not fit the new iPhone12/13 Pro Max which is why I "upgraded" to a Sealife. The newer Kraken's fit them.

Originally Kraken was tied to the Dive+ app and it was a fantastic pairing with excellent color correction (worth paying for Dive+ on its own). Recently they lost that partnership and they have a crummy app from Kraken Sports. I just found out this is their "free" version and they have a paid version called Deep Photo which supposedly improves functionality over both the SportDiver (Sealife) and Kraken apps. I have only used SportDiver and Dive+ apps underwater, I will be testing Deep Photo on my next trip.

From a hardware perspective, there are things I like about each of them. I do believe that the Kraken is a more sturdy/durable case. I also prefer how the phone mounts in it and it is easier to extract the phone at the end of a dive. I typically have to find something to pry my phone out of the SeaLife case.

The button layout on both is similar enough that I have no preference.

The SeaLife has an on/off switch inside which is incredibly convenient vs the Kraken which I have to remove a AA battery for it to be completely off. The SeaLife also comes with a small moisture tube but it turned purple my first trip out with just humidity so I didn't find much value in it.

I prefer the vacuum on the Kraken. They are technically the same, but the SeaLife has a 3-minute wait period to ensure that vacuum holds and you can't pump too much or it won't start requiring you to start over. The Kraken you just suck until it turns green and you're done. That said, if you do have a leak, the Sealife has an audible alarm which is quite loud and annoying. Unfortunately, at the end of a dive, you get to hear it each time you release the vacuum from your housing.

The SeaLife comes with a red filter that snaps onto the front of the housing. This is great and helps a lot to about 20 feet of water. For the Kraken you have to buy a filter ring holder, then buy a red filter which adds about $70 to the price to get it. That said, shooting in RAW you should be able to adjust the white balance sufficiently in post-processing to not require it. Another shout out to the Dive+ app because it does magic.

I have done dozens of dives with each and do not hesitate to take either of them. Assuming the Deep Photo app is all that the reviews says it is, I think I would go with the Kraken. If it is from the stock application perspective, SportDiver is a better stock app than Kraken.

 

[Ishkrbibbl]

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[azstinger11]

If you have a pixel phone, or can figure out how to sideload it properly I suppose, the Kraken has a google native application to use the camera app.

If you are on iOS you are stuck using a subscription ap.

Kraken KRH05/06 doesn't have a dedicated spot for moisture packs but also didn't seem like I needed them either when in the Caymans. The machined aluminum housing did a great job of dissipating heat.

Kraken is rated down to 230ft vs the 130ft of the sealife. Not a big deal but generally prefer to not operate the edge of ratings.

Kraken has the ability to mount additional lens/filters

Kraken used cheap stickers on the back buttons that are likely to fall off.

Sealife is a bigger company, more robust internal app support.

Still wish the Kraken would have embedded the dive meta data in photos (as it had a depth/temp sensor)

My initial take on the KRH05/06 is here, Kraken KRH05/KRH06 Review

 

[Ishkrbibbl]

If you have a pixel phone, or can figure out how to sideload it properly I suppose, the Kraken has a google native application to use the camera app.

If you are on iOS you are stuck using a subscription ap.

Kraken KRH05/06 doesn't have a dedicated spot for moisture packs but also didn't seem like I needed them either when in the Caymans. The machined aluminum housing did a great job of dissipating heat.

Kraken is rated down to 230ft vs the 130ft of the sealife. Not a big deal but generally prefer to not operate the edge of ratings.

Kraken has the ability to mount additional lens/filters

Kraken used cheap stickers on the back buttons that are likely to fall off.

Sealife is a bigger company, more robust internal app support.

Still wish the Kraken would have embedded the dive meta data in photos (as it had a depth/temp sensor)

My initial take on the KRH05/06 is here, Kraken KRH05/KRH06 Review

Thnx for the perspective...