Opinions on DIVEVOLK for Smartphone Setup

[schuylerclark]

... I'd question why not a gopro or something else cheaper and purpose built.

One could argue that modern cell phones are relatively cheap and very purposely built to work as cameras. I far prefer an iPhone to a GoPro, underwater or not. And it's simple enough to buy a new phone and restore from a backup if the worst should come to pass. Plus most of us probably have an old functional smartphone with a decent camera collecting dust in a drawer.

 

[TostitoBandito]

One could argue that modern cell phones are relatively cheap and very purposely built to work as cameras. I far prefer an iPhone to a GoPro, underwater or not. And it's simple enough to buy a new phone and restore from a backup if the worst should come to pass. Plus most of us probably have an old functional smartphone with a decent camera collecting dust in a drawer.

Yeah, the use case of using your previous phone after upgrading makes sense to me (though most people trade theirs in nowadays).

 

[Zane]

I've seen a few people using these (or similar cheaper/flimsier housings) on recent trips. I totally get the appeal given the convenience and minimal cost of entry, but if it were me I would be extremely hesitant to put my cell phone in the water on an overseas trip, much more so than my multi-thousand dollar camera setup. If you screw up (flooding is usually user error of some sort) or something breaks and you flood/kill your phone you're now travelling with no phone. If I flood my big expensive camera there's no impact to the rest of the trip (other than the photography), and I make an insurance claim when I get home. Nowadays everything is digital. Itineraries, tickets, banking, contact info, etc... For a lot of people it could be their only means of internet connection. I suppose one could use a laptop or tablet for this purpose (if they had one with them), but it's certainly much less convenient. Seems not worth the risk in my opinion.

I will note that one of the guys I saw using one of these this year in Fiji had a second phone with him explicitly for underwater use, but at that point I'd question why not a gopro or something else cheaper and purpose built. Curious what everyone else thinks. Maybe it's just me since these seem to be very popular.

Note, this is not criticism of these housings in particular, which appear to be higher quality than many others I've seen.

Even on non diving trips I'll pack a backup phone for the exact reasons you stated

 

[riceowls]

I've seen a few people using these (or similar cheaper/flimsier housings) on recent trips. I totally get the appeal given the convenience and minimal cost of entry, but if it were me I would be extremely hesitant to put my cell phone in the water on an overseas trip, much more so than my multi-thousand dollar camera setup. If you screw up (flooding is usually user error of some sort) or something breaks and you flood/kill your phone you're now travelling with no phone. If I flood my big expensive camera there's no impact to the rest of the trip (other than the photography), and I make an insurance claim when I get home. Nowadays everything is digital. Itineraries, tickets, banking, contact info, etc... For a lot of people it could be their only means of internet connection. I suppose one could use a laptop or tablet for this purpose (if they had one with them), but it's certainly much less convenient. Seems not worth the risk in my opinion.

I will note that one of the guys I saw using one of these this year in Fiji had a second phone with him explicitly for underwater use, but at that point I'd question why not a gopro or something else cheaper and purpose built. Curious what everyone else thinks. Maybe it's just me since these seem to be very popular.

Note, this is not criticism of these housings in particular, which appear to be higher quality than many others I've seen.

This is a valid point; I had a user error (I did not close it fully) and flooded my phone. I had the phone warranty replaced and still plan to continue using it. My solution is not to trade in my current phone but keep it as a spare. Everything is on the cloud these days; changing phones is just a couple of hours...
Mint-mobile customers now can get pixel 9 for $300 (or $300+180 for 12-month service for new customers). That's probably one of the best cell cameras on the market, better than any point-and-shoot stand-alone camera. Better quality photos and videos than gopro. Yes, I think Mirrorless or SLR, you would probably get better images, but that's at least x-10x investment.

 

[Barmaglot]

Everything is on the cloud these days; changing phones is just a couple of hours...

What's your plan for getting access to your cloud account in a scenario where your phone has flooded on a trip? Your MFA app is on your phone which just died. Recovery SMS? The SIM card is dead along with the phone, and you need to go back to your country to get a new one. Recovery email? Protected by MFA, which died with the phone.

 

[TostitoBandito]

What's your plan for getting access to your cloud account in a scenario where your phone has flooded on a trip? Your MFA app is on your phone which just died. Recovery SMS? The SIM card is dead along with the phone, and you need to go back to your country to get a new one. Recovery email? Protected by MFA, which died with the phone.

Yeah that's my point. We all know that it's easy enough to get a new phone back home and hell it might even be free or relatively inexpensive depending on your plan/situation. However, none of that helps you right now for the next week or however long you're in Indonesia or wherever.

Anyways, just something anyone going down the road of considering taking their phones in the water should consider. In my mind you either bring a backup phone, or you have a plan in place for how to replace whatever functionality you lose if your phone gets destroyed or lost. Using a laptop/tablet (and a plan to get through MFA without your phone), your significant other's phone, paper copies of everything, etc...

 

[schuylerclark]

What's your plan for getting access to your cloud account in a scenario where your phone has flooded on a trip? Your MFA app is on your phone which just died. Recovery SMS? The SIM card is dead along with the phone, and you need to go back to your country to get a new one. Recovery email? Protected by MFA, which died with the phone.

buy new iPhone, login to iCloud, restore from cloud backup. I also travel with my laptop, so none of that is an issue anywhere that you could buy a phone. I don't know how it would work on android.

Obviously trips away from society require a different plan, like bring a backup phone.

Even a flooded case may not kill a newer phone - they're fairly water resistant these days.

 

[Zane]

What's your plan for getting access to your cloud account in a scenario where your phone has flooded on a trip? Your MFA app is on your phone which just died. Recovery SMS? The SIM card is dead along with the phone, and you need to go back to your country to get a new one. Recovery email? Protected by MFA, which died with the phone.

Everyone should be using a password manager. Most password managers can provide 2FA service as well. I use the paid version of Bitwarden personally

 

[grantmac]

A modern phone can survive a little case flood much better than a camera can. Same with a GoPro.
It would be interesting to see a phone case which could allow strobes to be triggered and fitting macro lenses.

 

[Barmaglot]

It would be interesting to see a phone case which could allow strobes to be triggered and fitting macro lenses.

Macro lenses are not an issue, but strobe triggering is impossible because modern phones lack a mechanical shutter necessary to sync with a strobe.