Finally Ive found the time to write up my review on the Suunto Eon Steel. I purchased two in February this year (2015) one for me and one for my wife along with two tank pods
I had been in the market for a new multi gas computer for a while (previously both dived Cressi Leonardos) I had a number of needs / desires for my computer
Easy to read (Ive have just started to need reading glasses), wrist mount, OLED type screen, easy battery replacement/rechargeable & preferably AI. I had some movement to compromise depending on the final choice.
I researched a number of computers and took some advice from different sources such as experienced shop owner, users off this forum, and manufacturers.
My location means that some brands are not available to me without importing them myself. The Shearwater Petrel is one of those. I could have done without the AI, however was not prepared to invest in a computer that I would have to box up and send somewhere for support or service etc.
In the end I opted for the Eon but had to wait as the release was delayed.
Right out of the box, the EON Steel is an impressive dive instrument. First off, its heavier than you would anticipate for its size, which for me is not a drawback... you can't even feel its weight when in the water. Overall, it has an extremely sturdy feel and you can tell that its well built just by holding it. The three buttons on the right are laid out well, and have nice and subtle click when you press them in. It comes fitted with a screen protector with a spare, the rubber protector cover and bungee mount as well as a strap.
Setting up first you need to download DM5 from Suunto but after that its a pretty painless exercise both computers were set up within 20 minutes.
The DM5 software is used to configure the screens either in graphical or in classic (numerical). The displays arent fully customisable, you just get to choose what is displayed in certain areas from a drop down box.
You cant have a mix of graphical and classic screens its one or the other but you do get to configure certain parts of the screen
For instance, on the upper-left corner, you can choose to display Battery life, Battery life + Time, or Battery Life + Temp. On the lower-left corner, you can display other information such as temp, temp + time, CNS, OTU, PO2, etc. One of the best customization features is the lower-right corner, which is a checkbox custom field where you can check as many different types of information as you want Avg depth, CNS, Current gas, Dive time, Max depth, OTU, PO2, temp, timer SAC and Time to Die (remaining gas time) These are scrolled through using the bottom left buttons.
Generally with the graphical mode there are 3 screens to scroll through, NDL, GAS and Compass. The latest revision has added the ability to lock in a bearing.
Pairing with a tank Pod (transmitter) is very easy although the manual claims there is a green light on the transmitter, on my four pods there are no lights
So in use.
I dive in very bright conditions (cloud and rain are a rarity) the screen is clearly visible, although in direct sunlight its best viewed in shadow. In the shallows with bright light there can be a little glare, other than that its clear to read.
The graphics are a nice item, in that you can glance to see your NDL or Gas rather than reading the actual number displayed if you so wish. Like any computer you do need to read the manual to understand what its telling you and what the colours mean.
There is always is lot of talk about conservatism. We dive ours at the 0 mid point (there being 2 stops above and below this for more or less conservatism. I tend to dive mostly at recreational depths with a max at 40m generally bottoming out at 30m. with 7 dives over 2 days Ive not yet found it to be restrictive, however we do dive sites where we can go shallow if need be, rather than say a wreck where you stay at depth. However on my initial dives I took along my old comp and on dive 7 there could be as much as 20mins difference between the Suunto and Cressi (Suunto having more time left)
Never had a transmitter drop off, we have ours mounted to a 6 hose with a Scuba Pro QR coupling at the transmitter end. This avoids anyone grabbing your TX when lifting equipment and we remove the TX in between dives.
Buttons: being on the left side they seem counter intuitive with the computer worn on the right wrist, in fact there is no issue. I tend to put my left hand under my right wrist and use my thumb very positive feel even through 4mm gloves
Niggles and downsides
Tank pods. When editing gases with a paired TX the serial number of the TX is shown its a long number. Indeed my wife mistakenly paired hers to mine with my gear 12 away. Fortunately the fact that her comp was showing a near empty tank after shes just changed hers (I hadnt) caused her to look again. It would be nice if rather than this S/n you could give the pod a nickname currently we have 2 each and are buying a couple more for our stages, to be sure we have paired the right TX to the right gas we have the last 4 digits of the S/n marked on the TX in large numbers and have to double check that with the display it can be very easy to select the wrong one.
Water sensor Id like to be able to turn this off. We have to ensure we wash the comps between dives it seems that in a high humid environment any salt crystals hold enough moisture to keep the computer turned on.
The screen protectors both lasted 10 dives before they came off.
STOPS. Hmm in very small writing at the top, the Suunto loves its deep stops so you need to keep in mind what depth your next stop will be (obviously this is rec not tech) if not you get alarms going off. It can be a pain. Likewise if you miss a stop is give you a mandatory amount of time at the safety stop (the countdown turns red) generally 20-30 seconds.
I personally would like to mix the classic and graphical displays being able to scroll between them you have to set one mode or the other at the surface.
It would be nice to be able to customise the covers or the straps. As well as my wifes on the last dive boat there were 3 other eons I have a bit of white tap on the underside of mine perhaps different coloured straps or rubber boots?
To fit the bungee strap you need a T7 torx (I believe) as yet I havent found one so cant use the bungee which Id rather use instead of the strap
Summary
Apart from the niggles Im very happy with the comp it gets used most weeks. The longest it sat unused was 1 month and the battery still had charge. To charge you simply plug in the USB lead and its done in less than an hour my come shows 28 hrs dive time off a full battery , although my wifes now shows 40hrs after the firmware upgrade.
Down loading dives is easy, I use Mac dive and I worked with them earlier this year sending my downloaded dive logs so Mac dive could read it. Nick at Mac dive sorted the code within 2 days and it works fine. Would I recommend one, yes indeed two of my friends have purchased them. I cant comment on price as it depends on the territory. As yet I havent found it lacking at all and am very happy with it.
I had been in the market for a new multi gas computer for a while (previously both dived Cressi Leonardos) I had a number of needs / desires for my computer
Easy to read (Ive have just started to need reading glasses), wrist mount, OLED type screen, easy battery replacement/rechargeable & preferably AI. I had some movement to compromise depending on the final choice.
I researched a number of computers and took some advice from different sources such as experienced shop owner, users off this forum, and manufacturers.
My location means that some brands are not available to me without importing them myself. The Shearwater Petrel is one of those. I could have done without the AI, however was not prepared to invest in a computer that I would have to box up and send somewhere for support or service etc.
In the end I opted for the Eon but had to wait as the release was delayed.
Right out of the box, the EON Steel is an impressive dive instrument. First off, its heavier than you would anticipate for its size, which for me is not a drawback... you can't even feel its weight when in the water. Overall, it has an extremely sturdy feel and you can tell that its well built just by holding it. The three buttons on the right are laid out well, and have nice and subtle click when you press them in. It comes fitted with a screen protector with a spare, the rubber protector cover and bungee mount as well as a strap.
Setting up first you need to download DM5 from Suunto but after that its a pretty painless exercise both computers were set up within 20 minutes.
The DM5 software is used to configure the screens either in graphical or in classic (numerical). The displays arent fully customisable, you just get to choose what is displayed in certain areas from a drop down box.
You cant have a mix of graphical and classic screens its one or the other but you do get to configure certain parts of the screen
For instance, on the upper-left corner, you can choose to display Battery life, Battery life + Time, or Battery Life + Temp. On the lower-left corner, you can display other information such as temp, temp + time, CNS, OTU, PO2, etc. One of the best customization features is the lower-right corner, which is a checkbox custom field where you can check as many different types of information as you want Avg depth, CNS, Current gas, Dive time, Max depth, OTU, PO2, temp, timer SAC and Time to Die (remaining gas time) These are scrolled through using the bottom left buttons.
Generally with the graphical mode there are 3 screens to scroll through, NDL, GAS and Compass. The latest revision has added the ability to lock in a bearing.
Pairing with a tank Pod (transmitter) is very easy although the manual claims there is a green light on the transmitter, on my four pods there are no lights
So in use.
I dive in very bright conditions (cloud and rain are a rarity) the screen is clearly visible, although in direct sunlight its best viewed in shadow. In the shallows with bright light there can be a little glare, other than that its clear to read.
The graphics are a nice item, in that you can glance to see your NDL or Gas rather than reading the actual number displayed if you so wish. Like any computer you do need to read the manual to understand what its telling you and what the colours mean.
There is always is lot of talk about conservatism. We dive ours at the 0 mid point (there being 2 stops above and below this for more or less conservatism. I tend to dive mostly at recreational depths with a max at 40m generally bottoming out at 30m. with 7 dives over 2 days Ive not yet found it to be restrictive, however we do dive sites where we can go shallow if need be, rather than say a wreck where you stay at depth. However on my initial dives I took along my old comp and on dive 7 there could be as much as 20mins difference between the Suunto and Cressi (Suunto having more time left)
Never had a transmitter drop off, we have ours mounted to a 6 hose with a Scuba Pro QR coupling at the transmitter end. This avoids anyone grabbing your TX when lifting equipment and we remove the TX in between dives.
Buttons: being on the left side they seem counter intuitive with the computer worn on the right wrist, in fact there is no issue. I tend to put my left hand under my right wrist and use my thumb very positive feel even through 4mm gloves
Niggles and downsides
Tank pods. When editing gases with a paired TX the serial number of the TX is shown its a long number. Indeed my wife mistakenly paired hers to mine with my gear 12 away. Fortunately the fact that her comp was showing a near empty tank after shes just changed hers (I hadnt) caused her to look again. It would be nice if rather than this S/n you could give the pod a nickname currently we have 2 each and are buying a couple more for our stages, to be sure we have paired the right TX to the right gas we have the last 4 digits of the S/n marked on the TX in large numbers and have to double check that with the display it can be very easy to select the wrong one.
Water sensor Id like to be able to turn this off. We have to ensure we wash the comps between dives it seems that in a high humid environment any salt crystals hold enough moisture to keep the computer turned on.
The screen protectors both lasted 10 dives before they came off.
STOPS. Hmm in very small writing at the top, the Suunto loves its deep stops so you need to keep in mind what depth your next stop will be (obviously this is rec not tech) if not you get alarms going off. It can be a pain. Likewise if you miss a stop is give you a mandatory amount of time at the safety stop (the countdown turns red) generally 20-30 seconds.
I personally would like to mix the classic and graphical displays being able to scroll between them you have to set one mode or the other at the surface.
It would be nice to be able to customise the covers or the straps. As well as my wifes on the last dive boat there were 3 other eons I have a bit of white tap on the underside of mine perhaps different coloured straps or rubber boots?
To fit the bungee strap you need a T7 torx (I believe) as yet I havent found one so cant use the bungee which Id rather use instead of the strap
Summary
Apart from the niggles Im very happy with the comp it gets used most weeks. The longest it sat unused was 1 month and the battery still had charge. To charge you simply plug in the USB lead and its done in less than an hour my come shows 28 hrs dive time off a full battery , although my wifes now shows 40hrs after the firmware upgrade.
Down loading dives is easy, I use Mac dive and I worked with them earlier this year sending my downloaded dive logs so Mac dive could read it. Nick at Mac dive sorted the code within 2 days and it works fine. Would I recommend one, yes indeed two of my friends have purchased them. I cant comment on price as it depends on the territory. As yet I havent found it lacking at all and am very happy with it.
