Why You Can Trust CNET Turn Your iPhone Into a Dive Computer With This New Waterproof Case
The new Oceanic Plus Dive Housing allows the iPhone to be used as a dive computer and capture underwater photo and video.
- Gold Telly Award, 2X Silver Telly Award
The Oceanic Plus Dive Housing allows divers to see their dive computer information as well as their viewfinder for underwater photo and video at the same time.
Apple has recently bet big on both filmmaking and diving, adding a cinematic mode to their iPhones, ProRes video recording on pro models and partnering with Huish Outdoors on an Oceanic Plus app that added dive computer functionality to the Apple Watch Ultra, which I tested out during a day of diving last year. Now, Huish Outdoors is bringing its dive computer functionality to the iPhone with the new Oceanic Plus Dive Case, which also allows divers to use their iPhones for underwater photo and video.
The case supports every iPhone starting with the second-gen iPhone SE and beyond. It's rated to 60 meters (196 feet) and is covered in universal mounting points to add any photo or video accessories. These mounting points don't support triggering photography strobe lighting -- only video lights with their own built-in power source.
The case has depth and temperature sensors that provide data needed for the iPhone's Oceanic Plus app to function as a dive computer. The dive info can be displayed alongside the preview image for photography and videography. As with the Apple Watch Ultra, there is no air integration feature.
The housing has its own battery, which Huish Outdoors says provides a "full week of diving" and recharges in 45 minutes via USB-C. However, it isn't user replaceable.
Like the Oceanic Plus app did for the Apple Watch Ultra, the Oceanic Plus Dive Housing can turn an iPhone into a dive computer.
As with the Apple Watch Ultra, you will need the subscription-based Oceanic Plus app to utilize the dive computer features for scuba. The same subscription covers both devices, even when running them at the same time.
Photos and videos taken during the dive will be rounded up and included in the post-dive logbook entry kept by the app, along with data about when and at what depth the photos were taken. The app also includes built-in color correction filters.
The Oceanic Plus Dive case costs $490 and is available to preorder now. If you plan on using the app's dive computer capabilities, that'll also require a subscription to the Oceanic Plus app, which costs $10 per month or $80 per year. The cost of the case and app subscription together add up to about the cost of a basic standalone dive computer.
A snorkeler uses the Oceanic Plus Dive Housing to photograph a shark.
If you plan on only snorkeling or taking photos with the dive case, you won't need a subscription to the app, but there may still be more affordable ways to keep your phone dry at depth.
I look forward to diving with this case and providing a more detailed review in the future.