Mares

Mares Icon HD

Mares's full-color flagship with a built-in digital compass and dive-site image storage.

Cable sync only (libdivecomputer)

Third-party apps can read it, but only over a USB/serial cable, not wirelessly.

Mares Icon HD
2.9Comparison Score
$1200
Buy on Amazon
Released2009
Max depth rating150m
AlgorithmRGBM Mares-Wienke
Air integrationwireless
Wireless—
DisplayFull-color LCD/TFT
Batteryuser-replaceable
Digital compassYes
Gas typesair, nitrox
Gas switches3
CCR capableNo

"Gas switches" is how many different mixes this computer can be programmed to switch between mid-dive, mostly relevant for technical/staged-decompression diving. It doesn't tell you which gas types (air, nitrox, trimix) are supported. See Gas types and the product description above for that.

Pros
  • Full-tilt digital compass, usable on the surface or mid-dive
  • Can store images and dive site maps for on-screen reference
  • Optional hoseless wireless transmitter (Black Edition) for tank pressure and air time remaining
Cons
  • Older RGBM algorithm rather than Bühlmann ZH-L16C
  • Optional wireless transmitter adds significantly to the price
  • No Bluetooth on the base model, USB only
Diver community sentiment
Mixed opinions

Divers generally praise the Icon HD's color display as easy to read, including a glowing night mode useful for buddy tracking, and say the air-integration/logbook features work well when functioning properly. A recurring and consistent complaint across multiple Scubaboard threads is battery self-discharge during storage, requiring divers to remember to recharge and reset time/date before every trip, plus reports of only 4-6 dives per charge. Several users also flagged reliability issues: a fragile charging clip connector prone to breaking, screen glare in bright sunlight, and isolated reports of the unit failing to power on or wireless transmitters failing to pair.

Scubaboard: Icon HD reviews and dive experiencesScubaboard: Icon HD review threadScubaboard: Icon HD general discussion

Summarized from public forum discussion (Scubaboard, Reddit, and similar), not a survey we ran ourselves. See the linked threads for the original conversations.

The Icon HD was Mares’s flagship computer for years, built around a full-color touchscreen-adjacent display, digital compass, and the ability to store dive-site images and reference slates. It’s since been succeeded by the Genius as Mares’s top-end offering.