The Future of Scuba Diving: Reviewing the Shearwater Petrel 3

Scuba Diver Magazine
on June 9, 2023
at 5:48 pm

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Bluetooth wireless technology allows the Petrel 3 to effortlessly link to your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer, to download and display dive logs, etc, and the unit also features upgradeable firmware to make it future-proof.

As with all Shearwaters, it comes in a zippered Ballistic nylon case, perfect to keep it safe during transport and storage. It is fitted with the same bungee strap kit as the Perdix 2, which I maintain are among the best on the market. The pinch clips are easy to close, tighten and open, even with gloves on, and I found that the computer stayed in place regardless of depth, etc. There is an optional bungee cord included for those who want to go that route, but personally, I prefer the elasticated strap set-up.

So who is going to buy a Petrel 3? Well, as I have described, it is a very capable unit, but then so is the Perdix 2, and it is several hundred pounds cheaper. The Petrel 3 is quite a chunky unit when it is sat on your arm, especially compared with the sleeker Perdix 2, but some people might like that feature. The AMOLED technology is amazingly bright and you can choose from myriad colours to personalise the display, but is it worth spending hundreds more over-and-above the Perdix 2, which has a fantastic display in its own right?

The Petrel 3 with the port connections, enabling it to be hard-wired into a rebreather, makes more sense for technical divers using CCRs, but the stand-alone version is there for those who perhaps want to stand out from the crowd.