Whenever the Editor heads out on a dive trip, it's always cameras, housings, and bags upon bags of gear — shore diving might as well be a weightlifting session, hunching over a camera rig all day and coming home with an aching back. So this time, the Editor is unboxing a smartphone underwater housing brand called DIVEROID. The idea of combining a smartphone underwater housing with a dive computer has been around for years, but what new practical features has DIVEROID brought to the table with this latest release? And from the Editor's perspective — who exactly is this kind of product best suited for?
What's in the DIVEROID Box?
DIVEROID is developed and manufactured in South Korea
The DIVEROID instruction manual comes in the box — the manufacturer has already prepared a Traditional Chinese translation
Opening the box, you're greeted by a black foam protective case — a packaging style the Editor hadn't seen before. Inside are two instruction manuals, and the manufacturer has thoughtfully included Traditional Chinese translations. That said, trust the Editor on this one: the product is so intuitive that once you get the hang of it, you probably won't need the manual much — though it's still worth a quick read the first time around!
Open the black foam protective case and you'll find DIVEROID neatly and minimally arranged inside
Inside, you'll find the following:
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Smartphone underwater housing: Universal Pro
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Dive computer: Mini
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Wrist lanyard
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Anti-fog inserts
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Small screws (for mounting on certain rigs)
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Silicone grease
3 Steps to Complete Before Using DIVEROID
Activating DIVEROID Step 1 – Register and Pair Your Device via the App
Before using the product, you should first download the official DIVEROID app and complete registration and device pairing.
Once installed, the first step is to create an account. Just like many dive computer apps, your dive log is tied to your account — so if you want to build up a proper dive log history, make sure you register with a real account! Fortunately, the app also supports sign-up via Facebook, Google, and even Apple ID, giving everyone plenty of options.
Register your account first
Activating DIVEROID Step 2 – Pair Your Housing and the Dive Computer Mini
Once registered, you'll need to pair your underwater housing and the Dive Computer Mini. There is a minor quirk here: if you lend your housing to someone else, you'll need to first unbind your housing from your account before the other person can register it. The Dive Computer Mini, however, doesn't have an unbind function — it simply reconnects via Bluetooth on the new phone. Just something to be aware of as you use the product going forward.
Scan to register your housing
You have to hand it to the Korean team — the DIVEROID user flow is extremely thoughtfully designed
After registering the housing, the app will guide you to enable Bluetooth for pairing. Simply press the Dive Computer Mini button on the back of the housing; when it flashes red, it means it's beginning to connect.
The Dive Computer Mini on the DIVEROID housing flashes a red indicator light when powered on
Underwater, DIVEROID can be operated with just three buttons — remarkably convenient
Activating DIVEROID Step 3 – Pre-Dive Checklist
Before getting in the water, remove your phone's protective case and align it to the right side of the housing, securing it in place with the clamp. According to the manufacturer, DIVEROID supports a wide range of phone sizes. This unboxing test was conducted using an Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max. If you have any questions about compatibility with your specific phone model, check the official website first (both for size and app support).
Additionally, since this housing does not feature a vacuum-seal function, O-ring maintenance becomes especially important. It's recommended to apply the included silicone grease around the O-ring before every dive and carefully check for any sand particles or hair that might be caught in the seal.
Once the phone is inserted, open the app before you dive. The app will prompt you to set up the housing, connect the Dive Computer Mini, and enable Airplane Mode. At this stage, you can also check the battery levels of both the Dive Computer Mini and your phone. According to official specifications, the Dive Computer Mini has a battery life of approximately 500 dives; when the battery runs low in the future, the unit must be sent back to the manufacturer for a battery replacement.
Phone battery life is a concern many people share, as similar products in this category have historically been quite power-hungry — divers have worried about surfacing after a single tank only to find their phone already dead. According to the manufacturer, they have optimised the app to reduce power consumption. Based on our real-world testing, a dive of 40–50 minutes consumed approximately 10% battery on an Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max (less than six months old).
The manufacturer has also designed some thoughtful safeguards: when your battery drops below 30%, the app will recommend disabling the camera function to prioritise battery for decompression calculations. Below 20%, the app will not allow you to start dive mode at all.
Phone placed inside the DIVEROID underwater housing
When battery drops below 30%, the app displays a prompt recommending power-saving mode
DIVEROID Is Both an Underwater Housing and a Dive Computer
Because DIVEROID functions as both a smartphone underwater housing and a dive computer, you can see depth, dive time, and other data on the left side of the dive mode interface, with a digital compass displayed at the top. The layout is extremely intuitive — it's practically a godsend for anyone who's ever squinted at a tiny dive computer screen!
During a dive, you can shoot photos and videos using the in-app camera function. The shooting modes available will vary depending on your phone model. For the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, supported modes include standard shooting, wide-angle shooting, macro shooting, 4K video recording (needs to be enabled from within the app settings), and selfie mode.
The DIVEROID dive mode interface — the left side displays NDL time, depth, dive time, and other essential information
DIVEROID lets you switch between different shooting modes
DIVEROID's AI Photo Correction Tech Is So Good, Underwater Photographers Might Be Worried
As mentioned at the start, the concept of combining a smartphone underwater housing with a dive computer has existed for years. So how does DIVEROID stand out from the crowd? In the Editor's view, beyond optimising the hardware (for example, the housing features DIVEROID's exclusively developed Heat sink™ anti-fogging technology), the company has extended its battlefield into software performance. In addition to stability and resistance to overheating, the real-time colour correction feature (automatic filter adjustment) is one of DIVEROID's biggest selling points.
With some competing dive apps, the colour correction function has occasionally produced overly red images at shallower depths — likely because a single fixed red filter is applied uniformly regardless of conditions. DIVEROID, however, claims to use a proprietary AI system that combines depth data from the Dive Computer Mini with colour information sensed by the phone's camera, enabling real-time photo correction for the most accurate colour reproduction possible.
Stunning underwater photo colour reproduction shot with DIVEROID — no artificial lighting used
Stunning underwater photo colour reproduction shot with DIVEROID — no artificial lighting used
Stunning underwater photo colour reproduction shot with DIVEROID — no artificial lighting used
DIVEROID Also Functions as a Full Dive Computer
Since DIVEROID is a dive computer, you can of course review your dive log through the app. All the features you'd expect from a standard dive log app are present, including log review, depth profile graphs, and photo review — with direct social media sharing also supported.
Detailed dive log view
After All That Praise — Does DIVEROID Have Any Downsides?
As a proper reviewer, it wouldn't be fair to only say good things — that would undermine the integrity of the whole review. On the hardware side, the question most people ask first about DIVEROID is: "Does it have a vacuum seal?" While DIVEROID uses a dual O-ring design, a smartphone is an expensive piece of kit that also stores a mountain of personal information. In an age where losing your phone feels worse than losing your wallet, the anxiety is understandable. After consulting with the manufacturer, we learned that the vacuum-seal feature has been left out for now in order to keep the price accessible (listed at NT$13,980 on the official website) and to manage the size of the housing. So the Editor's recommendation: use a phone with its own water resistance rating for extra peace of mind!
On the software side, while DIVEROID does currently support nitrox mode (adjustable from 21% to 50% oxygen concentration), it does not allow users to set PPO2 or gradient factor (GF) values. This is somewhat limiting when planning more specialised dives. That said, this could be addressed through software updates — future app versions may well include these settings. Alternatively, the manufacturer may simply feel that this product is squarely aimed at very casual recreational divers, and that such advanced parameters aren't necessary for the target audience.
What's the Future Potential of DIVEROID?
Looking at the features already available in the app, we can piece together a picture of DIVEROID's product development strategy. What follows is purely the Editor's speculation — none of this has been discussed with the manufacturer, so take it with a grain of salt.
Reshaping the dive computer industry supply chain: The manufacturer has designed the Dive Computer Mini as a standalone modular component that attaches externally to the housing. This means any underwater housing manufacturer could potentially partner with DIVEROID in a strategic collaboration. After all, the technical barrier for building a housing is relatively low — it makes far more business sense to focus development resources on the dive computer itself, the app software, and even building a diving community.
Dive distress signalling system: Within the DIVEROID freediving mode, certain Samsung phones already support a surface distress call function — press a button and the phone immediately sends an emergency signal containing GPS coordinates and a pre-set message to a designated contact. If this feature becomes widely implemented, it could significantly improve diver safety and may pose a real challenge to the Nautilus Lifeline, which has been popular in the diving community in recent years.
Simple and convenient — making diving easier than ever
2 Types of Divers Who Should Consider DIVEROID
There's no such thing as the best gear — only the most suitable gear
The Editor personally uses a large camera housing setup and, for the sake of image quality and reliability, simply cannot abandon the ritual of lugging everything to the beach each time. That said, the Editor still highly recommends this product for the following two groups:
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Beginner divers who aren't chasing image quality, only plan to post photos on Facebook or Instagram, and find the idea of buying a dive computer and an underwater camera all at once too expensive. If that sounds like you — congratulations, there's a very good chance DIVEROID is exactly the right product to drop your money on.
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Dive instructors and dive guides who get hounded for photos by their guests after every dive. During peak season, clients come one wave after another, and in the rare moments of downtime, the phone is already buzzing with messages — guests looking at you with those eager, expectant eyes, hoping their underwater shots will materialise instantly. Imagine a device that requires no extra editing, no plugging into a computer, and lets you share straight to LINE on the spot. That's got to be pretty appealing for instructors and dive shops alike.
We hope to have future opportunities to share how DIVEROID performs in a freediving context, as well as how the DIVEROID dive computer interface handles NDL calculations, the 3-minute safety stop at 5m, and even decompression stop displays — so that everyone can dive more simply and, most importantly, more safely!
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