The Improvements
The Suunto D4i Novo is an awesome watch style dive computer and extremely hard to beat in its price range. The original D4i was hugely popular and quickly overwhelmed the competition with its winning balance of features, size and price. The upgraded D4i Novo continues the trend with an updated look that makes the watch more stylish and professional, making it even more appealing for use as an everyday watch that fits in with your lifestyle as well.
Suunto focused heavily on improving the aesthetics of the dive computer, replacing the harder elastomer strap sets with softer, more comfortable silicone sets that are available in a total of 11 colour variations to match the composite housing colours. You now have a choice between traditional colours such as Black, Blue, Grey, Lime, Pink and White as well as two newer colours, Copper and Light Gold, and colours developed for the Asian dive market that include Sakura, Sun and Ocean colours.
Diving Features
It isn't all about the looks though. The D4i Novo is a fantastic dive computer packed with features. The full continuous decompression algorithm that Suunto installed into the D4i Novo was pioneered to safely manage both dissolved and free gases in your blood and tissues and has reliability backed up with literally millions of safe and successful dives around the world.
Designed for recreational diving and freediving, the D4i Novo supports diving with air and nitrox mixes but also offers a freediving mode that speeds up the data sampling rates for highly accurate depth and time recordings. The compact and lightweight composite housing perfectly balances the need for high pressure strength during diving and a light, slim profile for wearing it as a watch.
Suunto fitted the D4i Novo with a split display that utilises LCD segments in the top and bottom of the screen to show critical dive data in larger, easy to read digits but the middle section is a dot matrix section that allows the computer to display readable text and plot graphical elements such as dive profiles. The dot matrix is particularly useful when navigating the menu system.
The D4i Novo supports the connection of a wireless transmitter, further increasing the functionality of the dive computer to include on screen cylinder pressure and air time remaining which will dynamically calculate how long your air supply will last at your current depth and breathing rate, a very useful piece of information!
Key Features

The housing is made from a composite material which helps to keep the D4i Novo light, the bezel is stainless steel and the display is protected by a tough mineral crystal glass. With the silicone strap the computer weighs just 92g.
- Full continuous decompression algorithm - Suunto RGBM
- Four modes: air, nitrox, free and off
- Innovative apnea timer, and a timer in air/nitrox modes
- Updateable firmware
- Optional wireless air integration – current cylinder pressure, remaining air time
- Built-in dive planner
- Detailed graphical logs and dive data on your PC/Mac using Suunto DM5 software
Specifications
- Water resistance: 100m
- Battery life 100 dives/year: 1.5 years
- Backlight: Electro-luminescent
- Configurable backlight: Duration - off, 5, 10, 20, 30, 60s
- Display type: Dot-matrix
- Display resolution: 49 x 22px
- Battery indicator: Low battery indicator
- Units: Metric and imperial
- Data transfer: Cable
- Wireless air integration: Optional
- Decompression model: Suunto RGBM
- Gases: 1 Gas (Oxygen 21% - 50%)
- No-decompression planner: Yes
- Logbook memory: 140h at 20s sampling rate