Shearwater Tern and Tern TX Review [2026]

Overview

Compact • Colour AMOLED • Air Integration (Tern TX) • Freediving Mode

The Shearwater Tern TX is Shearwater’s most compact dive computer, launched in 2024 as its answer to the watch-style computers from Garmin, Apple and Suunto. It puts Shearwater’s famously easy menus into a 100 g watch with a sharp colour screen, one you can wear every day and dive with on the weekend. It’s the watch-style pick in our best dive computers guide.

Where it fits: for years, the Shearwater Teric was the recreational diver’s favourite Shearwater watch, even though it was built for tech divers and most of its owners never touched its trimix or rebreather modes. The Tern is aimed squarely at those recreational divers. It keeps most of what made the Teric great, the vivid colour screen, easy menus, watch you can wear all day, freediving mode and, on the TX, air integration and a compass, and leaves out the tech features you’d probably never have used, for about two-thirds of the price.

We dive Shearwaters ourselves (Simon’s Perdix AI and Mads’s Perdix 2), so we know the menus and the brand well, and this review draws on Shearwater’s own specifications and support pages and on owner reports.

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Shearwater Tern TX vs the Tern

The Tern comes in two versions. The Tern TX adds wireless air integration and a digital compass; otherwise they’re the same watch.

	Tern TX	Tern
Price (Shearwater, US)	US$805	US$595
Air integration	Yes, up to four transmitters, sold separately	No
Digital compass	Yes, 3-axis tilt-compensated	No
Screen	1.3-inch colour AMOLED	1.3-inch colour AMOLED
Battery	Rechargeable, about 20 h diving, wireless charging	Rechargeable, about 20 h diving, wireless charging
Dive modes	Air, Nitrox, 3 Gas Nitrox, Gauge, Freediving	Air, Nitrox, 3 Gas Nitrox, Gauge, Freediving
Depth rating	120 m	120 m

Which should you get? If you want to see your tank pressure on your wrist, get the Tern TX: once you’ve dived with air integration, checking a separate gauge feels like a step back. If you mainly freedive, or you’re happy with a gauge, the plain Tern costs less. Shearwater also sold a Limited Edition Tern TX in 2026 that has now sold out; the standard models are still available.

What’s great about the Shearwater Tern?

• The screen. A full-colour 1.3-inch AMOLED at 360 x 360. It’s one of the sharpest, brightest screens on any dive computer, and you can choose from 15 display colours.
• Shearwater’s menus in a watch. The menus are very easy to navigate, and it switches easily between dive and watch mode.
• Air integration that just works (Tern TX). It pairs with up to four Shearwater transmitters, including older ones. Owners report a stable, reliable connection.
• Small and light. 50 mm across, 16 mm thick and 100 g, so it’s lighter and slimmer than the Teric and comfortable to wear all day.
• Freediving mode, which the Peregrine and Perdix don’t have.
• Wireless charging and up to six months on standby. One charge can see you through well over a dozen dives.
• Customisable conservatism: Bühlmann ZHL-16C with low, medium or high gradient factors, or your own.
• Powerful vibration alerts you can customise.
• Internal dive log of about 500 hours, and Bluetooth to the Shearwater Cloud app.

What to consider when buying the Shearwater Tern:

• No tech modes. There’s no trimix or rebreather mode. For that in a watch, you need the Shearwater Teric.
• Vibration alerts only. There’s no audible alarm. Shearwater says that’s deliberate, to avoid confusion in a group of divers, but some divers miss it.
• The lens isn’t sapphire. It’s toughened aluminosilicate glass, softer than the Teric’s sapphire. It scratches more easily, and Shearwater itself recommends a screen protector.
• Shorter battery than the Peregrine or Teric. About 20 hours of diving per charge, against roughly 30. Fine for a dive trip, but charge it every few days.
• A small screen. It’s bright and sharp, but it fits less on each page than a big-screen computer like the Peregrine or Perdix.
• The battery isn’t user-replaceable.

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How does the Shearwater Tern compare to other Dive Computers?

The Tern is up against Shearwater’s own Peregrine and Teric, and the smartwatches that dive. Our best dive computers guide has more on each, and our Shearwater comparison sets the Peregrine, Tern and Perdix side by side.

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Shearwater Tern vs Shearwater Peregrine

The closest match. Both come in two versions: the Tern and Peregrine without air integration, and the Tern TX and Peregrine TX with air integration and a compass. Both cover air, nitrox, three-gas nitrox and gauge diving, and the Tern adds freediving.

The difference is shape. The Peregrine’s 2.2-inch screen is much bigger and easier to read, and it lasts about 30 hours per charge. The Tern is a watch you can wear every day. Big numbers: Peregrine. Everyday watch: Tern. Read our Peregrine review.

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Shearwater Tern vs Shearwater Teric

This is the comparison most people care about. The Teric was, for years, the recreational diver’s favourite Shearwater watch, even though it’s built for tech divers. The Tern is Shearwater aiming squarely at those recreational divers: most of what made the Teric great, without the tech features they never needed.

What the Teric still adds: trimix and rebreather modes, a sapphire lens, audible as well as vibration alarms, a longer battery (about 30 hours of diving) and a 200 m rating. For recreational diving and freediving, the Tern TX does the same job for about two-thirds of the price. Read our Teric review.

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Shearwater Tern vs Shearwater Perdix

Different tools. The Perdix 3 is a big-screen tech slate with a battery you can swap for any AA; the Tern is a compact everyday watch without tech modes. Heading into technical diving, or want the biggest screen? Get the Perdix. Read our Perdix review.

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Shearwater Tern vs Garmin Descent Mk3i

The Garmin Descent Mk3i is a full smartwatch that also dives, with GPS, fitness tracking, air integration and tech modes, and it’s our smartwatch pick. It’s also bigger and costs more. If you want one watch for everything, get the Garmin; if you want a dive computer that happens to be a watch, the Tern is simpler and cheaper.

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Shearwater Tern vs Apple Watch Ultra

For occasional divers who’ll use the smartwatch features, Simon reckons the Apple Watch Ultra is good enough for most things. But full dive-computer features need the Oceanic+ subscription, there’s no air integration, and Simon couldn’t turn off its vibration alerts. The Tern TX is a dedicated dive watch with air integration and no subscription.

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Shearwater Tern vs Suunto D5

The Suunto D5 has long been the dive watch you see most on liveaboards, and Mads has dived one. Both have air integration and a freediving mode. The Tern TX is newer, with a sharper AMOLED screen and a much longer battery: about 20 hours of diving against the D5’s 6 to 12.

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General Notes:

The Shearwater Tern TX is the watch-style dive computer we’d pick for most recreational divers in 2026. It’s the first time Shearwater’s menus and build have come in a watch at this price, and the screen is the standout.

Is the Tern a good dive computer for beginners?

Yes. The menus are simple, the screen is clear, and it covers everything a new diver needs, from air and nitrox to three-gas decompression diving. Start with the plain Tern if you’re on a budget, or the Tern TX if you want air integration from day one.

Will it last?

Shearwater has a long record of firmware updates: Simon’s Perdix AI from 2017 still gets them. The Tern’s battery isn’t user-replaceable, so it’ll need a Shearwater service centre when it eventually wears out.

Connectivity & Apps

The Tern connects over Bluetooth to the Shearwater Cloud app for dive logs and firmware updates. The app is easy to use.

Still looking at options?

Be sure to check out our guide to the Best Dive Computers of 2026