A beautiful and modern watch from Casio, at an affordable price (purchased for 30 euros with free shipping). Note that the strap is NOT MADE OF RUBBER but rather made of synthetic resin, of good quality though. Although I preferred it not to be made of rubber (as I am allergic to this material) and for this reason I "researched" it quite a bit before buying it, I am surprised that many suppliers claim it is made of rubber, especially since the official Casio website clearly states the material of construction (synthetic resin). The watch's "glass" is made of acrylic (not crystal), therefore it is very resistant to breakage (e.g. due to falling), but it is quite susceptible to scratches. It is made in China.
SATISFIED ME:
- Its beautiful design, reminiscent of the (more expensive) G-Shock models from Casio, and it is not as bulky, nor does it have a bunch of "gimmicks" on it (which I consider somewhat "kitschy" nowadays) like many G-Shock watches. It is therefore more "simple" and "compact", but it does not have the incredible durability and excellent quality of materials that G-Shock watches usually have, nor does it have a multitude of other functions (e.g. pedometer, Bluetooth, phonebook, etc.) which I did not need anyway since any smartphone can now perform them, and even better. It has large and readable digits (I chose the model with the illuminated dial, not the black one, for greater contrast and therefore greater clarity), it is lightweight, comfortable, and looks sturdy on the wrist.
- It is waterproof/water-resistant up to 100 meters depth, which practically means that you can swim, shower, or bathe while wearing it without worry, as long as you don't use very hot water (up to lukewarm).
- It has a battery that will likely last at least 10 years, maybe even much longer if the backlight and alarms are not used frequently. This is very important, not only because it will save the expense of at least 3-4 battery replacements (about 20 euros in total), but also because the back cover of the watch will not need to be opened for many years, preserving its very good level of water resistance.
DISSATISFIED ME:
- Primarily its accuracy. It was thoroughly checked and found to be "losing" 0.88 sec/day or 27-28 sec/month, and essentially requires time adjustment every month as it will have "drifted" quite a bit. For a Casio watch, even one of economical price, in the year 2022, I consider this to be "borderline mediocre" (i.e. slightly below average). My first Casio watch (also of economical price) that I had as a student "lost" about the same amount of time, but that was 40 years ago, and since then technology has advanced, so I expected something better in terms of accuracy. Okay, I can accept that a Citizen Eco Drive watch that I have as my main watch, which loses 1-2 sec/month, is in a different price range (150-200 euros), so I cannot have the same accuracy expectations from this Casio. However, when a similar type of watch that I happened to buy 5 years ago, the Skmei 1068, a "Chinese" watch (both in terms of construction and brand) at a ridiculously low price (costing less than 1/4 of what this Casio costs), loses 17-18 sec/month, then I expected a watch four times the price to have, if not better accuracy than the aforementioned Skmei, at least the same. Let it "lose" for example up to 10-12 sec/month, even though it lacks the 5 alarms (which you need a "bionic" ear to hear anyway), as the primary and most important feature of a watch is accuracy. To be completely objective, the accuracy of this Casio watch is within the official specifications (as stated in the user manual), which is up to +/-30 sec (per month), but it does approach the upper limit of the declared acceptable deviation set by the manufacturer. The Citizen Eco Drive, on the other hand, had official specifications of up to +/-15 sec (per month), but it was at the lower limit of the declared acceptable deviation.
I was also not satisfied with the night illumination of this particular watch, which is also true for most Casio watches, even for more expensive models. Its illumination consists of 2 LED lights at the bottom of the dial, with a tiring and outdated "orange" color that reminds me (just like its "accuracy"...) of watches from the 80s, and it is unevenly spread across the entire dial. In one end of the dial (where the lights are located), the illumination is very intense (almost blinding at night), while in the other end of the dial, it barely "glows". However, the hour and minute markers are relatively easy to read, as they are located in the middle of the dial. At the same time, the illumination of the Skmei 1068 (which costs only a quarter of the price, I repeat) is incomparably more beautiful, comfortable, and effective, as it evenly and sufficiently illuminates only the digits of the dial (but everything!) with a soft blue-green color, without illuminating the dial itself.
Lastly, I was not satisfied at all with the durability of the glass against scratches. It gets scratched very easily, without even realizing where they came from, and we are not talking about any "falls" or "hits" or "heavy" use. The Skmei watch also has an acrylic glass, but obviously of much better quality, as the scratches that appeared there in 5 years, appeared on the Casio watch in just 3-4 weeks! The comforting part, at least, is that these scratches are not so "visible" (they are indistinct and mainly noticeable when you look at the dial from a large angle, much larger than the one you usually use to see the time), and they do not affect the ability to clearly read the time at all.
