This month is the fortieth anniversary of the unique G-Shock digital watch, and to assist mark the event, Casio is releasing a bunch of variants based mostly on the unique design, together with a mannequin that packs it full of contemporary fitness-tracking know-how and an optical coronary heart price monitor.
Initially developed by one in all Casio’s engineers as an try and design an extremely sturdy watch that would survive a fall from 32 ft, the primary G-Shock mannequin, the DW-5000C, was launched in Japan in 1983, and due to a number of layers of shock-absorbing rubber, metal, and foam inside defending its electronics, it may survive a beating, a dunking, and solely wanted a brand new battery each 10 years. It additionally featured a design that’s grow to be an icon of sturdy digital timekeeping.
Among the many DW-5000C homages enroute from Casio this 12 months is the GW5000U-1, which appears similar to the unique. It’s received a primary segmented LCD show, however it additionally has a handful of upgraded options together with improved waterproofing, a chargeable battery powered by photo voltaic panels built-in into the face, and an antenna for choosing up broadcasts permitting the watch to precisely set the time all by itself. Functionally, the G-Shock GW5000U-1 is a far cry from the smartwatches accessible at this time, however the brand new G-Shock DWH5600 comes rather a lot nearer.
Obtainable in two colorways, the brand new Casio G-Shock DWH5600 options the identical recognizable square-shaped face as earlier entries within the line, and whereas it’s barely bigger than the DW-5000C, it takes benefit of its dimension so as to add an optical coronary heart price monitor, an accelerometer for monitoring steps and different bodily actions, and a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone so it will possibly show notifications and leverage the cellphone’s GPS for extra correct health monitoring.
The brand new DWH5600 additionally contains photo voltaic charging, however daylight alone isn’t sufficient to maintain the watch totally charged when recurrently utilizing its extra superior options, so a wired charger can also be included. On a full cost, which takes round three hours, the watch will run for a couple of week when utilizing the added health options for an hour a day. With them left on on a regular basis, will probably be lifeless in about 35 hours. There’s additionally a watch-only mode that boosts battery life to a couple of month, however switching that on appears to negate the entire purpose to go for this upgraded mannequin.
The health monitoring isn’t as sturdy as what you’ll discover on the bigger G-Shock fashions accessible at this time, however it will possibly maintain tabs on walks, runs, and even exercises on the gymnasium, and due to a partnership with Polar, the collected well being knowledge can be leveraged to calculate the person’s cardio load, blood oxygen ranges, and even sleep high quality. All of that knowledge can also be offered on a brand new totally pixelated display screen with an improved backlight, which is the obvious improve on the DWH5600, and a welcome enchancment over the retro-looking segmented LCD shows this line has been utilizing for many years.
Different options of the DWH5600 embrace the usual performance you’ll discover in most digital watches at this time, together with 200 meter water resistance, world time changes with dawn and sundown instances, a 100 hour stopwatch, a countdown timer that maxes out at 60 minutes, 4 day by day alarms with snooze, and silent vibrating alerts. Each colorways of the G-Shock DWH5600 are available for pre-order through Casio’s website for $299, with full availability beginning on Could 19.
Trending Merchandise
