Casio Provides Health Options to Unique G-Shock Digital Watch
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 primarily based on the unique design, together with a mannequin that packs it full of recent fitness-tracking know-how and an optical coronary heart charge monitor.
Initially developed by one in all Casio’s engineers as an try and design an extremely sturdy watch that might survive a fall from 32 toes, the primary G-Shock mannequin, the DW-5000C, was launched in Japan in 1983, and because of a number of layers of shock-absorbing rubber, metal, and foam inside defending its electronics, it might survive a beating, a dunking, and solely wanted a brand new battery each 10 years. It additionally featured a design that’s turn out 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 seems to be similar to the unique. It’s obtained a fundamental segmented LCD show, nevertheless 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 in the present day, however the brand new G-Shock DWH5600 comes lots nearer.
Out there 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 measurement so as to add an optical coronary heart charge monitor, an accelerometer for monitoring steps and different bodily actions, and a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone so it will probably show notifications and leverage the telephone’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 absolutely 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 useless 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 in the present day, however it will probably maintain tabs on walks, runs, and even exercises on the health club, and because of a partnership with Polar, the collected well being information can be leveraged to calculate the person’s cardio load, blood oxygen ranges, and even sleep high quality. All of that information can also be introduced on a brand new absolutely 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 embody the usual performance you’ll discover in most digital watches in the present day, 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 each 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 Might 19.