Casio Quartz Watch

TL:DR version- Perfect time keeping digital watch for every day Pros: all of which make this watch greater than the sum of its parts and well worth it despite the costs - large clear characters with specially filtered display giving max viewability from all angles. Beautiful - distinct bold characters for time and date making those very clear and lacking any confusion - one-touch timer making this one of the most practical time-keeping watches - bright and even auto illumination - comfortable wide band and easy to replace - long battery life (5 years? Decade? Many reports of these but bottom line set it and forget it) - understated charm of the grey model Cons: - no solar - no atomic time keeping - 6 hr limit to auto-illumination, must turn on again after limit - no ABC functions but this was never designed for that reason - no MIP display which all new watches should use Long review: I did not think I would love this watch but I love this watch. It is a testament to the fact that our tastes and preferences can change. There is nothing particularly remarkable about the GD-350, especially the fully grey variant that I am donning. Maybe the only thing that does is the metal look timer button, a few screws and the strap buckle. It is so understated that it would fall to the bottom of the pile if one were to stretch their hand out to pick a G-Shock, while the Rangeman and other G-Masters would easily be at the top. However what the GD-350 does have: it will last a decade easily with regular use, and it’s battery will last a few without needing to regularly charge. And it will be a very reasonable $10-$20 to swap the battery when replacement is needed. This watch also costs half or a quarter of the price of the other fancy options, leaving me with limited resources, enough funds to purchase other options for when I truly need a watch with the extra features. When that happens, the aforementioned Mudman, Rangeman, or even Garmins will be the first thing I upgrade to. For my every day wear needs, the GD-350 is excellent. While it doesn’t have solar charging or atomic time keeping, the sheer practical functions it does have, and the price make this piece well worth those sacrifices. The one feature that none of these watches have is the silent vibration. That is the killer feature present on the GD-350 that is not present on the Mudman or Rangeman or most of the G-Shock, Pathfinder, Pro-Trek, or regular Casio range. I don’t have to pay 4 times the cost of the Apple Watch to get it, and also be slammed with 100 other notifications most of which I don’t needs The Garmin Instinct would have been perfect except that it’s vibration is stronger than my iPhone, and that’s bad. I don’t need half my arm shaking and everybody around me still able to hear it. Casio has a cheaper vibration model but only comes with 1 alarm (an example of Casio’s insane product disparities). Casio has newer models that have awesome MIP displays and Vibe but they are more like smartwatches with slightly less battery life (though 1 - 2 years is still excellent). However, they exist in a smaller square body. Why not give them to us in the delicious insane 55MM+ bodies Casio? Coming back to core point: the GD-350 has the perfect light vibration that is completely silent unless you bring it close to your ear, but strong enough that you will not miss its vibration. It can certainly wake you up from sleep if you are not a very heavy sleeper. It is inaudible to others in quiet environments like classroom, library or office. The other excellent feature is that you can start your timer right from the main clock face just like on the Rangeman. The Garmin instinct in comparison requires no less than 5 clicks to start your timer, even if you have it already set. Unsure what they were thinking of since this was meant to be for the outdoorsy action person. Again your looking at a few swipes from your Apple Watch. I mean the GD-350 is hands down the watch I would want if I was all about silent tactics. No bold colors to draw attention. Completely silent vibration so that only I know what it’s telling me (only the time but that’s why you want a wrist watch), immediate access to timer for timing mission critical and strictly timed events. It’s light is also strong and powerful, with auto illumination if you select it, coupled with the blue section on the LED makes the face look like the HUD of a fighter plane. I’d imagine this would be the watch Batman would want to wear. Now being completely realistic though, the bulk of this watch makes wearing any clothing with tapered or elastic sleeves very tough. The display on this is excellent and also such a key selling point - even better than Mudman and Rangeman. Where those are cluttered and much space taken away from the main time section, only the Garmin does better which more generous allocated space for the time, and has MIP making its viewability world class. Coming back to the GD-350, it’s viewing angle easily trumps those of the Mudman and Rangeman. The bulky and wide strap also makes this super comfortable for all day wear. I can also wear this anywhere casually without drawing attention. I got more attention wearing the $20 AE1500 Illuminator watch which is also another amazing time telling watch. The Orange glow on that is excellent. If only it had the vibration feature. My concluding point is that I decided that I wanted a watch to tell me the time without all the noise of messages, emails adds, can stand up the physical bumps and scrapes my last watches have succumbed to, notifies me of time changes, alarms, and elapsed time silently, and allows me to rapidly see what I need in light or dark environments without confusion. It is also comfortable to wear all day everyday. The beauty of the GD-350 is it’s simplicity and what allows it to stay on my wrist fulfilling the key functions of a wristwatch perfectly. Some cons: - auto illumination times out after 6 hours, requiring you to reset it again. Not a big deal but not as cool as Mudman/Rangeman/Garmin/Apple that do this all the time without fail - can’t stop timer without going to timer menu - would it be great to have so many other features? Compass? Temperature? Altimeter? Barometer? More than 5 alarms? More than one timer? Would I love to live in a mansion? Yes. Given standard limitations, the GD-350 is not missing anything a standard G-Shock has that is not in the Master of G range or that is not a smartwatch. That said, the GD-350 is greater than the sum of its parts when compared to much more expensive models in Casio thanks to the insane fragmentation of features making no Casio really the perfect marriage of non-smart digital wrist watch at present. That said, the perfect watch in my opinion, would be a watch with Rangeman features, in the body of the GD-350 with vibration, and MIP display that can be made positive. It’s a wonder they don’t make at least the vibration a standard feature as that classic 40 year old tone alert is quite annoying. Why not at least give it a more modern update with some better mid-tone? Also the Garmin Instinct series is really the killer watch that I would want, but the limited battery life is its major downfall. Even in the latest version 2, 60 days with power saving features and not using smart functions is impressive, but I can’t stand the idea that 5-6 years from now it will be a dead paper weight, as Garmin’s design and policy was to have a non-replaceable battery and they come out with new models and better improvements every year. I would rather buy the older tech Casio knowing that it will absolutely outlive the Garmin and won’t be outdated for the core functions of time keeping. 1 month update: I’m doubling down on the review above that this is one of the best G-Shocks in the market and really in its own class. One key aspect of this is the screen. Overall this watch is deliciously low tech and the screen is simply a very high quality well filtered old school LCD that is as clear as crystal from absolutely all angles. Only the raised bezels are keeping me from being able to test its viewing at near 180 degrees. It has a faint tint to it that really helps its visibility even without light in darker conditions. This watch is the ultimate stealth tool. Recently mated it to a Jayandkays 16-24MM lug adapter and attached a wide nylon strap - completely awesome. Casio if you are listening (I know - no one is reading this far and thank you if you did): The perfect digital watch: - MIP display - minimum 2 year battery life that is user replaceable and non-proprietary - 55MM round or octagonal display for max surface area for useful information on the wrist - Large characters at least half an inch for the primary time numerals - Date expressable in many different ways but always allowing day, weekday name and month to exist at the same time - strong even backlight (teal as my personal preference); just no fall off or cutoff areas which is annoying; also make it variable in strength and time - vibration alert with variable strength - tone with variable volume and better mid-tones that don’t cause headache - wide pressable buttons - all the best G-Shock body features (deep inset screen protected by wide bezel, rubberized surfaces that are scratch resistant - mud resistant back plate (as on Mudman) - user replaceable band which is at least 24MM wide (I could live with an OEM adapter option) - one touch accessible timer AND stopwatch - timer with auto repeat - at least 5 alarms - more the merrier - at least 3 world time selectable regions (up from the 2 at present) -always active auto illumination -solar charging -atomic time keeping - optional only: ABC functions which I could live without if all the above details were present In short - give us the best of GD-350, but modernize with an advanced MIP display, added timezones, and more selectable alarms.

This GD350 G-shock watch has been extensively reviewed and, rather than simply reiterate the content of what’s in the other hundreds of reviews, I’ll simply try to add some little things you may or may not know To help your decision making. Vibration: This is not the only Casio watch with vibration alerts. I also own a watch from the W735 series, available here on Amazon, that has a vibration alarm similar to this one. They feel the same when they vibrate, likely having a similar mechanism. The W735 watch is smaller than this one, but is not G-Shock. It is priced at around thirty dollars, which is considerably less than the GD350. Both watches can vibrate for the same functions (alarms, countdown timers, etc). Countdown timer: You’re likely looking at this GD350 for the 24-hour countdown timer, which is its key feature. Indeed, access to it with one button push from the time screen is a huge benefit to those that use a timer frequently. After hitting the button, the countdown timer starts at the top of the home screen, while the regular time still is displayed. To turn off the countdown timers downward count in mid-count, one has to hit Mode to get to the countdown timer, though. (If you let the countdown go all the way too zero, you can hit any button to stop the alert though without going to Countdown timer via Mode). A limitation of the countdown timer is that there is only one timer...that is, you can set the one time interval of your choice, and then that is all that is accessible from the countdown button, and that is all that is accessible from the Countdown mode (where you can change it to any one time of your choice). Other Casio model watches and other brands have multiple countdown timers...this GD350 does not. Note also that the GD350 does not have a repeat feature of the countdown timer (which many would refer to as an interval timer) where the timer automatically repeats. I find this to be a limitation of this model. It would be nice to have multiple timers, or to have the ability to act as an interval timer. The Pomodoro method (25 minutes working time, 5 minutes rest, then repeat) for instance, is one reason many buy this watch. But there are better choices, such as the Casio AE1300 (twenty five dollars) that has numerous programmable timers. For straight up interval work and Pomodoro method, it’s hard to beat the Timex Ironman Classic 100 (fifty five dollars) that has 9 repeatable countdown timers that can be sequenced (such as 25-5-25-5-25-5 etc.) which repeats without hitting any button. Want successive timers that do 12 minutes, 10 minutes, 6.5 minutes, then again 12 minutes, then 10:10 minutes, etc. or so other custom combination? Timex Ironman Classic 100 is your watch. Of course, pacer function, where the watch beeps to set a cadence for workouts, is on a runners watch. So, all in all, while the direct access to countdown timer is the reason people buy the GD350, an awesome feature particularly for anyone that must countdown time the same single interval repeatedly, but the countdown and interval features are extremely limited otherwise. Hourly chime: I like hourly chimes. The hourly chime can be vibration only, or it can be two beeps plus two flashes of the LEDs of the watch face light. Want only two beeps and no annoying flashes? Not an option. Want vibration and beep? Nope. Want face flash only? No. Alarm and chime sound: The sound of this watch is unique as compared to other Casio watches that I own. I own six other Casios, and five Ironman watches by Timex, and this GD350 has the most unique chime/audible alarm. The chime is tiny, brusk chirps. Very staccato. Across the room, I cant tell my other watches from one another; I can distinctly know if the Casio GD350 is chirping. That said, while I find this chime pleasant and less annoying than the others watches I own, I do find it less loud also for waking me up from sleep. If one is a deep sleeper and hoping their audible wristwatch alarm is going to wake them up, this is likely not the watch for you (or try to listen to it in a store). The vibration does not wake me up, but I wear my watches loose on wrist and woulidn’t depend on the watch to wake me up by vibration alone. World time: The world time WT function is the first function you come upon by hitting the Mode button and, while the watch has many world cities with times that one can scroll through, it basically stays on one city of your choice for the display when you get to WT mode. For example, if I select time in Paris, and leave it there, every time hit Mode once from the regular time on the home screen, it shows me Paris time. I find this nice and handy. That said, if you want to see times in other cities on the home screen, you cannot see it simultaneously with your regular local time. If you are looking at times of several cities at once routinely, you will need to scroll through all the cities stored in the watch as multiple cities are not selectable as user pre-sets, if that makes sense. This GD350 is superb for people who, for instance, live and work in two different time zones as they can simply hit the Mode button once and have the other locales time right there, no messing or fussing, and when they return home, Mode a few clicks back to the Home screen. Stopwatch: The stopwatch is very similar to other Casio watches, but does show the time at the top of the display even in stopwatch mode. It records in hundredths of a second. For purists looking for a runners watch, with front face access to start-splits and better timing to 1000ths of seconds and more stored splits, the Timex Ironman Classic 100 (my favorite, with the Classic 50 next for features and use) is by far the best, But, it’s not shockproof per se. Screws: There are tiny screws on this watch, including for the wrist sizing “wings” in the back of the watch itself, and some decorative silver screws on the watch body. When you get this watch, immediately grab some eyeglass size Phillips screwdrivers and tighten the screws. They can be loose from the get go, and if one falls out, it’d be nearly impossible to replace. Everything in watches is a compromise. I hoped that the GD350 would have more countdown features to go along with it being the only Casio watch with direct access to start a countdown. However, the much less expensive Casio non-G Shock AE1300 series (including the non-Referee and Referee watches) has much better countdown features and more numerous countdowns on the watch, just no G-Shock and no direct access to countdown timers. Those watches should be investigated before purchasing the GD350 for those who rely on countdown timers for work, play, and Pomodoro Method (I own and now use the AE1300 non-Referee model, and my Timex Ironman Classic 100, for Pomodoro technique). Thank you.

I've beat this thing to death and it's still going strong. The band is very tough and won't break easily. It's resistant to scratching and still looks great. The alarm is loud and the backlighting is bright, 10/10 would recommend.

Very good watch casino gd350 g shock . It has both vibration and flash alarms. Both very useful especially for work or other important events. I can also see both time and date clearly and being Gshock it's virtually indestructible with 200 m water resistant. I would rate it 💯 good value for money ,not really expensive as casino G shocks go and looks good on the wrist.

Diese Gshock ist in meiner Sammlung die mit dem am besten ablesbaren display. Auch im dunkeln. Wirklich sehr große zahlen und sogar 2 led die das display beleuchten.

Amazing watch.

I already have this Casio 350 in black with the negative display which I find very easy to read and the watch gets a great deal of use. A real workhorse built to last. When I realised there was this lighter grey version with a positive display I just had to get it from Amazon US for £79 (my black one cost £60 from Argos in a sale). Of all my watches the Casio 350s are the most versatile and rugged and I expect them to last a lifetime (with the occasional replacement strap along the way). Highly recommended!

Es una pena que no lo fabrica.