7 January 2006 0:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles
Casio’s G-shock watches promise to offer ultimate protection at an affordable price, but can the new Casio G-300L do just that? We take a closer look.The black design is part of Casio’s Street Range and this means that you’ll get both analogue hands and a digital face for your money. The over-redundancy in time measurement is purely a style thing and for the most part the hands will pale into the background against everything else that is displayed on the watch's face.
The hands do come into play when you chose to do something else with the watch such as use the timer or have it set to display a world time, which is ideal for travelling, but choose to set the stopwatch going at 5 to 12 for example and they only get in the way.
To beef up the look and overall importance of the G-300L the watch comes attached to a rather bulky leather strap. This certainly makes the watch look more important that it actually is, but for some it will push them away - you’ll struggle to get it under a fitted cuff-linked shirt for example.
Aimed at the sporty market - the watch is water resistant to 200m, which is suitable for recreational diving, the watch also uses its digital credentials to offer a stopwatch and timer and these include Elapsed time, split times, 1st-2nd place time functions.
Casio promise a 15 seconds per month plus or minus time, which when you think about it, means you could lose anywhere up to 3 minutes either side over the course of the year. It might seem small, but its not if you’re running for that train.
Verdict
For £70 the G-shock will offer you a basic digital come analogue watch that is tough enough to withstand the odd footie match and nights down the pub.
What it won't be good for however, is wearing to work if you plan on wearing a suit or need to make sure that you keep time perfectly over the year.
This is a no frills watch that does what it sets out to do, but offers little more beyond its remit.
Score
Review Recap
- Made by
- Casio
- Price as reviewed
- £70
- The good
- World time settings
- The bad
- A bit chunky for most
- Quick verdict
- This is a no frills watch that does what it sets out to do, but offers little more beyond its remit
- Score
-
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