Casio has revealed an Android Wear powered smartwatch at CES in Las Vegas, but added its own design ethos on to the experience to help it stand out from the crowd.

Our quick take

Casio has created one of the best looking Android Wear smartwatches to date. It is a very different approach to the gold shiny bling of Huawei and LG, so it is not going to suit everyone, but if you are a fan of the traditional G-Shock and Casio ranges, this will allow you to go Android Wear in adventurous style.

It's big, it's bold, especially the orange and red models, but Casio has nailed the niche it's gunning for here, and with an expected price tag of around $500 when it launches in April, this should help you stand out from the crowd, and conquer that mountain range at the same time.

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Casio WSD-F10 Android Wear smartwatch

FORAGAINST
  • Great rugged design
  • big buttons for using with gloves
  • Flat tire design
  • might be too big for some

The new WSD-F10, which harks plenty of the G-Shock qualities from the company's rugged range of watches features a large circular screen, but is light (approx. 93g) and comfortable to wear as we found at via a quick demo from the company.

The WSD-F10 features a 1.32-inch dual layer Color TFT LCD and monochrome LCD screen with a resolution of 320×300 pixels.

Sadly it features the "flat tire" design present in so many of the circular Android wear devices, however thanks to Casio's design prowess, it is not anywhere as noticeable as on the Motorola for example. OCD suffers will still find it annoying though.

Water resistance to 50 meters and built to military standard specifications, the watch becomes one of the toughest, if not the toughest, Android Wear watch on the market and you certainly feel that holding the WSD-F10 in the hand.

That Outdoor focus means that it can withstand a variety of rugged activities says Casio. The operating buttons are large and feature a slip-free finish so they can easily be operated with gloves on, and they are concentrated on the right side of the case. The wristband is made from soft urethane plastic that conforms to the wrist and can be comfortably worn for extended periods.

The watch also comes with a few customisations to Google's wearable OS on the software front as well, plus ships with apps like Runkeeper and ViewRanger GPS out of the box. 

The WSD-F10 comes with dedicated applications that measure and display essential information for outdoor activities and sports using a pressure sensor, compass, and accelerometer.

For the adventurous, rather than those just on the morning commute, the upper right TOOL button brings up information such as compass direction, air pressure and altitude, sunrise and sunset times, tide graphs, and activity graphs -providing real-time information about changes in the natural environment and activity levels.

The WSD-F10 also comes pre-installed with further Casio applications for outdoor activities such as trekking, cycling, and fishing.

You will however need to have your phone present to use the watch to the full effect, but it does support iOS as well as Android.

As the case with many of the Android Wear watch makers, Casio has created a series of original watch faces to help customise things further, including one with a camouflage background. 

To recap

Casio has created one of the best looking Android Wear smartwatches to date