Casio w/compass, altimeter, barometer, thermometer. Reliable or not?

[pfrsantos]

I've seen some Casio models with some (or awl) of these functions. The less elaborated ones, with moon phase and tide graph work pretty well and are fairly accurate.



How about these (more complex and demanding) functions? Anyone "tested" them? Are they accurate, reliable? Or just more of a gimmick, without real usefulness?

 

[Chako]

I have had a Casio Pathfinder PAW 1500-3GB since 2009. It is very accurate in barometer, altimeter, temperature, and compass as long as you input the correct information beforehand...and of course, take the watch off for an actual temp reading that is not your body temp.

It is still my go to outdoor watch. I have bought several cheaper ABC watches from Amazon...and those are fairly accurate as well.

In fact, I have 2 of the same watch, one from LAD Weather, and the other from Pyle Sport...and I can easily recommend one. My only issue, the screen is sort of soft...but for the price, you can buy one and see if you can live with an ABC watch...and these are full featured watches. In fact, I sort of like them better than my more expensive Casio as I can have the barometer graph take up most of the screen. I use the barometer more than the other features. I like to know when a storm is coming.

I have both a LAD and a Pyle sitting side by side in the watch case...along with my Casio Pathfinder. They all show the same data.


https://www.amazon.ca/Pyle-Sport-PSWWM82BK-Multifunction-Altimeter-Chronograph/dp/B00EDDAMT4/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=lad+weather&qid=1596465655&sr=8-8

[pfrsantos]

Thanks for the quick reply, buddy!

 

The one in the pic is a SGW 1000 2BER. The price in Casio's site is €150 and Decathlon in Portugal is selling it for €99. The only thing stopping me from getting it is the fact it's not solar powered.

[Chako]

My Pathfinder is solar powered.

Try one of those others if you can. I don't think you will be too dissapointed.

[pfrsantos]

First time I hear about Pyle Sports Watches. Seems easy enough to use and about half the price of a Casio.

 

[Chako]

IMG_8916A by Chako, on Flickr

LAD Weather on the left, Pyle Sport in the middle, and the Casio Pathfinder on the right.

All 3 watches are fairly accurate. The two cheaper watches are identical short of what is written on the back case and front. The compass markings do not rotate on these two watches. I am fairly impressed at them for the price. My Pathfinder is a far superior watch...but if you are not sure about getting an ABC watch and just want to try one out before spending the $$$, I can easily recommend these two cheaper ones. Heck, you might just like them enough to not have to buy a more expensive ABC watch.

With all of that said, you still can't go wrong with the Casio either.

[pfrsantos]

Thanks! I'll look into them, only knew about Casio and Suunto with these features.

 

[Chako]

There are lots of options out there. Go over to Amazon and search "ABC Watch".

[Zephon]

I have an SGW-1000 that my 11yr old son now uses.

Yes, it’s fairly accurate, robust and would survive a 10yr old (then) thru fifth grade.

My only problem is it’s not solar - battery life would only last a couple of years at the most. The battery size is also not one to be easily found in my neck of the woods in hardware stores nor convenience stores.

Last thing you would want is be in the middle of nowhere and when you use the compass, the ‘low battery’ indicator starts to blink. Which has happened to us more than once.

[Top-Gear-24]

I'm a big ABC watch fan, here's a list of the ones I own:

Suunto Core:



Suunto Core All Black:



Garmin Fenix (1st generation):



Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1A3ER:



Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1AER:



Casio Rangeman GW-9400-3ER:



Casio Pro-Trek PRW-1300-Y-1ER:




And I also own 2 that aren't really ABC watches, since they only have 2 out of 3 ABC functions.

Casio Riseman GW-9200 (only Altitude and Barometer, no Compass) :



Casio Sea-Pathfinder SPF40T Titanium (no Altitude, only Barometer and Compass, it's the one on the left) :



I will post my opinion on them in the next post  .

[powernoodle]

I get woozy, almost sea sick, when the barometer makes a big, abrupt shift.  The barometer on the Casios is plenty accurate for keeping track those trends.  Its good to confirm that I feel bad because of the barometric change, and not because I am stroking out.

The thermometer works, but it warms up from your wrist.  So you gotta leave it off a while to check the ambient air temp.

I like the Suunto Core and am wearing one now.  The ABC functionality works fine, and it has a large display which I like.  But it feels antiquated without a solar recharger and atomic function.  I think whereas the Core used to be a class leader, its now more trendy than anything given that you can get more functionality with a G-Shock (solar, atomic).  But that's just my take on it.

[Top-Gear-24]

So, my experiences with my ABC watches...

To be fair, they all have their strong points, as well as their weak ones.

Since accuracy is important I'll start with that.

The one with the most accurate altitude reading is the Suunto Core, if you calibrate it down in the valley, it will be spot on (give or take 1 meter) at the top of the mountain. 

The Garmin is a close second, being of by a max of 1 to 10 meters at most. 

The Casio's are third, being of by a max of 1 to 30 meters (which, at a rise in altitude from 400 to 2400 meters still isn't that bad).

The Casio Pro-Trek is quite a bit older than my other G-shocks, and its altimeter is only accurate to 5 meters , so it will only read differences from 5 meters or more, while the other ones are accurate to 1 meter.

Sometimes they are very close as well, the differences above are the "worst" differences I've noticed.

The weather predictions you get on them are all equally accurate, not much difference there.

So, points for accuracy:

Suunto Core: 9.5/10
Suunto Core All Black: 9.5/10
Garmin Fenix (1st generation): 9/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1A3ER: 8.5/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1AER: 8.5/10
Casio Rangeman GW-9400-3ER: 8.5/10
Casio Pro-Trek PRW-1300-Y-1ER: 8/10


Wearing comfort, this one also goes to the Suunto Core, it's light and thin, and feels great on the wrist. 

Second are the Casio's, while being big and bulky, the straps are still comfortable and the watch case has "shoulders" to make it fit better around the wrist.

Last place goes to the Garmin Fenix, big and bulky watch, and the strap is quite unpleasant to wear, and feels weak and sticky.

So, points for comfort:

Suunto Core: 9.5/10
Suunto Core All Black: 9.5/10
Garmin Fenix (1st generation): 7/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1A3ER: 9/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1AER: 9/10
Casio Rangeman GW-9400-3ER: 9/10
Casio Pro-Trek PRW-1300-Y-1ER: 9/10


Battery life, also important on a watch witch energy consuming functions.

This one goes to the Casio, nothing beats solar-powered Casio's.  You can use all the functions and the backlight without worrying about the battery, which makes them a lot of fun. 

The Suunto's have an average battery life of around 2 years, but this will be a lot shorter when using the functions a lot. The battery (cr 2032) is easily replaceable, without tools (all you need is a coin, or a house key). Still, I always think twice before using one of he functions or the backlight.

Last place goes to the Garmin Fenix, while its battery last quite long for a rechargeable one, I always find myself checking the battery level, and don't use its functions to save battery.

So, points for battery life:

Suunto Core: 7/10
Suunto Core All Black: 7/10
Garmin Fenix (1st generation): 6.5/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1A3ER: 9.5/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1AER: 9.5/10
Casio Rangeman GW-9400-3ER: 9.5/10
Casio Pro-Trek PRW-1300-Y-1ER: 9.5/10


Durability, guess everyone knows who's going to win this... Yes, nothing beats the G-shocks, they are bulletproof.  And the watch face is protected by the watch case, and the two Mudmasters have sapphire glass. 

Second place for the Garmin Fenix, though design, solid case.  But the watch face isn't as protected as on the G-shocks, and the strap feels flimsy (but it's still in one piece).

Then you have the Casio Pro-Trek, very solid, watch face better protected as on the Garmin, but not as good as on the G-shocks.

And last place is for the Suunto Core, it's light, but maybe a bit too light... The watch face is unprotected, the buttons stop working when dirty, and the strap wears and breaks quite easily, very soft and comfortable on the skin but apparently too soft...

So, points for durability:

Suunto Core: 6/10
Suunto Core All Black: 6/10
Garmin Fenix (1st generation): 8/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1A3ER: 9.5/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1AER: 9.5/10
Casio Rangeman GW-9400-3ER: 9.5/10
Casio Pro-Trek PRW-1300-Y-1ER: 8.5/10


Price, well, the Suunto Core can be found very cheap these days, they used to cost around 300 Euro, but I got both of mine at a discount, both being around 100 Euro. At full retail I would think twice...

The Garmin is insanely pricey, but since mine is a generation 1, and I bought it when they just released generation 3, I got it at -70% discount, paying 90 Euro for it.  But a current Fenix 6 will cost you around 800 Euro (or more), which is too much in my opinion.

The Casio's... Well, it's harder to find these at discount prices, at least in Belgium or the Netherlands, I bought all of them at full retail, except one of the Mudmasters, which I got at -25% discount. 

The Mudmaster is a great watch, but at 699 Euro you do wonder if having an analog clock is worth twice the money of the all-digital Rangeman. Since the Rangeman, while offering all the same stuff (and more) than the Mudmaster, costs around 300 Euro, making it the best bang for your buck in my opinion.

The Pro-Trek set me back 300 Euros, years back, I think you can find more recent versions for the same price, but as with the G-shock, if you want analog, you'll pay extra...

I'll rate them at their retail price, since deals can be found, but you have to be lucky...

So, points for best value for the money:

Suunto Core: 7/10
Suunto Core All Black: 7/10
Garmin Fenix (1st generation): 7/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1A3ER: 8/10
Casio Mudmaster GWG-1000-1AER: 8/10
Casio Rangeman GW-9400-3ER: 9/10
Casio Pro-Trek PRW-1300-Y-1ER: 8/10


There are other points that I'll go over quickly...

Lumen, only the Mudmaster has dials and lumen, and they work great (a bit better on the 1A3AER than on the 1AER, cause the first one has bright white dials , and the other one has painted dials which reduces, the lumen on them).

The altitude graphs are best on the Suunto Core and the Garmin, followed by the Rangeman and the Pro-Trek, and the smallest graphs are found on the Mudmaster.

GPS, only on the Garmin, but Suunto has watches in the same price range with GPS as well, I just don't own one (yet).  And Casio has the new Rangeman availablerright now, and some very interesting models coming out with GPS and heart rate monitor etc as well...

P.C. Compatibility , only on the Garmin.  And on those other Suunto's, that I don't own (yet).

Hope this post was helpful, and I hope that there aren't too many mistakes in it, since my laptop died last week I have to do everything on the smartphone and I really hate that... (this post only took me about 2 hours or so  ).

[Chako]

Excellent write up. 

I also have a thing for ABC watches. I have the Casio mentioned above along with the Pyle Sport and Lad Weather. Along with that I have a Casio Rangeman and a Timex Expedition WS4.

[pfrsantos]

Wow! Awesome post, Top-Gear-24! You've answered awl my doubts and then some!

Thanks!

 

[Top-Gear-24]

Happy I could help  .

Like I said, best value for the money in my opinion is the Rangeman, solid watch, as all my Casio ABC watches it has atomic time keeping (which I forgot to mention), and it even has sunrise and sunset data in it (which the more expensive Mudmaster doesn't have).

The green version with reverse display looks cool, but I would buy a black one with regular display if I could do it again, the reverse display can be very hard to read in direct sunlight, I even find myself using the backlight in the middle of the day to read the compass (thank god it's solar powered).

But... even though the analog Mudmaster cost more than double of what the Rangeman costs, and it doesn't have the sunrise/sunset info, and it only shows half of the altitude or barometer graph that you get on the Rangeman, it's still the watch I wear 95% of the time, and it's the watch that puts the biggest smile on my face when I look at it.

And the compass (using the seconds arrow), the lumen, the impressive double led back light, are awesome... And it feels like a tank...

But like I said, the Casio's suffer a bit more in accuracy, especially when the weather changes dramatically while you're climbing a mountain...

My Casio Pro-Trek and Riseman are both around ten years old, both still on their first batteries, and they show no sign of losing power. I do keep my watches next to the window, exposing them to daylight (not direct sunlight, the window is facing north) all the time.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I've got the Casio SGW 100B Dual Sensor model and it has been pretty solid for me.  I'd be tempted to say that it is almost G Shock level tough. 



At least mine hasn't had any issues since I got it, and I picked it up used as part of a lot.  I have no idea how long the previous owner had it, or what he may or may not have done with it.

Def

[pfrsantos]

There's a lot of SKMEI watches that show up in search for ABC. Are these any god? They look like Casio knock-offs...

https://www.amazon.com/Altimeter-Barometer-Thermometer-Temperature-Waterproof/dp/B07PF3KTFN/ref=rtpb_2/144-1570356-4664102?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07YCQ7V3L&pd_rd_r=579695bb-9464-4865-a3c9-80ab89b999bc&pd_rd_w=Lx5Oq&pd_rd_wg=4qZgn&pf_rd_p=daaf77d4-d4dd-4f10-b594-eb1c134fb910&pf_rd_r=X06PP4266ZGV44G2YJ1V&psc=1&refRID=X06PP4266ZGV44G2YJ1V

[Chako]

They probably are.

I also have a SKMEI as well that I forgot I had to be honest. It is ok. The thing with these cheap Chinese watches...much like the LAD and Pyle watches...they have one major weakness...water proofing. Something has to give out for the price point. I bought mine because I do not play in the water. Even when I wash my hands, I have never dunked a watch doing that...even if I am wearing a diving watch. I bought these because of their price point. I was shocked you can get an ABC watch for so little. Yes, they do work and punch above their price weight...just do not get them wet.

The Casio is a far better watch,and it blows me away you can get one for 80 something dollars based on the bottom of your link. On the other hand, if you are not sure you will get along with one, 40 dollars entry point is a good price to see if you can get along with one. It all depends on what you are looking for. I like my Lad and Pyle simply because you can have the barometer take up the largest part of the watch face and still have the time. The Casio watches I have only give small graphs. My pathfinder is much like a G-Shock with 20 atm water resistance, solar powered, radio calibrated, etc. Even with all that, I kinda like my far cheaper watches for that graph.

I am sure that whatever you get, you will be satisfied with it. Just know that the better name brands will offer you better water resistance. For me, that isn't much of an issue. This could be a deal breaker for you however.

Here is my SKMEI ABC watch.

IMG_8922A by Chako, on Flickr

[dks]

As mentioned by Dan, with SKMEI you mainly get the look but lack the waterproofing, and from my experience the accuracy may be bad, for a quartz, so still useable. also sometimes they are missing functions as they focus on looks note functions (lots of LED colours usually, confusing menus)

[LOWW]

I have had a Casio Pathfinder

I got one to. Sadly onboard a Plane the start to get insane and switch to a Demo Mode and I found no way to "recover" them. Since the Batterie died I put them just in my "parts box"...

[Pacu]

Posts like these are why MTO is top tier . 

[Zephon]

I’m also a fan of the GWG-1000 (I’m using a GWG-1000DC).  Before that, I was using an SGW-1000.  The SGW-1000 would easily burn thru batteries and getting spare ones isn’t as easy as going to a convenience store and picking one off the shelf.  The Mudmaster is a BEAST.  Just strap it on and you’re good to go.  The analog face is its biggest advantage since I’m getting old and I’m having trouble reading digital displays already.

I wish I could afford the GPR-B1000 Rangeman.  Bigger screen = bigger display. 

Right now I’m using a Garmin Instinct Tactical — instead of ABC, it’s the heart rate sensor I’m after now.  Compared to the Garmin, I somehow prefer the Mudmaster because I somehow do not need to re-calibrate the Altimeter every time I check air pressure. 

It’s ‘fun’ using the Casio barometers to track a storm — you’ll get a pretty good idea when it’s heading your way and when it’s moving away from you.  Very helpful in a typhon-prone country.

[Valkie]

I have a Casio Pathfinder ABC watch.

But its different from the ones shown in this thread.

Mine has an analog watch faceWhen you press the Compass, the Second hand becomes the pointer and the digital readout shows the degrees
Press the barometer and the second hand shows the rise or fall of the barometric pressure, the digital readout shows the actual
Press the Altimeter and the second hand shows your upward pr downwad movement, the digital readout shows metres.
It has alarms, Stopwatches, an ability to link with an atomic clock to accurately set time, world time function for over 50 countries and others.

In its home mode you can keep an eye on the baro and the time and date.

And its face is a solar panel.

In 7 years the battery stays full to this day.

Ill post a picture when I get a chance

[Valkie]

This is my little Casio.

I couldn't get one in Australia, I had to purchase mine from Texas as that's the only place that had one.

Couldn't get one with a steel band either, so I got an aftermarket one, don't look as good, but still functions.

[Santos]

That looks like a Casio PRG500?



I have had a PRG510 for a few years with a NATO strap.


it ended up just being clipped onto my carry on travel backpack or to my water bottle pouch. I found it just too cumbersome. I actually 'lost it for a two year period until i rediscovered it inside a side pocket of my climbing rope bag.  Put it under an LED LAmp for a week and it charged right up from 'dead' and it holds charge without issue.

I love the vintage analogue watch faces and have a few Citizen Eco-drives that I wear so I thought the analogue face would be great with the ability to use the other features when needed. As much as i love that the Seconds Hand sweeps round as the compass needle in practice i just found using the functions to awkward and the whole thing just to chunky.

I was deliberating with upgrading to the new 'slimmer' PRW50 or PRW60 (kept bouncing between the two styles).  Nice comparison video for size.


So i started actively wearing the prg510 on the weekends to evaluate if i really was going to use it if i had the style of my ecodrives. I decided ultimately I'm better off with an all-digital face for visibility and simplicity. Went with a PRG330 as it was slim and without the bulging sensor of older models (another thing i hated about the prg510)




The idea was to sell the PRG510 on Ebay to pay back the PRG330. I started checking Ebay for prices and realised that I could get a better price for it with a genuine casio strap.  As chance had it, a non-working PRG500,  was up for sale for PARTS here in Australia. So paid a little more than i should for just the strap to take a chance on a lazarus charging up of the PRG500.
it worked.   

So now i have 3 and haven't put the PRG510 on ebay
Anyone in Australia that wants to buy (or trade ) let me know. i will edit this line out if i sell it.

[tattoosteve99]

I can only speak of the one I own. The Casio gg-1000 1A8. The compass is fairly accurate, especially when compared to my go to compass. Which btw is very old and very accurate. The temperature reading is somewhat iffy. Depends on where the watch actually is, on arm, shade, in sun etc. My main thing is I don’t solely rely on tech for direction, I use other factors when out in the bush. Temperature is really one of those things you only want to see when it’s to hot or to cold IMO.

[Top-Gear-24]

I got myself a new ABC watch a couple of weeks ago, the Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical (let's name it G.I.S.T. for future reference).

Got the chance to test it out on a couple of short hikes, getting to learn how to use it.

It's not the easiest watch, it has quite a lot of functions besides the ABC stuff, like heart rate monitor, oxigen saturation meter, and some smart watch functions.  And the manual that comes with the watch is... how should I put it... very minimalistic (that's putting it mildly).

Here are some pics.










Here you can see the solar panel:




First impressions:

Pros:

- Great readability, even in direct sunlight.
- Very comfortable on the wrist, great wristband.
- Light weight, but still very solid feeling.
- Connectable with smartphone via Garmin App.
- Long battery life (no colour/touch screen), and extra battery life thanks to solar charging.
- A lot of changeable settings, like what info is visible on the watch face, and where does it show this info, regular display or reverse (negative) display.
- Altimeter needs calibrating at the start of each activity, and as much as you can during the activity (as with all barometric altimeters), but it's been quite precise as far as I can tell (will get back to this once I've done a hike with real up- and downhill bits in it).
- Price, well, it's not the cheapest, but still less than half the price of a Fenix 6 (which also offers solar charging, but less effective as on the Instinct, due to the Fenix 6 using more power with its colour/touchscreen, and the solar panel being a lot smaller as on the Instinct).
- While you can't store music on the watch itself, you can use the watch to control music stored on your phone, skip to the njext or previous song, pause, control the volume. 5


Cons:

- Not an easy watch for someone who's new to this type of watches
- The manual that comes with it is just rubbish, you can download a better manual on the Garmin site, and some YouTube even has a self-made manual in pdf format, which is even better than the one on the Garmin site.
- No colour- or touchscreen
- Not as many training functions as on the Fenix series.
- Music can not be stored on the watch itself.


Conclussion:

Since I'm not much of an athlete, I don't need all the extra training functions, or VO2 MAX stuff that's on the Fenix, and I don't listen to music while I'm hiking either, so the Instinct is the better choice for me.

It's the perfect outdoor watch, for a short sunday walk, or long hikes, and I suspect even a multi day hut tour in the Alps (I haven't had the chance to use it in the Alps, sadly enough) the Instinct can handle it.  And the extra battery life thanks to the Solar panel is just awesome.

As always, this is just my own,  humble opinion.

[pfrsantos]

I got myself a new ABC watch a couple of weeks ago, the Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical (let's name it G.I.S.T. for future reference).

(...)

Very cool! I wonder why they didn't call it the Garmin Instinct Tactical Solar instead...

 

[Max Stone]

Well, I did get the gist of the post - it's a great watch! (and nice pics, thanks TG) 

[Top-Gear-24]

Well, I did get the gist of the post - it's a great watch! (and nice pics, thanks TG)