Brands: Casio

These are mere random thoughts on watch brands which I am writing purely from my experience and perspective, which is no doubt different from yours. Feel free to add your thoughts if you think I am talking nonsense.

Writing about Casio is not easy because Casio makes so many watches that it can be hard to understand what to concentrate on. And then I look at the selection and realise that 95% of the models fit within one genre; plastic sports.

That is not meant to be a criticism because the G-Shock, for example, is a legend and rightly so, but I do wish the brand would look to add some variety to the aesthetics. There is variety within the G-Shock range (high-end, CasioOak etc), but there is too much of a consistency in the overall look to make them appear to be anything other than variations on a theme.

Casio has now jumped in to the sports watch arena with a huge fitness watch that does not look comparable to the likes of Garmin and even the Apple Watch if you can forgive the latter’s lack of toughness. To me the brand had an opportunity a few years back to take a lead here, but seems to have stuck to the G-Shock tradition and I believe it will regret this slowness of transition one day.

Finally, the very low end Casio watches are astonishing value for money. They are accurate, very well made and last for years, up to 10 in many cases. Whether you are buying a first watch for your child or want a beater for adventuring they really are hard to beat.

I remain, however, of the mind that Casio needs to transition quickly to keep up with the smart developments in the wider watch market.