If you’re like me, your first introduction to the Casio brand will have been when you used your first scientific calculator at senior school and if you were anywhere near as poor at maths as I was, it will have almost put you off the brand for life. Of course, nowadays I realise that Casio is a manufacturer of all sorts of things, including an incredibly stylish watch range and I also recognize that the purpose of a calculator isn’t just to see what swear words you can spell with numbers, they do maths too.
Over the last few years, like the mobile phone industry, there has been a gradual shift away from standard watches which just tell the time towards watches that will one day link up with Skynet and possibly destroy the world.
But I’ll admit it – I am a sucker for new technology.
I spent 3 years working in a mobile phone shop and over those 3 years I ended up buying 8 different phones just to keep up with whatever was new! So the idea of being able to check my messages, make phone calls and keep up to date on the latest football scores from my watch was very appealing to me – especially when I’m sat on the sofa and I’ve left my phone in my coat pocket.
Of course the question remains – if I like the idea so much, why don’t I own one? Well it’s very simple; I took one look at the Samsung Galaxy Gear watch with its cheap colourful strap and realised that yes, the watch looked like the future, just like Google Glass, but, also like Google Glass, it looked like a horrible dystopian future like if Back To The Future had Marty McFly going to the future to find out that all they had were pound shops.
The phones of the future to me should look stylish as well as performing smart functions, so without any further ado let me tell you all about the Casio Edifice EQB-500D which will satisfy your thirst for style and smart features.
Wear it With Style
When you take one look at the Casio Edifice you will immediately see its classic design and stainless steel strap make the smartwatch look like, well, a watch rather than the mini-computer on your wrist look that other smartwatches have aimed for.
The feel of the watch is suitably premium as well and this will probably make you worried about scratching or breaking it; what’s good about this watch is that you don’t have to worry about scratching it because the screen is made out of mineral glass. Mineral glass is a hardened glass that is scratch resistant and keeps your screen as it was the day you brought it. It is also coated in Alpha GEL, which I know sounds like something Superman uses to slick back his hair but it’s actually a shock absorber which protects the phone against vibrations.
Get Smart and Keep Connected
Image: Dennis Hill
The watch comes with full Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity which is confirmed as being compatible with the iPhone 4S, 5, 5C and 5S and the Samsung Galaxy S5, S4 and Note 3 using the Casio Watch+ app.
It has some great features, like setting the time to update automatically anywhere you are in the world (so no more time wasted trying to set your watch perfectly with the time on the news channels, or is it just me that does that?) and you can set a second time zone on your phone as well which is great for people who have family abroad or make international business calls.
It also has a feature that seems perfectly suited to me – phone finder! This allows you to sets off a loud tone on your phone if you ever misplace it… now if only they could do the same with my wallet.
Are You a Synchronized Swimmer?
Image: Ben Sutherland
Never get in trouble for staying in the pool too long again… I joke, but the watch really is water resistant to 100 meters which is great if you like to time yourself doing laps in the pool or if you have a young child who likes to pick up your possessions and drop them in the sink!
Plus, if you like your gadgets, then keep your watch synchronized with your phone while you’re in the pool and you can check if you’ve received an email and send any stopwatch times straight to your mobile.
An important note to remember is that water resistant to 100 meters doesn’t mean depth, but the air pressure used in when they tested the water resistance. In plain English it means that it can get splashed, submerged under water, worn while playing sports and while swimming, poolside diving or snorkeling but that you should never wear it when scuba diving. I would also add not to wear it around sharks, but that’s not so much to do with the water resistance but because sharks have a history of finding human wrists quite tasty.
Where Do I Buy One?
From this website of course!
The Casio Edifice EQB-500D-1AER usually sells for £300 but you can currently pre-order it for £270 right on our website and as we’re an authorised dealer of Casio you get a full 2-year guarantee (not that you’ll need it!) If you’ve used this watch then please leave us a comment below and tell us your thoughts!
Until next time, I’ll leave you with one final thought – if your watch ever asks you to link into Skynet, just say no!
