When you’re looking for a watch that’s going to be great for banging around outside in the summer, it’s hard to go wrong with a G-Shock. They’re built for standing up to abuse with their carbon core guard build, and they’ll take about anything you can throw at them. Their most recent release – the G-Shock GA-B2100 – slims things down and pays homage to an original from their catalog.
First, let’s talk the slim-down. The G-Shock GA-B2100 is still a large watch, at 48.5mm, but they’ve thinned the case out so it stands at just under 12mm thick. This should make the watch a lot more wearable, as well as making it not feel like a puck on your wrist. For all of that, they still managed to get solar charging built in (also great for summer) and a Bluetooth radio so you can get it setup and synced with your phone.
Now, what about the history? That’s in the colors used for the G-Shock GA-B2100 – these hearken back to the colors used in the G-Shock 5600 series, so it’s a tight little nod to the past. Pulling it to the future, you’ll notice the octagonal bezel on the case that was made so popular in the “Casioak” watches.
In terms of the overall functionality, the G-Shock GA-B2100 offers a whole suite of things. The solar charging is a great thing for a watch that will just run and run, and the Bluetooth linking is another nice add. With that, on your phone you’re able to set a bunch of different things to track. Want to remember when and where it was you saw that really cool rock? A long press on the watch will get that logged, and then the app will have that info for you.
Functionality and lightweight toughness make the G-Shock GA-B2100 a solid summertime option, and at the pricing of $150 it’s one that won’t break the bank. And sure, while it’s got Bluetooth, it’s not trying to be a smartwatch, it’s just extending the functionality of the watch in some very nice ways. These should be available soon, and you can check them out over at casio.com.
Tech Specs from Casio
- Case size (L× W× H): 48.5 × 45.4 × 11.9 mm
- Weight: 52 g
- Case / bezel material: Carbon / Resin?
- Band: Resin Band
- Construction
- Shock Resistant
- Carbon Core Guard structure
- Water resistance: 200-meter water resistance
- Crystal: mineral glass
- Lume: Neobrite
- 20-bar water resistance
- Tough Solar (solar powered)
- Smartphone Link
- Hand shift feature
- 1/100-second stopwatch
- Countdown timer
- 5 daily alarms
- Double LED light (Super Illuminator)
- Functionality via the Casio app
- Time & Place log: Pressing a button on the watch records the current date, time and position on a map. Useful as an activity log.
- Reminder setting: The watch will remind you of up to five upcoming events, which you set within the app.
- Automatic time adjustment (four times a day)
- World time for over 300 cities
- Home time/world time switching
- Timer/alarm setting
- Phone finder
