Casio AE-1000W (AE-1000W-1A2VEF) Digital Watch Review
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It goes without saying that if you are after a feature-rich, low-cost watch that you can wear daily then, in our opinion, it has to be a Casio.
Casio, a Japanese electronics manufacturer since 1946, has been a mainstay of watches that we have owned in one shape or another since the mid-eighties and became a much-loved brand for Tony personally when he was given one as a birthday present, the mighty Casio Game-20.
Blown away with what technology could be built into a watch during those early days he had never really looked at anything else other than a Casio, except for when he started to move into analogue chronographs a little later down the line.
Fast forward to today and with Tony reviewing items for the We Try Anything website and YouTube channel, which includes low-cost watches, he has only now started to rekindle his love affair of Casio and what it has to offer.
So to kick things off we are taking a look at the Casio AE1000W digital wristwatch. It isn’t Casio’s cheapest watch that you can buy brand new today but it is a watch that is very affordable and easily accessible from the likes of Amazon or Argos.
To start things off we have to say that the Casio AE1000W is a very good looking watch. The watch face is simple and very easy to read and with it having the ‘World Time’ functionality, all of the features are logical and easily viewed.
On the watch face, going from top to bottom, you can view the various alarm and mute indicators. A map of the world graphic, which indicates which part of the world time you are featuring on the main watch face. You have a digital dial that features the main time which you have chosen and doesn’t change even when you are looking at different times zones, setting the alarm or using the stopwatch. Then finally, below the map and digital dial, you have the main LCD display which can feature your current time, different times from any of the 5 chosen time zones and the other functions as the stopwatch and alarm can be operated here.
Talking of the functionality the Casio AE1000W has a stopwatch, 5 settable Alarms, a countdown timer (which can countdown up to 24 hours), world time which can feature 5 chosen times from around the world and can display the time in a 12/24 hour time format.
Powering these functions you have a 10-year guaranteed battery which also powers that Japanese Quartz movement as well as the various functions mentioned above. Also, this watch is waterproof up to a depth of 100 metres, which is handy to know when you want to go for a swim or jump in the shower.
Looking at the physical design of the watch, the case and strap are made of resin with a metal buckle and while the watch looks like it has a bezel, it isn’t moveable in any way. The case measures approximately 44mm and has a thickness of 14mm, so it isn’t a bulky watch in comparison to some watches you can buy at this price point.
Now mentioning the 22mm wide resin band, this is where we felt the watch sadly lacked a little in terms of quality. We know that it was only £20 and is aimed more at younger people, being a watch featured in Casio’s Youth Series, but it is a watch that appeals to everyone and when we took the watch out of its box we couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed about the quality of the strap. If Casio plumped for a better quality strap then we believe that this would transform the watch into something that would be a lot more desirable but unfortunately, the strap used in this instance just made it feel a little toy-like to us and lessened our impression of the watch as a whole.
The strap also made the watch wearing experience a little uncomfortable, in our opinion, and did put us off choosing to wear it daily though we are sure that after continued use it would probably get a little more flexible but compared to other watches at this price point, like the Casio W-96H, it was just a shame that the strap couldn’t be a little easier to wear from the off.
Watch strap aside, which may get a bit more comfortable after continued use and is only a small gripe, the Casio AE1000W is a great watch worth considering as an option at this price point. The built-in features are handy, the display design and readability is very good and married with a 10-year battery then we feel that you simply cannot go wrong. Also not forgetting to mention that this watch can be purchased in different colours, which are a little more in terms of cost, then it is well worth considering as your next watch to add to your Casio collection.
