G-Shock GA-700 Series and GD-010 Series [7A & GD-010] {NECTR Timepiece Review 003}

G-Shock

GA-700 & GD 010 Series

(7A & GD-010BBR 1)

{NECTR Timepiece Review 003}

Casio’s G-Shock, introduced to the world in 1983, has grown significantly, nationally and globally ever since. Considerably, due to their foresight and commitment of crafting innovative, rugged, durable digital watches. A novelty of a thing that withstands much of any shape or form of damage a watch could endure.

Our 3rd timepiece review covers two G-Shock models, offering insight into the benefits and downsides of each.

GA-700 7A

The GA-700 Series (7A) is our first-ever digital watch review. The watch also functions as a hybrid analog, showing time with minute and hour hands alongside a digital display of minutes, hours, and seconds. The GA-700 7A also has a couple of modes for you to tinker with: timer, stopwatch, a 2nd world time option, and multiple alarms.

Another cool feature is the automation of the analog hands as you start or set a timer. Depending on your taste, consider it a curse or a blessing that the watch can only wind automatically, based on the timezone selected from 31 zones/48 cities.

This feature makes it rather difficult to set the time manually, for both models, even by a minute or two ahead/behind, if that’s your cup of tea. Another downside is the dim light, which contrasts with the digital display. [Tip: Place your thumb right below the light right after pushing its button, in order to see better in the dark!] The awkwardly lit watch might seem hard to comprehend at times. Also, the analog minute and hour hands can sometimes block the digital display.

Personally, I wear it as a ‘daytime work’ watch, thanks to its extended timer and stopwatch features, as well as its fashionable versatility. I mainly wear it for attentiveness training, to keep the mind engaged on whatever task is at hand. The proof is in the pudding. I now write this article as the seconds wind down, (Something I promised months ago. But oh, where does time fly when one runs their own business?) Notifying me about how effective the Pomodoro method could be. And how much of a worthwhile investment both the G-Shock GA-700 and GD-010 Series models have been as a workman’s watch.

GD-010BBR 1

This has become a daily go-to as of lately. Mainly because of the disadvantages of its predecessor, but also because I forgot my GA-700 at home on a payday some afternoons ago. Regardless, the GD-010 slowly weaned into a regular rotation of a thing worn not just for work.

It is mostly composed of bio-based resin and carbon, making it not only eco-friendly but also less clunky. Shower with it on or off; the 200-meter water resistance is fully compliant. All the main features of the GA-700 are also available on the GD-010, except for analog time (Stopwatch, multiple timers, digital time display, auto world time adjustment, etc.).

Its LED backlight is much more reliable than the GA-700’s, given that there are no analog minute or hour hands. A bulletproof way of acknowledging the correct time in a digital format.

Rating and Conclusion

After a decent amount of time wearing both, we rate the GA-700 7A a 3 out of 5. We love its design and the dual digital/analog feature, the inexpensive pricetag, but vigorously hate the fact that the bottom half of the digital display will most definitely be unreliable for about a quarter of the day. Also, our dilemma with the backlight contradicting the digital display’s granted color. The proxy watch, GD-010BBR 1, deserves a 4 out of 5 for eliminating all, if not most, of the ‘dislike’ criteria offered by the prior model and for also being inexpensive.

Being a brand-new year and our 1st official digital watch review, Casio is guaranteed to hold another slot in our timepiece review section (already in the making). Granted that our audience gains genuine insights from a consumer’s and a curator’s standpoint.