This is a great review of what Casio released this past year in the G-Shock world. I bought a handful of watches this year, but not a lot of G-Shocks. Once you have a Casioak and square, you kind of look for more variety, at least I do. I actually looked at ProTrek this year and am happy with their lineup. While solar and atomic time are nice, those aren't must haves for me. Definitely no negative displays. I'm looking for smaller G-Shocks that are in the price range you mentioned. Amazing how you're able to keep making content by buying so few new watches. I think that's great.
Sorry Greg, it ain't going to happen. I would love Casio to cater to men like you and me that love these watches with all the features you're talking about for under 200$, but once they put multi-band 6 and solar features, the price goes way up! I've noticed that they are increasing their prices dramatically lately which is sad, because that was what all Casio were about: affordable, durable, great features and might I say good looking. They are losing their identity! I love G-Shocks, but as I'm growing older in my 50's, I noticed that I tend to prefer watches that are less bulky that are 40mm in diameter and under which Casio doesn't do or very little of! Thanks for the webpage resource. Great find. Thanks for sharing.
The last G Shock I purchased was a semi-metal Casio Oak which I gifted to my son. I am thinking about a resin Casio Oak with tough solar, but what I am really waiting for is a GBD 200 with tough solar and MB6. If Casio releases one, that would be a killer watch.
Hallo Greg, Casio fan boy here from the Netherlands here. Casio plays with the big brands now. Why produce a lot of cheap models when the expensive ones sell well and generate more profit . I don't think we will get specifications you mentioned anymore, at least, not affordable. 😮 By the way, I get excellent reception from the Mainflingen radio complex in Germany! See you in your next video!
This year I added a Casio WS-b1000 - no solar or MB6 but it's 40GBP, nice utilitarian looks, has bluetooth accuracy and a quite effective step tracker that zeros & forgets at midnight (so, fun but not overbearing). 2yr battery but I'm hoping for 4-5 with powersave mode.
Like you, I have the self imposed rules of solar and positive display. However, in 2024 I did succumb to the inevitable... I got an MRG-B2000. By the power of Greyskull it is an incredible thing. Apart from that, am MRG-B2000 off ebay, which I flipped within a week. An MTG-B3000 two tone in a closing down sale, which is really very good. The only other one I got is the new Gravitymaster, in grey. Which is good value for money. Apart from those I've been frustrated by the lack of solar modules on some of the funky/fun stuff.... but it does stop me buying hundreds of Casios
Yes, this year was a slow one for me too, I bought 3 watches, the GWG-B1000-3AER, and more recently the GW 9500MEC-1 mudman, and there is another one from citizen, the promaster land 35th anniversary edition U822.
Hi Greg, I believe the Multiband 6 functionality is being phased out in favour of Bluetooth. Bluetooth has more features, and works in all parts of the world.
I've been wanting negative display and so far I've been able to act logically) Though I'm thankful to all you people generously sharing your experience.
Ironically solar/atomic Casios and G shocks especially are so durable that they only sell once to non collectors. They are the inverse of a planned obsolete product. The only way they could sell continously to an amount exceeding an amount linked to population growth is by catering to collectors by making many versions and luxury versions. Great video greg, all the best wishes.
Actually I am grateful. While I am sure missing the basic colorful resin solar squares in the range at the moment this also helps me with my addiction 😄
Great video as always Greg. Like you I look for the same features as yourself regarding the Casio G-Shock. I must admit though I haven't seen any new models recently that says I need a particular model. I only have two of the 5610's that I purchased just a few years ago with both the negative and the positive display. They are both still going as strong as ever. The only Casio watches I have bought this year are a couple of Casio A168 ones and an analogue one with a Tiffany blue dial that I liked. My grandaughter purchased a smart watch for my birthday last month which I have been wearing lately so I am still getting used to that
Would love to see the display on the dw-h5600-1er in a 5000u metal core body with classic green illuminator and no sensors protruding out the back (no hrm/bluetooth)
Thanks for all your super-detailed reviews this year. Because your earlier reviews, I picked up a couple of the non-G "Walmart special" DW-291s... what a fantastic value! Really an ideal travel watch, especially when going into areas without multiband6 coverage.
Only bought a G-shock Titanium kit for an existing G-shock this year so you did better than me. My next one (Unless I have to replace something broken) will be when they come out with a MIP display on a square case that isn't fitness-focused but still has either Bluetooth or MB6. To be honest, I wish Casio would go back to focusing more on technical innovation than design. Maybe go back and see what other Smart Watch functions you can run off quartz? With the Hubble bluetooth network coming, there are all kinds of possibilities here. For now, I'll stick to my newly Titanium modded GW-M5610U until they come out with something that is an upgrade to what I already have.
Hi Greg. I love your channel. I have a Casioak with Blue Tooth and tough solar and I love it. It cost me £130 (I live in the UK) and I regard this as cheap. It has so many things going for it. It is light, very legible, very accurate and just so good looking. I have an Omega Seamaster, a Bulova Lunar Pilot, a Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical and Bulova Super Seville but find myself wearing the Casio most of the time.
I love your criteria. Very pragmatic. I worry that Casio is focused on just rehashing existing modules rather than developing new and exciting modules. For surfing and fishing why not add a barometer function to the tide function on a g-lide model (with tough solar and atomic time)? If it could add a barometer to the GWX-5600-1 I would be in heaven.
The more I think about it, the more Casio and other companies seem to be following the logic of the folks running movie studios. They're releasing sequels without any real innovation. They're pinning all of their hopes on mega-budget movies or they'll back super-cheap movies just to fill up their need for streaming content. Meanwhile the mid-level stuff we used to see all of the time is virtually non-existent. Dropping the mid-budget stuff in Hollywood hasn't worked out. How's it working for companies in other industries?
I've reviewed a few G-Shocks too and found nothin really better, in the newer versions, than what's in the older versions. Such as the Mudmaster, which really only gives you Bluetooth and a couple small things (like Bluetooth and blacked out screen) that wasn't worth upgrading my GWG-1000 to the newer 2000. Love the videos and keep them coming. I am a huge fan of Casio watches.
There are a lot of G-Shocks but most are out of my price range. I own 2, DW5600 and the GD400-9. I have many of the regular line and often stay under $50 for those. Casio WV200R-5A is my recent buy, no Solar but has the Multi Band 5, it was on clearance at Walmart for $19 but no box.
Love the video. How about review the Casio MTPS120L. The field watch they brought out like 3-4 years ago. I just bought it. Really great watch. Really satisfied with the watch. Not multiband but is solar powered. Lovely watch.
I have to agree with you! I scaled back to since everything is getting out of hand with pricing. Only got the 5610u since it was on sale for 90$! I was looking at a casioak and i like that they start putting positive displays on the digital side, but they still cant figure out a decent contrast on the analog hands. Its hard for me to read it quick dues to light sensitivity!
I liked this type of video. Maybe establish it as a "year in review" kind of thing? Very useful as I dont scrounge Shockbase or the different Casio retailers all too regularly...
I finally joined Casio club this year & bought 2 (40th & 50th anniversary) & “yes” I never thought I’d spent that much for a Casio in my life! Forget MR-G (yes I’m gonna call it “Mister G” as well! 😂) variant since that simply made no sense when I could easily get a real luxury brand for that price! 😅
Yes Greg I guess Casio should try to keep a better balance of value releases. Your monitoring of their releases throughout the year is admirable. Being in Australia multi band 6 doesn't work here so my priority is blue tooth functionality to ensure accurate time keeping. Also I do love solar cells where possible. I only have about ten Casio watches and have gifted some of the basic ones to my great nephew and family as gifts. Can I ask you Greg the best Casio models to suit children aged 6 to 12? Thanks, Darren from Down Under 🦘
Though I've never been south of the equator, I was disappointed to find there's no VLF time signal south of the equator. That is unfortunate since the Northern hemisphere is well covered. Australia would be a great location for one since, properly placed, it could give good coverage into both the Indian and Pacific oceans. For consumers it is a great time saver. Most of the clocks in my house are "atomic" and keep excellent time. They even know when the daylight savings switch comes.
Similar taste for me, except that I could fall for a more pricy watch once every 4 or 5 years. I would have bought the Casio GW 5000 SS Sky and Sea at 700$ ... except that it went out of stock in a matter of hours ; you can find it on eBay but scalpers did their thing : it's now more than 1200$ : definitely out of my reach
I wish the Casio Protrek PRG-200 or PRW-2000 would be re-released. While they’re not as durable as the G-Shocks, they offer more features. The Twincept Protreks would also be great to see again.
I totally understand your perogative! It seems nowadays all the watch brands go limited editions to exorbitant prices!! 🤮 My limit is a little higher than yours , under 300€ ! I dont like the Casiokes at all. But we both have the same must haves on what we look for in a G-Shok. Must have solar powered, atomic time reception and NNNOOOOOO negative Displays!!!!! I'm 56 and damn i cant read those damn displays at all if my life depended on it 😂😂😂😂 One question though : do you put a display protection film on your G-Shok ? I personally hate it when the displays get scratches 😂😂 Great video !!! Greetings from Germany Frank S.
I don't use any protection film on my watches. So far I don't have any scratches to worry about. I typically choose a "beater" watch if there's any possibility that I'll be doing something where the watch might be damaged.
Fire Package watches are limited edition watches which have been released every year for the past several years. Usually it's a pair of watches, like a GW2320 and an AWGM100 with the same colors. They're typically only released in Japan but you can find them through eBay or Amazon and they can ship them to you from Japan. Usually those colors are unique to the Fire Package pairs. Here are reviews of some Fire Package watches I bought in previous years. ruclips.net/video/H524rtexUlQ/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/tW6SI74uQhE/видео.html
Yeah it's really a shame. The cool inexpensive designs are usually made with the simplest Gshock module even though Casio sells solar+multiband cheap enough. Anyways I got a Seiko Solar Runners Prospex digital that I like. Display is nice, good backlight has a meter for solar and battery levels, world time. Battery has remained at 10/10 ever since I put it under a desk lamp once. Under $100 including shipping from Japan. No atomic sync but it keeps time to under +2 seconds a month so I'm ok with that.
I am a subscriber have been for a good while. We have very similar taste in what we like in a G-shock. I bought a few G-shocks this year that I did not have and I did get the NASA 6900. I saw today they will release a dead ringer for the first G-shock square in December and though it will not be atomic I may have to have one of those.
I know there are lots of folks who want something which is exactly like the GW-M5610 except for having an MIP display. I don't know why they don't make one.
Like you I consider Tough Solar and Multiband 6 must have features. I bought two almost identical G-Shocks to have those features. I pay little attention to new Casio releases because as far as I know Casio's other watches don't offer the additional features that'd interest me. Those would be health monitoring such as heart rate, blood oxygen and sleep quality. The monitoring would not have to be continuous. That might shorten battery life. A check once a minute or two would be enough. As the success of the Apple Watch demonstrates, there's huge market there.
Sadly a lot of people who are budget collectors will be phased out of the hobby by rising costs and less money to spend on anything other than the necessities.
With all the money spent on how many watches you have you could always get one or two really nice one. You can only wear one (or maybe two) at a time anyway.
I just don't have any desire for a G-Shock with "premium" materials that costs $1,000 - $4,000 more than a watch that looks almost the same and does all of the same things. I think the ones I already have a really nice. And I don't know anybody in my everyday life who would recognize the difference between a normal G-Shock and the MRG version of the same watch. So, for me, buying a couple of super-expensive watches would be pointless. I would almost never wear them because they're just too valuable anyway.
With all respect to Casio and their legacy in time keeping industry I consider those rolling updates of multi-hundred (or even thousand) G-shocks worse than chips or beer. That said, you have one, fall for a second one and then gates of hell pop open and there's hardly way back. It's only a matter of time when Casio will make G-Shock subscription so one can buy new releases before general public has access to new releases. I understand true watch enthusiasts are able to appreciate those fine nuances and are ready to pay extra for rare metal deposition dial, though...
I'm not sure why I would ever buy a G-Shock Square for more than $1,000 not to mention the $4,000 Squares. I don't personally interact with anyone who would appreciate the difference between a sub-$200 Square and the "luxury" versions. And I would rarely wear the watch if it were very rare or expensive anyway. So, what's the point? Who's buying those watches? Are they trying to impress other folks? If I have a watch that does what I want it to do and feels comfortable to wear then I don't need thousands of dollars worth of premium material and/or "limited edition" to go with it.
I get some sensors on specialist G-Shocks can be harder to manufacture and make them stay calibrated for a longer time. As an alpinist or coal mine worker I could appreciate that, but for daily use with no travel I'm not that convinced even if I need Multiband as quartz doesn't need nightly adjustments like mechanical watches. Solar is nice, though, even if basic Casio digital watches can get through, like, 5 years on a single battery. Though mind is very good at talking us into wanting some particular feature and pushing us to purchase this or that watch.
RE ALLY SAD when we find out what was once an affordable watch line is knot any longer. I'll say it since nobody else will: the higher the price, the larger their profit margin and ONE of those MRG models sell and it covers10- 20 watches in a more RE SUN ABLE price range witch is still two TIMES more than affordability is CON CERN D.
Multi Band 6: Inferior to Bluetooth which effectively gives you global accuracy plus other features Tough Solar: Saves you 5 minutes and a couple of dollars every 5 years. Not important. Positive LCD: Yes better legibility than negative LCD but far inferior to MIP displays. I think your criteria might need re-assessment.
At least where I live, Multiband 6 is very reliable. Almost every Mulbiand or Wave Ceptor watch also just happens to have Tough Solar, so I just expect those two features to be together. But I am more inclinded to re-assess my criteria because of the way Casio seems to be moving away from the mid-level watches with the features I like. It seems like I'm increasingly seeing the really inexpensive watches at WalMart or the super-expensive, limited edition, semi-luxiry offerings from Casio.
This is a great review of what Casio released this past year in the G-Shock world. I bought a handful of watches this year, but not a lot of G-Shocks. Once you have a Casioak and square, you kind of look for more variety, at least I do. I actually looked at ProTrek this year and am happy with their lineup. While solar and atomic time are nice, those aren't must haves for me. Definitely no negative displays. I'm looking for smaller G-Shocks that are in the price range you mentioned. Amazing how you're able to keep making content by buying so few new watches. I think that's great.
Happy Thanksgiving Mr. Anderson and community. Cheers.
Sorry Greg, it ain't going to happen. I would love Casio to cater to men like you and me that love these watches with all the features you're talking about for under 200$, but once they put multi-band 6 and solar features, the price goes way up! I've noticed that they are increasing their prices dramatically lately which is sad, because that was what all Casio were about: affordable, durable, great features and might I say good looking. They are losing their identity! I love G-Shocks, but as I'm growing older in my 50's, I noticed that I tend to prefer watches that are less bulky that are 40mm in diameter and under which Casio doesn't do or very little of! Thanks for the webpage resource. Great find. Thanks for sharing.
The last G Shock I purchased was a semi-metal Casio Oak which I gifted to my son. I am thinking about a resin Casio Oak with tough solar, but what I am really waiting for is a GBD 200 with tough solar and MB6. If Casio releases one, that would be a killer watch.
Hallo Greg, Casio fan boy here from the Netherlands here. Casio plays with the big brands now. Why produce a lot of cheap models when the expensive ones sell well and generate more profit . I don't think we will get specifications you mentioned anymore, at least, not affordable. 😮 By the way, I get excellent reception from the Mainflingen radio complex in Germany! See you in your next video!
This year I added a Casio WS-b1000 - no solar or MB6 but it's 40GBP, nice utilitarian looks, has bluetooth accuracy and a quite effective step tracker that zeros & forgets at midnight (so, fun but not overbearing). 2yr battery but I'm hoping for 4-5 with powersave mode.
Like you, I have the self imposed rules of solar and positive display.
However, in 2024 I did succumb to the inevitable... I got an MRG-B2000. By the power of Greyskull it is an incredible thing.
Apart from that, am MRG-B2000 off ebay, which I flipped within a week. An MTG-B3000 two tone in a closing down sale, which is really very good. The only other one I got is the new Gravitymaster, in grey. Which is good value for money.
Apart from those I've been frustrated by the lack of solar modules on some of the funky/fun stuff.... but it does stop me buying hundreds of Casios
Yes, this year was a slow one for me too, I bought 3 watches, the GWG-B1000-3AER, and more recently the GW 9500MEC-1 mudman, and there is another one from citizen, the promaster land 35th anniversary edition U822.
I haven’t bought many Casio/ G shocks this year if any but that’s more down to financial restrictions at the moment 👍
Hi Greg, I believe the Multiband 6 functionality is being phased out in favour of Bluetooth. Bluetooth has more features, and works in all parts of the world.
Source? I don't like this trend. I had a Bluetooth watch and it didn't show the battery on the watch - I had to use the phone.
Hi Greg, in the summer I purchased a GW-M5610-1BER.
I love the watch but I do regret going for the negative display.
i have that watch and have the exact same regret 😂
I've been wanting negative display and so far I've been able to act logically) Though I'm thankful to all you people generously sharing your experience.
Yeah I've been a bit underwhelmed this year by their releases, i want solar positive displays and i don't need a step counter 😅😅
Lot of watches but nothing worth buying and the nice ones to expensive 😢
Ironically solar/atomic Casios and G shocks especially are so durable that they only sell once to non collectors. They are the inverse of a planned obsolete product. The only way they could sell continously to an amount exceeding an amount linked to population growth is by catering to collectors by making many versions and luxury versions.
Great video greg, all the best wishes.
Actually I am grateful. While I am sure missing the basic colorful resin solar squares in the range at the moment this also helps me with my addiction 😄
Happy Thanksgiving dear Mr Anderson.❤
Great video as always Greg. Like you I look for the same features as yourself regarding the Casio G-Shock. I must admit though I haven't seen any new models recently that says I need a particular model. I only have two of the 5610's that I purchased just a few years ago with both the negative and the positive display. They are both still going as strong as ever. The only Casio watches I have bought this year are a couple of Casio A168 ones and an analogue one with a Tiffany blue dial that I liked. My grandaughter purchased a smart watch for my birthday last month which I have been wearing lately so I am still getting used to that
Would love to see the display on the dw-h5600-1er in a 5000u metal core body with classic green illuminator and no sensors protruding out the back (no hrm/bluetooth)
Thanks for all your super-detailed reviews this year. Because your earlier reviews, I picked up a couple of the non-G "Walmart special" DW-291s... what a fantastic value! Really an ideal travel watch, especially when going into areas without multiband6 coverage.
Only bought a G-shock Titanium kit for an existing G-shock this year so you did better than me. My next one (Unless I have to replace something broken) will be when they come out with a MIP display on a square case that isn't fitness-focused but still has either Bluetooth or MB6. To be honest, I wish Casio would go back to focusing more on technical innovation than design. Maybe go back and see what other Smart Watch functions you can run off quartz? With the Hubble bluetooth network coming, there are all kinds of possibilities here. For now, I'll stick to my newly Titanium modded GW-M5610U until they come out with something that is an upgrade to what I already have.
Hi Greg. I love your channel. I have a Casioak with Blue Tooth and tough solar and I love it. It cost me £130 (I live in the UK) and I regard this as cheap. It has so many things going for it. It is light, very legible, very accurate and just so good looking. I have an Omega Seamaster, a Bulova Lunar Pilot, a Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical and Bulova Super Seville but find myself wearing the Casio most of the time.
I agree with your favourite features. Fort Collins time setting and tough solar and great value. So, I had to buy the 5610u.
I love your criteria. Very pragmatic. I worry that Casio is focused on just rehashing existing modules rather than developing new and exciting modules. For surfing and fishing why not add a barometer function to the tide function on a g-lide model (with tough solar and atomic time)? If it could add a barometer to the GWX-5600-1 I would be in heaven.
The more I think about it, the more Casio and other companies seem to be following the logic of the folks running movie studios. They're releasing sequels without any real innovation. They're pinning all of their hopes on mega-budget movies or they'll back super-cheap movies just to fill up their need for streaming content. Meanwhile the mid-level stuff we used to see all of the time is virtually non-existent. Dropping the mid-budget stuff in Hollywood hasn't worked out. How's it working for companies in other industries?
I've reviewed a few G-Shocks too and found nothin really better, in the newer versions, than what's in the older versions. Such as the Mudmaster, which really only gives you Bluetooth and a couple small things (like Bluetooth and blacked out screen) that wasn't worth upgrading my GWG-1000 to the newer 2000. Love the videos and keep them coming. I am a huge fan of Casio watches.
There are a lot of G-Shocks but most are out of my price range. I own 2, DW5600 and the GD400-9. I have many of the regular line and often stay under $50 for those. Casio WV200R-5A is my recent buy, no Solar but has the Multi Band 5, it was on clearance at Walmart for $19 but no box.
Love the video. How about review the Casio MTPS120L. The field watch they brought out like 3-4 years ago. I just bought it. Really great watch. Really satisfied with the watch. Not multiband but is solar powered. Lovely watch.
I have to agree with you! I scaled back to since everything is getting out of hand with pricing. Only got the 5610u since it was on sale for 90$! I was looking at a casioak and i like that they start putting positive displays on the digital side, but they still cant figure out a decent contrast on the analog hands. Its hard for me to read it quick dues to light sensitivity!
Love the channel - two watches you need to look at -- GD-010 and the GD-350-8. You will not be disappointed. Forget TS and MB-6.
I liked this type of video. Maybe establish it as a "year in review" kind of thing? Very useful as I dont scrounge Shockbase or the different Casio retailers all too regularly...
Im on the same page as you with regards to prices and functions. I'm always looking for that sweet spot.
I finally joined Casio club this year & bought 2 (40th & 50th anniversary) & “yes” I never thought I’d spent that much for a Casio in my life! Forget MR-G (yes I’m gonna call it “Mister G” as well! 😂) variant since that simply made no sense when I could easily get a real luxury brand for that price! 😅
Hey Greg! Would love to see you do a gd-350 video.
Yes Greg I guess Casio should try to keep a better balance of value releases. Your monitoring of their releases throughout the year is admirable. Being in Australia multi band 6 doesn't work here so my priority is blue tooth functionality to ensure accurate time keeping. Also I do love solar cells where possible. I only have about ten Casio watches and have gifted some of the basic ones to my great nephew and family as gifts. Can I ask you Greg the best Casio models to suit children aged 6 to 12? Thanks, Darren from Down Under 🦘
Though I've never been south of the equator, I was disappointed to find there's no VLF time signal south of the equator. That is unfortunate since the Northern hemisphere is well covered. Australia would be a great location for one since, properly placed, it could give good coverage into both the Indian and Pacific oceans. For consumers it is a great time saver. Most of the clocks in my house are "atomic" and keep excellent time. They even know when the daylight savings switch comes.
Similar taste for me, except that I could fall for a more pricy watch once every 4 or 5 years. I would have bought the Casio GW 5000 SS Sky and Sea at 700$ ... except that it went out of stock in a matter of hours ; you can find it on eBay but scalpers did their thing : it's now more than 1200$ : definitely out of my reach
I wish the Casio Protrek PRG-200 or PRW-2000 would be re-released. While they’re not as durable as the G-Shocks, they offer more features. The Twincept Protreks would also be great to see again.
Basically Greg telling us month by month that he didn’t buy any watches that month 😂
I totally understand your perogative! It seems nowadays all the watch brands go limited editions to exorbitant prices!! 🤮
My limit is a little higher than yours , under 300€ !
I dont like the Casiokes at all.
But we both have the same must haves on what we look for in a G-Shok. Must have solar powered, atomic time reception and NNNOOOOOO
negative Displays!!!!!
I'm 56 and damn i cant read those damn displays at all if my life depended on it 😂😂😂😂
One question though : do you put a display protection film on your G-Shok ? I personally hate it when the displays get scratches 😂😂
Great video !!!
Greetings from Germany
Frank S.
I don't use any protection film on my watches. So far I don't have any scratches to worry about. I typically choose a "beater" watch if there's any possibility that I'll be doing something where the watch might be damaged.
Hi, what Casio Oak had multiband 6?
The MRG version (MRGB-2100)
I looked at the gw2320 and noticed the "fire package" is a little more expensive. Any idea the difference? What is a fire package?
Fire Package watches are limited edition watches which have been released every year for the past several years. Usually it's a pair of watches, like a GW2320 and an AWGM100 with the same colors. They're typically only released in Japan but you can find them through eBay or Amazon and they can ship them to you from Japan. Usually those colors are unique to the Fire Package pairs. Here are reviews of some Fire Package watches I bought in previous years. ruclips.net/video/H524rtexUlQ/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/tW6SI74uQhE/видео.html
@@GoodTimekeeper So a limited edition, thanks for the info.
Yeah it's really a shame. The cool inexpensive designs are usually made with the simplest Gshock module even though Casio sells solar+multiband cheap enough.
Anyways I got a Seiko Solar Runners Prospex digital that I like. Display is nice, good backlight has a meter for solar and battery levels, world time. Battery has remained at 10/10 ever since I put it under a desk lamp once. Under $100 including shipping from Japan. No atomic sync but it keeps time to under +2 seconds a month so I'm ok with that.
I am a subscriber have been for a good while. We have very similar taste in what we like in a G-shock. I bought a few G-shocks this year that I did not have and I did get the NASA 6900. I saw today they will release a dead ringer for the first G-shock square in December and though it will not be atomic I may have to have one of those.
Just waiting for a MIP square with tough solar, multi band 6 and dd/mm. No Bluetooth, no step counter no workout stuff.
I know there are lots of folks who want something which is exactly like the GW-M5610 except for having an MIP display. I don't know why they don't make one.
Like you I consider Tough Solar and Multiband 6 must have features. I bought two almost identical G-Shocks to have those features. I pay little attention to new Casio releases because as far as I know Casio's other watches don't offer the additional features that'd interest me. Those would be health monitoring such as heart rate, blood oxygen and sleep quality. The monitoring would not have to be continuous. That might shorten battery life. A check once a minute or two would be enough. As the success of the Apple Watch demonstrates, there's huge market there.
Inflation happens, made in China I try to avoid. Fewer nicer watches is fine with me. 5000u a favorite.
Sadly a lot of people who are budget collectors will be phased out of the hobby by rising costs and less money to spend on anything other than the necessities.
You might really come around to thinking that they are starting to take the Mickey!
With all the money spent on how many watches you have you could always get one or two really nice one. You can only wear one (or maybe two) at a time anyway.
I just don't have any desire for a G-Shock with "premium" materials that costs $1,000 - $4,000 more than a watch that looks almost the same and does all of the same things. I think the ones I already have a really nice. And I don't know anybody in my everyday life who would recognize the difference between a normal G-Shock and the MRG version of the same watch. So, for me, buying a couple of super-expensive watches would be pointless. I would almost never wear them because they're just too valuable anyway.
I prefer wave ceptor over g shock... g shocks just look too .. fisher price like to me.... plus the buttons are too hard to push.
I'd buy the metal square ⬜ if it had sapphire crystal
With all respect to Casio and their legacy in time keeping industry I consider those rolling updates of multi-hundred (or even thousand) G-shocks worse than chips or beer. That said, you have one, fall for a second one and then gates of hell pop open and there's hardly way back. It's only a matter of time when Casio will make G-Shock subscription so one can buy new releases before general public has access to new releases. I understand true watch enthusiasts are able to appreciate those fine nuances and are ready to pay extra for rare metal deposition dial, though...
I'm not sure why I would ever buy a G-Shock Square for more than $1,000 not to mention the $4,000 Squares. I don't personally interact with anyone who would appreciate the difference between a sub-$200 Square and the "luxury" versions. And I would rarely wear the watch if it were very rare or expensive anyway. So, what's the point? Who's buying those watches? Are they trying to impress other folks? If I have a watch that does what I want it to do and feels comfortable to wear then I don't need thousands of dollars worth of premium material and/or "limited edition" to go with it.
I get some sensors on specialist G-Shocks can be harder to manufacture and make them stay calibrated for a longer time. As an alpinist or coal mine worker I could appreciate that, but for daily use with no travel I'm not that convinced even if I need Multiband as quartz doesn't need nightly adjustments like mechanical watches. Solar is nice, though, even if basic Casio digital watches can get through, like, 5 years on a single battery.
Though mind is very good at talking us into wanting some particular feature and pushing us to purchase this or that watch.
I avoid negative Lcd to dark can't see the time rubbish 😢
No voice sound
I only bough old models, and collectible ones; the new releases looks like cheats to me. 🧐
Most of the 2024 are s h i t ! My wallet is very grateful.
Sooo many Casioaks! A bit overrated in my opinion
RE ALLY SAD when we find out what was once an affordable watch line is knot any longer. I'll say it since nobody else will: the higher the price, the larger their profit margin and ONE of those MRG models sell and it covers10- 20 watches in a more RE SUN ABLE price range witch is still two TIMES more than affordability is CON CERN D.
Multi Band 6: Inferior to Bluetooth which effectively gives you global accuracy plus other features
Tough Solar: Saves you 5 minutes and a couple of dollars every 5 years. Not important.
Positive LCD: Yes better legibility than negative LCD but far inferior to MIP displays.
I think your criteria might need re-assessment.
At least where I live, Multiband 6 is very reliable. Almost every Mulbiand or Wave Ceptor watch also just happens to have Tough Solar, so I just expect those two features to be together. But I am more inclinded to re-assess my criteria because of the way Casio seems to be moving away from the mid-level watches with the features I like. It seems like I'm increasingly seeing the really inexpensive watches at WalMart or the super-expensive, limited edition, semi-luxiry offerings from Casio.