Hands-on: Casio Pro Trek WSD-F20 outdoor smartwatch

April 16, 2020

Casio showed a smartwatch with Android Wear at the CES in Las Vegas this year. Wow, you think at first glance: It's innovative.

In fact, the watch with the somewhat unwieldy name Pro Trek WSD-F20 seems to have a unique selling point compared to the competition: it is almost more a fitness tracker than a smartwatch, is suitable for outdoor use and is waterproof. Unfortunately we were not allowed to really try the Casio watch, but at least it was enough for a first look at the trade fair stand.

Hands-on ehealth

And if you prefer to see than read, you can find the complete text of the ehealth here.

Smartwatches – whether you need them or not, opinions are still divided. Even though Android Wear is already celebrating its third birthday this March. Well, in fact, most smartwatches are more or less useful fashion accessories. This is exactly what Casio wants to change with its Pro Trek WSD-F20: a real outdoor watch – with a lot of features. Will it work?

At first glance, you could actually think of the Pro Trek as a classic G-Shock – corresponding watch skins really make it look like this. At the latest when the bezel is printed, however, it becomes clear that more technology is installed here than a simple quartz oscillator: the Casio is one of the few smartwatches with integrated GPS. When jogging you should be able to leave your smartphone at health home. It is possible to load maps from OpenStreetmap and running or hiking routes from MapBox onto the watch and use them offline.

As with the predecessor, there is also a barometric altimeter in addition to the acceleration sensor, which counts steps. This is particularly interesting for sports in the mountains, since the altitude measurement via GPS is relatively imprecise. And after we have already talked about jogging, hiking and skiing: thanks to the waterproof construction, the Pro Trek is also aimed at water sports enthusiasts – but above all at sports that take place on the water, such as kayaking or rowing.

The LCD measures 1.32 inches and has a resolution of 320 × 300 pixels. In addition, a second, single-color LCD is installed. This should ensure excellent readability – and also save electricity. If the watch's battery runs out, it only represents the time. Speaking of which: despite GPS, the power storage should last a whole day. In addition to Bluetooth, there is also WLAN for communication with the outside world, charging is contactless with a magnetic charging adapter. The manufacturer can also pay for so many great things: the Casio smartwatch should cost 500 euros when it comes on the market in April.

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