Customer Reviews

Casio Men's AWG101-1A G-Shock Multi-Band Solar Atomic Analog Watch

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I've owned a Rolex Submariner for 11 years, but needed a second watch that was more durable, less likely to be stolen, and kept better time with more time keeping functionality. I also own several Seikos, but these are all sitting in a drawer with dead batteries as I do not wear these often. I liked the idea of a solar powered watch with no winding and no batteries to replace. I also liked the idea of atomic timesetting as I've owned a couple of self-setting atomic clocks that have worked well for me. After researching various brands, I decided on Casio. After researching the various models here on Amazon and on the Casio site, I decided on the Casio Men's G-Shock Waveceptor Multi-Band Atomic Solar Watch #AWG101-1A. Here is my review of the watch.

Construction: This is my first Casio, so it is my first G-Shock series watch as well. The construction is rugged. I'm well aware of the benefits of the sapphire crystal on my Rolex having owned it for 11 years without a break or scratch. This watch has a "mineral" crystal that is tougher than glass and it looks like it will resist scratches as well. The crystal is recessed in the watch face, protected by a ring of rubber (resin) and steel. The watch case, including its buttons, is further protected by rubber. The watch band is also made of rubber and seems durable. My only complaint about the construction is that the watch will not lay day flat, such as next to a computer for easy reading while working. Note that this watch is waterproof, but is not suitable for scuba diving at depth.

Usability: All of this protection means the watch face is relatively small as compared to the total watch case size. This along with the overall "busy-ness" of the watch face makes the analog time not the easiest to read. The small digital readouts are impossible to read at night and difficult to read indoors. This watch IS NOT backlit. It has an LED light that lights up the case allowing you to read the analog time at night. Also, the digital readouts are obscured at times by the watch hands. The buttons are large and easy to press. A half hour with the manual will allow you to work the timekeeping, stopwatch, world time, and countdown timer functionality. While not intuitive at first, it is not difficult to learn.

Solar Power: The watch has a rechargeable battery that is charged by a solar cell on the face of the watch that is not visible. It can be charged quickly with direct sunlight or slowly by ambient room light. I read someplace that a charge will last the watch 7 months, assuming the light and other functions are not accessed. This would be great if it needs to be stored for a while when not being worn. The rechargeable battery can only be replaced by a Seiko dealer, the expense of which is not known by me. The real test will be to see if the rechargeable battery can far outlast a regular watch battery. Perhaps I'll update this review in 10 years.

Atomic Timekeeping: The watch attempts to update itself several times during the night or can be updated manually from one of 5 radio sources (hence "Multi-Band") across the world. If you're in the continental U.S. this radio source is located in Colorado and has an effective range of 2000 miles. The other radio sources would only be needed if you were traveling far from home, say Europe or Asia. The watch needs to be placed where it can receive a strong signal at night in order for it to be updated with the correct time. This can be problematic as it has difficulty receiving a signal from within buildings, automobiles, etc. I live in Atlanta in a high-rise, so updating the time proved to be somewhat of a challenge.

The watch can show you the date and time that it was last able to successfully get the time from the radio source. When I first purchased the watch, it had been over 3 months since it received the time, which makes sense assuming the watch had been in inventory storage, transit, etc. and unable to receive a radio signal. A comparison of the watch's time via another atomic source showed that it was running about 15 seconds slow. My numerous attempts to manually update the time were unsuccessful. It was also unable to update itself from the top of my dresser the first two nights. A special insert in the manual listing suggestions told me that I wasn't the only one experiencing problems. Finally, after leaving the watch on my balcony overnight, the watch set itself and was now completely accurate with my other atomic time sources. As long as I can update it once a month or so, this difficulty in getting the time will not be an issue for me.

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. While not cheap at $100, I don't worry about this watch like I do my Rolex ($7,000). It's timekeeping is accurate and I do not have any concerns over the durability of the watch. I won't be using the timekeeping functions enough to worry about the small size of the readouts, but this would be a showstopper for me if I wanted a stopwatch for running etc. Perhaps the other color (I have the black face with white-on-black digital readouts) is easier to read.

First, let me say that I've owned this watch for about six weeks. I bought it on Amazon for $103. after watching the price jump around between $98 and $130. My timing in the market should be so good.

Positives:
* This is truly a beautiful watch. Stylish, not gigantic like some, great band, and rugged.
* It is accurate. Because I live too far from Ft. Collins, CO, I had to set the watch manually. It hasn't varied by even one second.
* There is a certain wow factor in designating you time zone and watching the hands move automatically.
* The watch has a lot of features, most of them useful. I especially like having both a stopwatch and countdown timer.
* Instead of using the teeny included manual, you can download a PDF and actually see what you're reading.
* Never needing to replace the battery is a wonderful feature.

Negatives:
* As many reviewers have mentioned, the digital readouts are hard to see except in perfect lighting.
* Don't expect the illumination feature to do much good.
* The bottom digital window is worthless. Casio could have assigned a useful function.
* If you want to use a digital window, try not to do it when one of the hands is in the way. Oops, that's most of the time.
* I'll take an analog watch over digital any day. However, this one lacks a sweep second hand. This is something I didn't catch while researching this watch, and I must say I really miss it.

Bottom Line:
If you decide to purchase this product, prepare to read the manual and tinker with the watch for at least an hour. I love gadgets and figuring out these kinds of things. How about you??
I'm keeping the watch because the positives outweigh the negatives.

Just got this watch two days ago for a great price and I am very impressed so far. I have a decent collection of watches and this is my first G-Shock. I had been looking awhile for a tough durable watch with atomic timekeeping and solar power, but never really found a G-Shock style that I was completely enamored with. I am a real fan of analog style watches so when I came across this watch I finally knew I found what I was looking for, and let me tell you this watch is even cooler in person. I highly recommend this watch for anyone looking for a analog style G-shock with all the features listed above. My only gripe albeit small, is that I wish it had better illumination at night for the digital dials.

This is my 6th Casio. I am a gadget lover and have had superb experience with Casio watches. Excellent accuracy via cesium atom Boulder broadcast,). Tough Solar power means no need for batteries. International settings easy to use and useful for travel.

Fairly quick learning curve but one must pay attention to the owner's manual. Wish the watch came in a blue face.

Excellent Casio loaded with gadget lover features and reasonable price.

Dick R., Ph.D.

I'VE HAD A FEW CASIO WATCHES, & A FEW DIFFERENT BRANDS, & THIS CASIO AWG101-1A IS TOP NOTCH!! IT IS HEAVY & RUGGED!! ..... IT IS SOLAR POWERED (MEANING YOU NEVER HAVE TO BREAK THE WATER RESISTANT SEAL TO CHANGE A BATTERY!) & HAS ATOMIC TIME KEEPING, MAKING IT 100% CAREFREE!! ... I'VE READ GRIPES ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE LIGHT , & ABOUT HOW IT'S FUNCTIONS ARE TOUGH TO GRASP ... ALL (BS) TO ME!! ... THE LIGHT IS FINE, UNLESS YOU'RE TRYING TO READ A BOOK BY WATCHLIGHT!! ... AND FOR THE FUNCTIONS ... SPEND 30 MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE AND READ THE BOOKLET, & YOU'LL BE JUST FINE!! ... I WOULD'VE GIVEN THIS WATCH 6 STARS IF I COULD!! ... CHECK AND SEE HOW MANY STORES ONLINE ARE OUT OF THIS WATCH!!!... YOU WILL LOVE IT!!

When it comes to small buttons, switches or set up, I'm all thumbs. I heard a lot of good things about this watch and decided to give it a try. I was 100% certain I would bring it to my jeweler and ask him to set it for me.

I was 100% wrong.

I took it out of the box, put it under a light and the hands began moving immediately and set the time. That was it! I read the manual (note to Casio: could you please make the instructions a bit larger in the print area?) and checked to see if it got the city right. Bingo! It did.

As far as the visibility issue is concerened, it has a back light that you can use so I don't see that as being a problem. AND NO BATTERY REPLACEMENTS or CHANGING FOR DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME! Fantastic.

This watch (which is both sporty and dressy) is fantastic.

I don't normally review products unless they are a great value or a horrible deal. In fact, this might be my first amazon review. Here we go!

I love watches and have a lot of them. However, I tend to lean more towards vintage dress watches. Unfortunately, I am an outdoors enthusiast and really have no desire to test the "oldies" in the mountains or on the trails. So, I purchased the Casio G-Shock.

Pros:
- I NEVER worry about beating this thing up. After a month I have given it some good knocks and it still looks new.
- World time. I travel a bit and have friends all over the world. I love the touch of a button will let me know what time it is in most (every?) major time zone. Heaven forbid I have to do some basic math before making a phone call!
- The light. All the reviews that say you can't see any of the digital dials with the light are 100% accurate, but I am ridiculous and love that it's a strange yellow/orange color LED. It lights up the face fine and makes me smile every time. Maybe it's time to up the dosage?

Cons:
- Not easy to figure out the different functions. You definitely need the instructions. I work in the tech field and can generally figure out new gadgets, but this one has some tricks.
- It's a little bulkier than I would prefer as I live in the PNW and we require jackets and long sleeves a lot, or I just like to whine.
- Personally, I don't care for the band design. I have small wrists and it fits fine, but I just prefer a slimmed down band. This one is not easily replaced as it is made specifically for (and screwed to) the watch face.
- The hands often get in the way of the digital dials.

All in all this is a great watch for the price. Especially if you are very active and want something that holds up. I wear it daily, but it is definitely a casual watch. Jeans and T-Shirt, yes. Any other slightly more than casual attire it won't really work for. Well, I guess that depends on who you are and how you dress.

Just received my first ever G-Shock watch today and I have to admit, I am loving it. I spent 30-45 minutes reading the manuel to set up the watch, but it was a very easy process. I have to refer back to it again and again, since it has so many features. For a G-Shock watch I expected it to be much larger, but I was very pleased when I laid my eyes on this beauty. (I remember my friends wearing G-Shock watches over ten years ago, and how big they were) The watch is surprisingly light, rugged, and I had no trouble biking or running with it. It felt much lighter than my Field and Stream. It is a timepiece that is built to last. I highly recommend it. One more point, this watch receives radio time signals 6 times a day to keep the time absolutely correct. And it is absolutely correct to the second.

I have a pretty good size Watch collection (both analog and digital). Depending on whether I was going to work or not, I would swap between a rugged or a casual watch before I left the house. (I am serving in the Navy as a Bio-medical Technician).
When I am on the Job, I would wear a G Shock "Mudman". The Mudman was great on the job and in uniform but I felt pretty awkward wearing it with my casual style of dress attire outside of work.
So, you can imagine how uncomfortable I felt when I forgot to swap watches before I went on a week long business trip, dressed in casual attire.
As soon as I returned from my trip, I went out looking for a new watch that I could wear on and off the job. I stumbled upon the AWG101-1A and I must say that this watch is just sexy.
It looks great with everything that I wear (even when I have on nothing at all. ;)
The digital functions are great for my lifestyle. But I especially like that It is solar powered. (No need to worry about changing batteries).
The only complaint that I have is when using the stop watch function. The analog hands do not reset to 12 o'clock position. This can be inconvenient when either one or both hands or in the 9 o'clock position because you cant see the stop watch display.

Excellent. Opened box and observed the watch set itself to the proper time. I've put away all my other watches and have worn it since. Accurate and ready to wear. Excellent product, Casio!