By Phil Spano
The Story
You know the name. The Brand that’s been around for a long time producing watches for those of us who are prone to beat up our gear. Built for the rugged, the outdoors person, the athlete, and really anyone. What used to be a brand that focused more on the rugged, now have styles to fit anyone’s lifestyle. From the King G to the G steel line, if it’s time you want to keep, G Shock has an option for you. G Shock is a brand that brought toughness to the world of timepieces. Project Team Tough was formed to build an indestructible watch that wouldn’t break, even if dropped.
Starting in 1981 the team built over 200 different prototypes over the period of about 2 years when they finally arrived at the shock-resistant structure which marked the birth of a technology that is tough to the core. Today G Shock still leads the pack in form, function, and of course, toughness that they pack into every single piece they make, and now to compete with the smartwatches of the world, Smart Access technology which is Bluetooth capability packed inside your tough AF wrist watch.
The Goods
The GBD200-1 is everything you’d expect from a G Shock. It’s tough as nails and has the ability to tell you time all while connecting to your smartphone to track your steps and your workouts. Packed full of functionality, you get a watch that can take a beating and looks good while doing it. The screen on the GBD200-1 is the brightest available from G Shock with an awesome negative display that you can actually see. With this watch you get the typical World Time which includes 38 different time zones from all over the world, you have a stopwatch that can measure up to 99:59’59” so you can see how long it takes you to brew your coffee.
You get a countdown timer, 4 alarms, full automatic calendar that goes up to the year 2099 and since the watch has Bluetooth capability, it will probably update before then so that your great-grandkids can wear this watch. It has the option to mute the tones for the buttons, energy saving features like turning off the screen for 3 hours every day. I assume it does this while you’re asleep or not wearing it since it also tracks your steps while you’re wearing it.
The step counter is pretty accurate, I’ve noticed it being over by a few from the step counter in my phone but it wasn’t way over. The GBD200-1, through the G Shock Move app will give you the ability to track your workouts with the option to save them in the app to look back on your progress. It’ll keep your data for up to 100 runs, and track distance, pace, calories burned, and monthly steps.
All in all this watch is perfect for anyone who dislikes how todays smart watches look. Most of them have basic faces which makes them look very boring. The GBD200-1 is a great-looking watch at a very affordable price of around $150, and of course, it comes in a variety of different colors, and if for some reason the G Shock square isn’t your thing, there’s is a round face version of it as well like the GBDH2000-1.
This watch is on my wrist daily while I work. It takes a beating while tracking my steps and calories burned for the day. It also shows me my notifications informing me of who’s calling, texting, or emailing me so I don’t have to reach my oil-covered hands into my pockets to get all over my phone. Other than the typical wear on the band it has held up great in the 8 months I’ve had it and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something that can do almost everything any smartwatch can do while looking a lot better.
Black Flag Survival 