Here is the new Pro Trek for the year 2015 from the house of Casio. So, does it bring anything new to the table? We find out.
Casio has upgraded its Pro Trek line-up for 2015 and the new watches boast of small-but-significant changes over the previous generation watches. So, when the guys from Casio called us, we couldn’t help but smile, and gladly accepted their offer to send us the new Casio Pro Trek PRW-3500Y-4 for a review.
Well, first up, this is a watch for the serious trekkers out there, as it provides the important information for trekking in just a few clicks of its buttons, of which there are many. The Casio Pro Trek is something we’ve have always liked visually over the big and bulky G-Shock series as the Pro Trek’s have always looked very neat, purposeful and to the point, and the Pro Trek PRW-3500Y-4 is no different.
The PRW-3500Y-4 uses a v.3 Triple Sensor Engine, as found on the PRW-3000 series, which is 95% smaller than the v.2 sensors and has reduced battery consumption. The watch we got had an orange strap which looked quite funky and had a nice contrast with the black casing. The PRW-3500Y-4 is an ‘ABC watch’ which means it has an Altimeter, Barometer and Compass. It also has a sensor to measure temperature so that makes it an ‘ABCT watch,’ for me. If you want to measure the temperature around you, take it off and leave it out in the open for ten-fifteen minutes for it to show you correct reading.
This watch has the ability to synchronise itself with five time zones – US, UK, Germany, Japan, and China, but sadly if you are using it in India, you will have to calibrate it manually. This watch can resist water up to 200 metres, so calling it absolutely-waterproof won’t be incorrect. Other than the ABCT features, the Casio Pro Trek PRW-3500Y-4 has features like world time with 31 time zones, 24-hour count-down timer, stop watch, 5 daily alarms, hourly time signal, 12/24 hour format and a calendar programmed to year 2099.
To make sure that serious trekkers don’t get stranded because of it, this watch uses power generated by sunlight or even low fluorescent light to charge itself. To make things very convenient, this watch will continue to work for seven months without being exposed to light. The watch also displays the time of sunrise and sunset, depending on your location, altitude and longitude, which is always bang on, as confirmed by Google.
The watch is easy on your wrist and doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable in any way. Even hair strands don’t get caught while wearing or taking it off. The buttons are large and easy to push, which means it’ll easy to operate even with gloves on. The buttons on the right, used for the ABC features, have edges around them on the bottom which prevents them from getting pressed accidently. Priced at Rs.18,995, this watch offers good value for money, however, some of you might not agree with this, but again this is highly subjective given that this watch is aimed at a specific audience. Yes, to use it properly you will have to mug up the 15-page manual, but it will be worth all the effort. If you ask me if this is a watch that deserves my hard-earned money, I would gladly say, “yes.”
