(pic of watch against yellow background)
The PRW-3500 has a spec list longer than that of a car. This
was partly my motivation in acquiring this piece; I wanted to see what a
high-end digital watch is capable of these days. The Pro Trek line of watches are often passed in favor of the
G-Shock series, but they are actually solid contenders that often
provide more digital complications for a lower price.
(picture of thick manual) caption: a 100 page thick manual covers the functions of the watch
·
Case / bezel material: Resin / Stainless steel
·
Resin Band
·
Mineral Glass
·
Bi-directional bezel
·
200-meter water resistance
·
LED backlight (Super Illuminator)
·
Full auto LED light, selectable illumination
duration, afterglow
·
Solar powered
·
Low-temperature resistant (–10°C/14°F)
·
Time calibration signal reception
·
Auto receive
o
up to six* times a day (remaining auto receives
canceled as soon as one is successful)
o
*5 times a day for the Chinese calibration
signal
·
Manual receive
Triple Sensor Version 3
·
Digital compass
o
Measures and displays direction as one of 16
points
o
Measuring range: 0 to 359°
o
Measuring unit: 1°
o
60 seconds continuous measurement
o
Graphic direction pointer
o
Bidirectional calibration
o
Magnetic declination correction
o
Bearing memory
·
Altimeter
o
Measuring range: –700 to 10,000 m (–2,300 to
32,800 ft.)
o
Measuring unit: 1 m (5 ft.)
o
Manual memory measurements (up to 30 records,
each including altitude, date, time)
o
Auto log data (High/low altitudes, auto
cumulative ascent and descent)
o
Trek log data (up to 14 records of high/low
altitudes, auto cumulative ascent and descent of particular treks)
o
Others: Relative altitude readings (–3,000 to
3,000 m), Selectable measurement interval: 5 seconds or 2 minutes
o
*1 second for first 3 minutes only
o
*Changeover between meters (m) and feet (ft)
·
Barometer
o
Display range: 260 to 1,100 hPa (7.65 to 32.45
inHg)
o
Display unit: 1 hPa (0.05 inHg)
o
Atmospheric pressure tendency graph(past 42
hours of readings)
o
Atmospheric pressure differential graphic
o
Barometric pressure tendency information alarm
(beep and arrow indicates significant changes in pressure)
o
*Changeover between hPa and inHg
·
Thermometer
o
Display range: –10 to 60°C (14 to 140°F)
o
Display unit: 0.1°C (0.2°F)
o
*Changeover between Celsius (°C) and Fahrenheit
(°F)
·
World time
o
31 time zones (48 cities + coordinated universal
time), daylight saving on/off
·
Sunrise, sunset time display
o
Sunrise time and sunset time for specific date,
daylight pointers
·
1/10-second stopwatch
o
Measuring capacity: 999:59'59.9''
o
Measuring modes: Elapsed time, split time,
1st-2nd place times
·
Countdown timer
o
Measuring unit: 1 second
o
Countdown range: 24 hours
o
Countdown start time setting range: 1 minute to
24 hours (1-minute increments and 1-hour increments)
·
5 daily alarms (with 1 snooze alarm)
·
Hourly time signal
·
Battery level indicator
·
Power Saving (display goes blank to save power
when the watch is left in the dark)
·
Full auto-calendar (to year 2099)
·
12/24-hour format
·
Button operation tone on/off
·
Regular timekeeping: Hour, minute, second, pm,
year, month, date, day
·
Accuracy: ±15 seconds per month (with no signal
calibration)
·
Approx battery operating time:
o
7 months on rechargeable battery (operation
period with normal use without exposure to light after charge)
o
23 months on rechargeable battery (operation
period when stored in total darkness with the power save function on after full
charge)
At 46mm in diameter (at the bezel) and 88g (on the stock strap), the
PRW-3500 is a beast and has real presence. I personally find it to be
aesthetically pleasing. I particularly like the three buttons on the
right side, which is balanced by the v3 sensor module on the left side of the
watch. At the lugs, an exposed screwbar is used to attach the straps to
the watch, further contributing to its blockiness. The
chunky aesthetic makes it right at home on the manliest of wrists.
The PRW-3500 features a case constructed from Casio's signature resin, which is extensively used from G-Shocks to F-91Ws. Stylistically, the Pro Treks have their own distinct DNA in the form of big displays. Initially deciding between the G-Shock Rangeman GW-9400 and the PRW-3500, the size of the display was the decisive factors in going for the Pro Trek. The positive display is highly legible and you need merely glance at it to see the time. This display is nothing short of fantastic, I think everyone will truly appreciate what a difference it makes in viewing the time when you have a display this big.
The PRW-3500 will hold its own against any G-Shock with a solid 200m of water resistance too. There are many other Pro Treks that have 100m of resistance, but the PRW-3500 seems to be one of their flagship offerings and thus, it comes with an additional 100m.
Lighting up the large display is a dual LED backlight Super Illuminator, which is activated by a large knurled button on the bottom of the watch. The backlight which is white in color is bright enough to light up the area in pitch-black conditions and makes the display highly legible in low light situations. The Super Illuminator function alone has quite a few settings that you can adjust; 1.5 or 3 seconds of activation and also automatic activation at the flick of a wrist. An interesting thing to note is that the backlight cuts out if you press a button to change modes, however if you turn off button press sounds, it will remain on when you press any buttons. A smart thing to do since you may not know what mode you are in when button press sounds are disabled, hence checking it visually is the only way to know.
Covering the display is a mineral display, but the PRW-3500 does come with a sapphire crystal in the PRW-3510 update, which will cost you a considerable markup. The scratch resistance of sapphire is nice but mineral crystals are fine for a outdoor watch for me. The next thing that catches the eye is the stainless steel bi-directional bezel marked with directional bearings that flanks the display. It isn't ratcheting, which is the kind of bezel you would find on dive watches, but remains pleasantly firm to operate and is a pretty good implementation of a bezel. The bezel is marker with north, south, east, west, and a bearing in degrees increasing in steps of 30. You can use the compass, find your target bearing, and use the bezel to store your bearing.
Flipping it over, there is impressive construction quality going on here. The caseback, which is emblazoned with a Pro Trek mountain logo, looks like the caseback from monocoque watches such as the Seiko Marine Master 300. It's a very nice caseback which wouldn't look out of place on a much more expensive piece.
On the back of the watch, we can also see the 'wrist guards' that come with the default strap. These grey pieces of plastic flare out from the lugs and function as a threshold for how much the straps can move around freely. I'm not completely sure but my guess is that Casio added these so that the straps don't flop around and maintain their angle to preserve the aesthetic when it is worn on the wrist, especially a person with small wrists.
The default straps that come with the PRW-3500 are made of the same resin as the watch case and are surprisingly nice. The upper and lower straps are printed with manly words; 'TRIPLE SENSOR' on the top and 'TOUGH SOLAR' on the bottom piece. Near the top of the wrist, there are vents that help keeps things ventilated and the back of the straps are serrated so that the keeper can lock into place firmly. There is a nice brushed buckle with a skeletonized tang to wrap it off. The strap smells faintly of vanilla too, similar to caoutchouc rubber straps. All in all, I think Casio did a great job on the strap here, I'd be most happy to keep it on the stock strap till I get bored of the aesthetic.
Now we come to the functions, which I won't go into so much detail. If I did, this article would be a lot longer than I want it to be, and also partly I'm not able to verify the accuracy of all the altitude, barometer and compass (ABC) functions given my limited knowledge in this area.
Out of the multitude of functions that this watch has, let me comment so some of the ones that I did use. I compared the accuracy of the compass against a Suunto MB-6 magnetic compass and the PRW-3500 was slightly off in its reading. I'd say it could be used as a backup navigational tool but you wouldn't want to rely on it for serious hikes where a few degrees of deviation can cause you to deviate by hundreds of meters given enough distance.
I tried out the altimeter climbing Mount Kinabalu recently and sadly, I must say that the altimeter performed appallingly. The Timpohon gate, where hikers start their ascent of Kinabalu, is 1,866m high. The PRW-3500 gave me a reading of about 1,450m. If you're doing any activity where knowing your altitude is important, you will need something else to measure your altitude. I didn't mess with zeroing the altimeter however, so you may get very different results from what I did.
I don't know much about barometers so I can't say too much about the performance of the one on the PRW-3500. There is a barometer alert function which will give a visual indication when there are sudden increases/decreases in barometric pressure. A lower barometric reading is indicative of good weather, and a high reading suggests that a storm or rainy weather might be approaching.
The sunrise/sunset feature is great, where you can key in your latitude and longitude and get local sunrise/sunset timings, or you can get timings on the fly for a given latitude/longitude. You can also get timings for a different day on the fly, scrolling through the days with the various buttons. The world time feature is also great, where you can choose a local city to stick with (most major cities included) and also check the local time for a given time zone on the fly.
Per every other Casio watch, it comes standard with the countdown, stopwatch and alarm functions. These functions are enhanced in the PRW-3500, with additions such as five alarms, and easy split lap functions due to the number of buttons available on the Pro Trek. Every function is souped up from the basic F-91W or basic G-Shocks simply because the guys at Casio could do so. I'm not entirely impressed with the volume of the alarm or the countdown timer. The best alarm would of course be a vibrate alarm, but since that is a rare feature in Casio watches, we can only rely on the sound-based alarm, which is actually quite soft. In this regard, I feel like you'd need some other tool to really wake you up at a given time and wish that the PRW-3500 had a more effective alarm in waking a person up.
No worries regarding charging as this watch features Casios's Tough Solar, which is a fancy name for solar charging. All you have to do is wear this bad boy out in the sun and it will juice itself up. The battery can last for 11 months after a full charge, and 23 months if power saving mode is turned on. Power saving mode will turn the display off when the watch has not been exposed to any light source after a certain amount of time. It's a great feature as these batteries can die if they're left on a low charge for a long amount of time, and the power saving mode can reduce the chances of that happening. You will need to make a trip down to a watchmaker if the battery inside ever dies and fails to hold a charge.
Charging the watch up to full power and having it show 'H' on the battery reserve indicator is no easy feat though. Since receiving the watch almost a month ago, I have never got it to the maximum charge and its been showing 'M' since the day I got it. You pretty much have to leave it at a window sill for a good two to three days with strong sunlight in order to get it to show 'H' at the battery reserve indicator, based on what I've read from other owners.
That said, you never have to worry about battery on the PRW-3500, it's a grab and go piece, which is exactly what I want out of a digital watch. Not having to set the time after leaving it unused for months, not having to charge it every night on a dock like a smartwatch needs to be. This is hassle-free and I've really come to appreciate it when I started work, when my mind could be thinking of trying to get to work on time, I don't want something that needs to be adjusted to the right date and time and wound up so that it can last the day.
The Pro Trek PRW-3500 is a serious contender for the best digital watch that I've come across yet. Aside from an alarm function that could've been louder, and questionable accuracy of the altimeter, it has all the functions one could possibly squeeze in a digital watch that doesn't have to be charged every week, has the water resistance of G-Shocks and looks great in my opinion. It doesn't come cheap for a digital watch at about 190 USD, which puts it on par with the Rangeman line of G-Shocks, but given a choice between the two, the Casio Pro Trek PRW-3500 is a clear winner to me.
