- [Announcer] Casio gets a lot more attention
than some other watchmakers on the Mr. Mobile channel,
and that's because it's one of the few companies
doing something different with Android wear.
Last year I reviewed the company's feature-packed,
but pricey, outdoor smartwatch.
This summer's sequel keeps the chunky frame
and the high price point,
but adds in a crucial feature.
I'm Mr. Mobile, and this is the Casio Pro Trek Smart review.
(smooth theme music)
No one could blame you if, at a glance,
you confused the Pro Trek Smart F20,
with last year's F10.
Same chunky casing,
same no-frills urethane watch band,
same magnetic charger that's way too easy to disconnect.
In terms of ruggedization it's nearly identical too.
MIL standard 810G durability,
50 meter water resistance,
and Casio is one of the few manufacturers
who's actually realistic about saltwater exposure.
Instead of forbidding it entirely,
the company just cautions users to rinse in fresh water
after seawater exposure.
After about a month following these instructions
I've run into no problems.
The built-in microphone is water resistant,
and the integrated barometer does its job
about as well as it ever did.
I don't use that feature as often
as the other tools in the Casio moment setter though.
Being a nautical man, my personal favorites
are the tide charts, which can be set to alert you
with a vibration an hour before
high tide or low tide near you.
I also have an alert set to get a buzz
an hour before sunset,
so I can capture some golden hour footage
when I have the chance.
The biggest omission on last year's F10
was the lack of onboard GPS.
And the F20 is happy to inform you, right on the bezzle,
that that shortcoming has absolutely been corrected.
GPS, GLONASS, and QZSS are all supported,
so if you phone gives up the ghost
when you're out in the field,
you've still got position data right on your wrist.
But that's assuming you've downloaded the area first.
Casio has partnered with MapBox to let you store
map data right on the watch's 4 gigs of memory.
You can change the style of display for better visibility,
mark wade points,
even leave yourself voice memos at certain locations
for some reason.
More often I used the watch in concert with Google Fit,
to track my cross-city hikes.
And I found the GPS and step counts to be pretty accurate.
While there are some other sport tracking settings
for fitness folks, this is first and foremost
a hiker's watch.
Just keep in mind there's no heart rate sensor.
I don't think that's too big a loss,
given how inaccurate those usually are,
but it would've been nice to see in a watch this big.
In its normal LCD mode the display is no easier to read
than last year, unfortunately.
It's recessed beneath the mineral glass,
there's still no ambient sensor,
despite the flat tire,
and its colors are nowhere near as vibrant
as comparable OLED screens.
But those compromises are forgivable
thanks to the same engineering marvel as last year.
Casio layered an entirely separate display
atop the primary one, so with certain watchfaces,
when the main LCD goes to sleep,
the top layer display activates,
to give you the time and date.
And it's much more readable in the sun
than any other smartwatch you'll find.
You can even force a shutdown of the Android ware side
and demote the Pro Trek to a dumb watch.
This extends the battery life to about a month,
according to Casio, and it activates automatically
once the onboard battery drops to critical levels.
Unfortunately just like last year,
that low battery warning still pops up
much sooner than you'd expect,
for a watch this size.
Even without using the power-sucking GPS,
I end most days with 25 percent power left.
I'd love to blame that on the probably media tech processor.
Kudos to trusted reviews,
for that bit of extrapolation.
Links in the description.
But honestly, it's probably just a combination
of a too-small battery and power-hungry Android ware.
So, should you buy it?
If you're an outdoorsy person,
with a need for a true smartwatch
instead of a fitness tracker,
yeah, this is actually a pretty solid option.
What Android ware lacks in power efficiency
it makes up for with a pretty solid app ecosystem.
And advantages like the durable casing
and super-readable display,
make this a fun hiking or boating companion.
But at $500, it's still steep,
for all but the most diehard
smartwatch-loving sailor lumberjacks.
If you don't need standalone GPS,
you'll probably want to go for last year's model instead,
which as this video goes to press,
is getting some discounts on Amazon.
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Until next time, thanks for watching.
And stay mobile, my friends.