The next generation of the G-LIDE is here! Welcome to Jimmy B’s Guide to Casio Watches and today, I’ll be talking to you about the latest in a series of models designed to help surfers (whether professional or amateurs).

The G-LIDE series has been around for a long time. First released in 1996, the G-LIDE had many features that surfers needed. Apart from a tide graph, it was the first watch in the Casio range to feature a countdown timer (which was primarily used so that surfers would know how much time they had left). It also had 200m water resistance, and its straps were designed to hold and slowly drain the water while you surf, so you didn’t have to worry about your watch in the middle of the competition.

Now of course there were some downsides, (such as having to manually enter the coordinates to receive the correct tide conditions, as well as the battery not lasting as long as people wanted), but for its time, the GLX was considered one of the best watches for its market. Well, as Bob Dylan famously sang, “The Times, they are-a-changing!” The GLX has transformed into the GWX, and the design, along with the features have only improved!

With the early GLX series, the watch display was square, as Casio thought it might make things easier to see. The GWX8900C keeps the band design the same, but the display is more rounded. Now, usually you would only see the rounded display in the analogue/digital combos, but here this turned out to be a good idea, because all of the features are much easier to see (especially the tide graph).

Now, remember how I said one of the problems was always having to input coordinates? Casio decided to simplify this by adding Multi-Band 6 Atomic Time Keeping. That’s technical talk but it basically means wherever you are in the world, Casio would at specific times receive a satellite signal, which will change the time automatically. This also has the happy side effect of the watch already knowing where you are and updating the tide graph accordingly.

If that’s not enough, if for some reason your watch hasn’t updated yet, one of the added functions of the tide graph was to have 100 global preset tide sites! That means practically any competition you’re at, you should be able to find the graph just by going through the menu.

The second issue people had, as mentioned earlier, is the battery power. Well Casio thought, if you’re always outside, why not take advantage of this? So in the GWX Series, the battery is Tough Solar, with panels going all around the face. This means whenever you’re out practicing or in a competition, you’re already charging your watch, so it will last you a LONG time!

Casio knew they had a winner on their hands, but of course they were worried people would lose these watches. That’s why these watches needed a little something to ensure that if you do lose them, there’s a good chance you can find them again. All of the GWX series, along with the earlier GLX and BLX (the female version of the G-Lide), come in extremely bright colours (the model I’m reviewing for instance, is bright green), so you can find them a lot easier!

One final feature I’ll be talking about is the backlight. Now, if you’re familiar with Casio watches, you know they all have a backlight to help you see the time more clearly. With this model though, they increased the brightness, as well as leaving an afterglow for a few seconds. This makes things so much easier to see than before, it definitely deserves the name of Super Illuminator!

Now, this wouldn’t be a review without bringing up the downsides, and unfortunately there were a couple that I found. Not deal breakers or anything, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting this up without letting you know.

Firstly, the watch is BIG. So if you have a small wrist, this will look too big on your wrist. Now this doesn’t mean it’s heavy (it only weighs 71.2g), but it might look weird unless your wrist is big.

The other issue is with the display. While it is pretty big, the design has the Tide Graph sometimes overshadowing the numbers, making them a bit smaller than what you might be used to, and if you have bad eyesight, you might sometimes struggle to read the time.

That’s about it though. I personally loved the design of this new generation, and think if you’re a surfer, then this watch is perfect for you.

Until Next Time,

Jimmy B.