Welcome back to our regular column (and for those just joining us, where have you been??)! Today I’ll be reviewing the GBA-400 series of watches, also known as the G’Mix.

Now, we stock these models come in three different colours. Red, Grey and Black, so it should suit quite a few different tastes. What makes these watches different is the Bluetooth capability. I’ll talk about all this in the next few paragraphs, as well as what other features make the GBA-400 stand out. As always, if I find something negative to say, that’ll be in this column as well (I want you guys to get the full picture before committing to the watch!). So let’s get to it!

We’ll start with the basics. The G’Mix is an analogue/digital combo watch, so you have a digital display at the top and bottom, and through the whole face of the watch you have the analogue hands. A great advantage of that is this makes the display area much larger, so you don’t have to squint your eyes trying to see small numbers (which can happen with some digital only displays).

Now, some people complain that ana-digi combos have one glaring weakness; the hands get in the way of the digital display. So, Casio decided to fix this. If the arrows get in the way of the display, there’s a button you press, which will move the analogue hands out of the way, and after a while put them right back. This helps the visibility tremendously.

Now that we’ve got the basics over with, let’s get to the real meat of these features. First of all, the watch is radio controlled. Now, for those who don’t know what that means, it doesn’t mean you can control the watch with a remote, but the time is automatically updated every night, so you don’t have to worry about daylight savings, or when you’re travelling overseas. Your watch will automatically know the correct time and adjust itself accordingly (just like a smartphone)!

And speaking of smartphones, that’s what you need to get the full benefit from these watches. What you do, is download an app called G’Mix (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.casio.gmixapp&hl=en or . https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gmix-app/id878523026?mt=8) This connects your phone with the watch and if you have music on your phone, your watch will find it and you’ll be able to turn the music on just by pressing a button or moving the rotary switch.

The app doesn’t just give you control over the music. There’s a Shzam-like software as well. Now for those who aren’t in the know, Shazam is an app that’ll give you info about any background music (IE what the song is called, the name of the singer, etc…). This puts all of the information right on your phone, and it shows up at the top of the screen.

Another cool function is what’s known as the “Sounder” mode. Say you have a favourite song in your playlist (up to 6 favourite songs). Instead of looking for it in your playlist, assign it to one of the watch buttons, and when you press that watch button, the song will start playing. No more searching through tons of files just to find the one you’re looking for near the bottom of the pile!

So this watch really makes things easy if you like music, and easy to read because of the large display. Now while it does sound like a smartphone, you can’t send any SMSes or see who’s calling. But on the plus side, smartphones, while light, don’t have enough material covering them in case you get in an accident or bump your wrist. The Shock Resistance Casio is famous for makes that issue a moot point in the GBA-400 series).

Now while there are lots of positives to this model, there are a few negatives I have to mention. Quite a few people have complained about the positioning of the rotary dial. If you wear the watch on your right hand, then the dial is a bit difficult to operate.

The Battery life as indicated by Casio’s website is also a bit misleading. They say it will last two years, but it depends on how much you’re using the Bluetooth features, since from experience Bluetooth does take quite a chunk of power. Still it’s better than most smartwatches that I’ve had the (dis)pleasure of trying. Those needed to be recharged pretty much every day.

The other bad thing is the compatibility. Now, while the app is compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S5, some older models as well as some Note models aren’t represented (including the Note 4). This is bound to be fixed soon but still a bit disappointing to see.

Well that’s all for today. Hope you enjoyed my article and if you have any questions, comment and I’ll do my best to answer.

Until Next Time! Jimmy B.