As the market leader in indestructible watches, G-Shock has aptly created one of the most durable smartwatches on the market.

And it looks like a traditional square-shaped G-Shock. The Move DWH5600 represents the latest generation of smart-connected watches by G-Shock and offers an expanded range of health and productivity features yet it’s not a full-featured “smartwatch” and has no touchscreen — that’s part of the appeal.

Aesthetics

The DWH5600 Move measures a rather compact 44.5 mm x 17.4 mm (51.1 mm lug-to-lug) footprint and retains the classic 1983 G-Shock square-shaped silhouette, for those looking for a G-Shock square watch — with enhanced smartwatch functionality. This may be an ideal median between a traditional digital sports watch and a full-featured touchscreen smartwatch.

Display

One of my favorite details of the DWH5600 is the MIP display which has incredible sharpness and contrast and sets the standard for this type of digital watch display. Memory-in-Pixel (MIP) displays have extremely low power consumption, high contrast, and excellent readability of screen content — even in bright conditions. Case in point, the photo above was taken directly in ultra-bright sunlight, yet the watch dial remained highly visible at every angle.

Dial

The dial of the DWH5600 is protected by a flat mineral crystal, with a fixed bezel that sits above the plane of the glass, so like with other G-Shocks, by design, it’s very hard to damage. As you can see in the image above, a portion of the dial is made of translucent material that allows light to enter the dial. Casio calls this “Solar-Assisted,” not “Tough Solar.” The standard time functionality is recharged exclusively via solar light, whereas the more advanced functions such as the heart rate measurements, need to be charged with electricity. In my roughly month-long test, the watch never of energy, even with the heart rate function set to “Always On.” I suspect the reason is that anytime the watch is taken off and left still it goes into a power saving “Sleep Mode.” After significant use, the battery indicator eventually showed 3 out of 4 cells remaining, so I simply clipped on the USB charger cable (which has electrical contacts that attach to the caseback) — and in about an hour — it was fully charged again.

Operation

At launch, Casio offers three primary “Faces” and will ideally offer more with future updates. Beyond the three primary Faces, you can access on-demand screens by pressing the lower left (rose-gold toned pusher) until you arrive at the function you want (Notifications > Heart Rate > Blood Oxygen > Breathing Exercises > Stopwatch > Timer > World Time > Almanac > Cardio Status > Life Log > Nightly Recharge > Activity Log > Time & Date), at which point you hit the upper left pusher to confirm the mode. Using this newer way of cycling through modes is more intuitive than some past G-Shocks. Overall, the operation of the DWH5600 is highly intuitive and simple enough to understand that I rarely needed to reference the instructions booklet.

Materials

At first glance, the case appears to be similar to past resin models, though, upon closer inspection, you’ll see that finish has a premium soft matte texture. Whether that’s a result of Casio using bio-based eco-friendly for the strap and case is unclear. The softer surface may scratch easier than typical resin cases, though I did not notice any marks after wearing it for an extended test period.

Construction

To maintain lightness and robustness, Casio utilized carbon resin for the inner case, which acts as a buffer and shock absorber between the exterior case and the movement module. The technology, referred to as a “Carbon Core Guard” structure is not visible on the front or side of the watch but is visible from the caseback.

Health Sensor

In order to measure Heart Rate and Blood Oxygen there’s an optical sensor that uses LED light to measure changes in blood flow to track heart rate. The additional functionality is great, however, it does add a few millimeters (approximately) to the thickness of the watch and thus makes it sit slightly higher than comparably sized traditional square G-Shocks. Naturally, the sensor does protrude into your wrist a bit but you quickly get used to it and I did not find it to be a significant issue.

Functions

This watch works with both Apple and Android phones, though it offers many functions right on the watch, even if your phone is not nearby. The marquee health functions are of course the heart rate and blood oxygen measurements, though there are also many additional functions that can be done on the watch, without a phone. There’s a built-in accelerometer to count steps, and for even greater accuracy, once you pair the watch to your Apple or Android phone using Bluetooth via the Casio Watches app, you gain expanded control and functionality. For example, the GPS in your phone will adjust data captured by the watch’s accelerometer for more precise step tracking. It also analyzes data and records results to help users manage progress, set goals, and fine-tune training to optimize their fitness. For this review, however, on-watch functionality was my primary focus.

Notifications

Within the notifications screen, you can scroll through specific notifications which include incoming calls, incoming e-mails, new social media posts, calendar notifications, reminders, wallet notifications, and so forth. You cannot reply back to any of these notifications. Selecting which notifications you prefer to receive, and details such as whether you receive a vibrating notification, an audible notification, or both are controlled via the Casio Watches app.

Heart Rate

Instantly test your heart rate 30～220 bpm and min/max blood pressure on one screen. Also, within the primary Face 2, in the upper right corner, next to the heart icon, you can constantly monitor your heart rate, while still maintaining most of the standard time and display functions. Additional information can be displayed such as target heart rate, graphic heart rate zone indication, heart rate graph, maximum heart rate, and minimum heart rate.

Blood Oxygen

Instantly test your blood oxygen levels*. During this process, which I tested multiple times, the watch prompts you to keep still, and if you do, you’ll get an accurate reading. I registered errors the first few times, likely because I moved too much. On the third try, it indicated I was at 95%. (Pulse oximeters measure the oxygen saturation or percentage of oxygen in your blood. An oxygen saturation of 95 to 100 percent is normal for healthy children and adults.)

* The blood oxygen level measurement function is not intended as a medical device for diagnosing specific diseases. It is intended for general health maintenance only.

Breathing Exercises

This function allows you to set a range of 2 to 20 minutes, in 1-minute increments, guiding you through breathing exercises and providing biofeedback as well as a zone-specific time summary.

Stopwatch

In this mode, you can utilize the G-Shock’s stopwatch functionality, found on most of their watches. It measures with  1-second accuracy and can measure up to 100 hours.  Both standard elapsed time and split times are available. Considering this is a digital watch, it would be nice if they increased accuracy beyond the 1-second increments allowing users to time events down to fractions of a second.

Timer

Another function found in most G-Shocks s is a countdown timer. The range is 1-second minimum to 60 minutes maximum. Though 60 minutes is often enough, the ability to countdown longer periods would be nice, again, considering this a digital watch, and so it would not require new hardware the way a mechanical watch would.

World Time

This is pretty standard on G-Shocks and includes 300+ cities that you can select from, across 38 time zones, and there’s a daylight saving on/off, auto summer time (DST) switching.

Almanac

This allows you to scroll through Almanac weather data that are preset by Casio.

Cardio Status

This allows you to compare data from different exercises to understand your cardio load status and requires your phone.

Life Log (Step Tracker)

Using the 3-axis acceleration sensor (accelerometer), your watch tracks your step count up to 99,999 steps per day and automatically resets each day at midnight. It displays Step count, step count graph (week, month, 6 months), calories burned measurement, and active time measurement. Plus you can set a step reminder.

Nightly Recharge (Sleep)

This function should probably be labeled with “Sleep” because at first, I thought it was referring to recharging the watch. There’s a sleep tracker which measures sleep recovery status (6 stages), sleep recovery stage display, sleep status (5 stages), sleep score display range (1 to 100, measurement unit: 1), autonomic nerve status (5 stages), ANS score range (-10 to +10, measurement unit: 0.1). I do not wear a watch or band at night so I cannot attest to how well this function works.

Activity Log

This function can track up to 100 runs/walks with up to 200 laps each, including measurement time, distance, pace, running index, calories burned, the energy source used, heart rate, maximum heart rate, cardio load, pitch, maximum pitch, and stride. Additionally, it can calculate and display distance, speed, pace, and other information using the accelerometer’s auto/manual lap function with an auto-pause feature. The watch supports running, walking, gym workouts, and interval training. Select an activity with the touch of a button to track and display a variety of measurements in real-time.

Time & Date

This is the last mode you get to when you cycle through all the functions. It lets you make standard adjustments to the time and date settings. Although, the local time and date are automatically set once you pair the watch to an Apple or Android phone, so you may never need to access this screen.

Verdict

The Move DWH5600 falls somewhere in between a full-featured smartwatch and a traditional quartz/mechanical watch. This is for someone that wants the classic G-Shock square look with an advanced set of features but no touchscreen. Someone that demands an unbreakable version of a smartwatch.

As much as the full-blown touchscreen smartwatches from Apple, Google, Garmin, and Casio can do, I think I’ll always prefer the look of a watch like the DWH5600 over the Apple Watch simply because it looks better.

I do like health-tracking features, and was particularly excited to try the heart rate monitor and blood oxygen sensor. Perhaps the best part of my experience using the DWH5600 is that I got advanced health data, like heart rate and blood oxygen levels, without having to wear a watch that looks like a smartwatch.

A lack of connectivity with Strava, Google Fit, or Fitbit may be a downside to some people, however, this watch has its own ecosystem of fitness and health features and is likely targeted at casual users who do not already have a smartwatch, fitness app, or step tracker.

Currently, the DWH5600-1 (matte black) and DWH5600-2 (matte teal) are available in the US for a retail price of $299. There are also additional variations, including some with metallic bezels, that are available in some international markets, such as Japan, and will be available later in the year.

Learn more at G-Shock.

 

SPECIFICATIONS:

G-Shock Move DWH5600

Reference: DWH5600-1

Year: 2023

Total Weight: 61.5 grams

Case Material: Bio-based resin, Carbon-resin

Case Diameter:  44.5 mm

Case Thickness:  17.4 mm

Lug-to-lug:  51.1 mm

Crown Diameter: No crown

Glass: Mineral crystal

Movement: Japanese Quartz Module 3516

Depth Rating: 200 meters

Strap: Bio-Based Resin