I Did My Best To Destroy These Two Watches. Was It Worth It? Take Two; Casio Vs. Skmei

@playboyheafner @Jt0909 @Rocky150 @HotWatchChick69 @KristianG @Scooby @morganthedruid @valleykilmers @DariusII @Aurelian @Bzilla , @artman @Unholy @thecrazylegs @ChadDipps @CrazyBlue @celinesimon @Deeperblue @MWC2020  @TimexBadger @hakki501 @ChronoGuy @OlDirtyBezel @TheSharperTheBetter , you have all expressed some interest in this. I apologize to anyone I may have missed in this list. To you and anyone else I may have forgot, sorry it took me so long to get this up. Hope you enjoy. 😀

Instead of a formal review, this is the second in a series of comparisons. This will be a comparison of a budget watch and a budget homage of a budget watch; a Casio sport watch and a Skmei homage that is a copy of a Casio watch. These two watches have similar functionality and tolerances, and they are close in price. The Casio was $16 and the Skmei was $12. You might have noticed some similarity in appearance between the Skmei and a G Shock DW5600 and wonder why I am not comparing it to that Casio instead. It is because the specifications listed for the Skmei on AliExpress are more in line with the Casio Illuminator selected for this comparison. The Skmei is also massive, it is even larger than a DW5600!

Based on the reactions to my last comparison, people are not as interested in all the features and functions of a digital watch as they are in finding out how durable it is, or they just enjoy reading about me doing my best to destroy watches 😊. The question to be answered here is “Is a budget homage of a budget watch as durable as the budget watch on which it is based?”

I have designed a series of tests to compare the ruggedness and durability of these two watches. These tests are a scaled back version of the tests for the Iron Man and G Shock. The first and most obvious test is the impact test. Both of these watches have been dropped from a height of ten meters onto a hard asphalt surface.

As you can see, the Skmei would not have survived the first G Shock/Iron Man test of being smashed by a brick, as it literally almost crumbled from the first of these tests (see, @KristianG 😂). The display is no longer working, although the EL light and the chime both are. The strap with the buckle came off the case, and the tang for the buckle came off the strap. There is also a series of small gouges on the crystals and cases of both watches. That seems to be the only damage the Casio Illuminator suffered from the 10-meter drop. It is still working fine. It would seem that we already have the answer to our question, but I will finish all the tests in the comparison to see how well the Casio holds up, and the see if the Skmei suffers further damage, or if the display starts working again.

The second test is a low temperature test, so both watches were placed in the freezer overnight.

As you can see, the Casio is still working fine and has all its functions. The Skmei still has no display, but I was able to reattach the tang and strap as you can see, and the EL backlight and sound are both still working on the Skmei.

The third test is the dirt and grime test. I am taking a suggestion from @Scooby and have buried the watches in the ground overnight.

Again, both watches have suffered no further damage from being buried in the ground. It rained in my area last night, but there was no effect on either watch. The Skmei continues to have no display.

The watches are dirty, so I wanted to clean them up and test the water resistance of these watches for the fourth test. The watches were put through the washing machine with a load of laundry.

The watches are still essentially as they were after the first test, albeit wetter now. The back light and chime on the Skmei both still work, and the Casio is still working fine with no loss of function at all. The Skmei still has no display.

Now, I could have let them air dry, but where is the fun in that? Instead, I am drying them for the final test. They will go in the dryer with the load of laundry for the heat test, which is the final test.

As you can see, the Casio has survived this series of tests excellently! It suffered some minor cosmetic damage on its crystal and case from the ten-meter drop but passed all other tests with flying colors. The Skmei did not fare as well. It failed the first test and would be completely unusable at this point. The strap failure was fixable, although I am not sure how trustworthy that strap is, which is a shame as it is actually more comfortable than the Casio strap and at least as comfortable as the strap on a DW5600.
The answer to this question is a resounding no. If you are looking for a budget G Shock, this Skmei isn’t it. Even though a DW5600 is more than twice as expensive, the Skmei is the worse value. If you are looking to save a few bucks, don’t. You are better served spending the extra $4.00 and getting a Casio. Skmei produces watches that look like Casio watches, but they do not perform like Casio watches. A budget version of a Casio watch is a waste of effort.
p.s. the rating is for the Casio, not the Skmei. 😉

p.p.s. any suggestions for the next challenge?