Skmei 1660 Review

This probably won't be my most controversial review ever, but in my own mind, I'd already written one which was, and I couldn't follow through with it.

Suffice it to say that when my wife came home from work earlier, she asked me, "Why are you wearing a girls' watch?" and I had to defend it. The fact that she didn't comment on how I was completely nude while playing "A Boy and his Blob" on the Wii late on a Saturday afternoon is neither here nor there. As you can imagine, she has a lot to deal with.

Anyway, here it is, the Skmei 1660. It's the "all metal" version of the Casio A700 with all the upgrades and lack of originality that only AliExpress brands can muster. Our Ben from Ben's Watch Club has a real Casio A700 and says it's one of his most worn watches, so if it's good enough for him, a clone version is good enough for me. Ben is younger, better looking than me, and has a far more beautiful and understanding wife, but I have a frozen pizza for dinner and a cheap Skmei meant for ladies, so that makes us even. 😎

The Skmei 1660 has a mineral glass, a Milanese-style stainless steel bracelet, and does all the same things as a Casio A700. Apart from a change of brand name on the dial, and a different word order for the water resistance, it's almost identical.

And just like the original, it has those coloured labels at the top of the display which you'd normally associate with having an indicator under them when you change the mode, but neither the Skmei or the Casio does anything with it. It's just cosmetic.

The Skmei 1660 and the Casio A700 are simply glorified F-91Ws in metallic cases with the same 34mm dimensions. Casio certainly milk the same things until the cash cow runs dry, so don't get me started on the A1000. Not today, Satan, not today. Soon though. 😜

To be fair, it's not the same 593 module in the A700 that Casio use in everything else, but an improved one with a better orange backlight. In the case of this Skmei clone, it's bright green instead.

The aforementioned 18mm bracelet is very nice indeed. The clasp isn't signed, and it's a bit loose when you click it closed. I think I can squeeze it up tighter, but it's bound to loosen again. It's just the nature of this kind of bracelet. Only girls' watches have these bracelets according to my wife.

At least it doesn't have those horrible "quick release" springbars holding the bracelet to the case like the real A700 does. Quick release springbars are of the Devil and should be banned. That's a guaranteed way to lose your watch on the way to the paddling pool or when you dash to the corner shop for emergency pork scratchings late at night. You can tell that I've already experienced this, can't you?

As you can see, the caseback is one of those with 4 tiny little Philips head screws to get magnetised and lost when battery changing time occurs. I doubt I'll even have this watch when the battery runs out. I might not even be mortal anymore. Who knows? Aren't they supposed to last 7 years or more? Maybe 3 years in the case of the non-Panasonic battery inside, but it does claim to be a Japanese battery of some description.

I'm sure you want to know about the viewing angle again. This is a thing which I've become paranoid about with Skmei digital watches. In this case, it gets a pass. It's not perfect because the display is recessed deeper inside the case than with an F-91W, but shadows are caused by my iPhone and electric lights here. In reality, the viewing angles are perfect to human eyesight with no shadows or screenful of 8s. I should have taken the picture outside, but it's dark now, and there might be ghosties, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Talking of the dark, it's got a really bright green backlight. Will I be wearing this watch to bed? Truth be told, I already had a nap with it on earlier and it was great. It was comfortable enough to sleep in, and when my bladder woke me, I could see the time and illuminate enough of the hallway to find my way to the toilet. So, yes, it has a very good backlight.

I don't think there's anything else to say about the Skmei 1660. All the functions are advertised on the dial, and it does the same as the Casio which it clones. Accuracy-wise, I have no idea. It's too early to tell, but it seems okay so far.

Watch out for a similar Skmei which looks the same but with a different model number because it's just resin with a plating on it like the Casio. There's a Sanda version too which lacks even the 30m water resistance that this and the Casio A700 are supposed to have.

Oh, did you want to know the price? I paid £12 for it on eBay (including a box, free postage, and no extra AliExpress tax) and it arrived less than 24 hours after I paid for it. You can DM me if you want to know the name of the seller. You won't find these on AliExpress anymore because the sellers only have the newer and more expensive all plastic version now, or if they do still have the old ones, I couldn't find them.

My pizza was a double pepperoni Chicago Town deep pan frozen pizza, in case you wondered. Yes, it was good.