Skmei 1998 Review
I just received this from AliExpress. At a cost of $9.06, it certainly qualifies as a budget watch. Yes, it looks a lot like a Casio Royale, however, the Royale is not offered with a translucent, clear case, and this watch was purchased for its looks alone. Features? Well, it displays time, and date, along with the day of the week. Alarm? Check. Countdown timer? Check. Stopwatch? Check. Dual time? Yes. Its features are basic for a cheap digital watch, but that's to be expected, no? Yes, for not much more, one can get additional features. The Casio Royale for $10 more gives one 5 alarms, plus world time features (4 cities can be selected from a list of 48, 31 time zones), and comes with Casio's reputation. Skmei's reputation? Well... I think they have a way to go before one can put them in the same league as Casio, but from what I have been able to gather, they make cheap watches, not rubbish ones. In any case, any complaints I have about the watch are mitigated by its $9.06 cost, and I DO like the way it looks. In the verdict, I only award 3 stars for design, but that is only because it is a slavish copy of the Casio Royale, otherwise I would give it 5 stars.
I think Skmei has delivered the goods, particularly when one considers the watch's price point. Until Skmei develops its own designs, and innovations, however, they will remain on a tier below Casio. That said, I think the quality is good relative to price. We are talking budget watch, resin case/strap, with a quartz movement, for the price of a Big Mac. Yeah, thumbs up for me. 👍😀
Skmei 1998 Review
Yes
No
- Good looking watch
- Nice, readable display
- Easy to tell day of week at a glance, as display is large, and in a separate framed box
- Cheap, but good cheap
- The round dial at top left serves no function, though it looks cool.
- Water resistance (50M) could be better
Great review, watch is a dud, however. You say Casio gives to all those extra features for $0.12 each? Gotta go Casio.
Great review, watch is a dud, however. You say Casio gives to all those extra features for $0.12 each? Gotta go Casio.
For $9.06, there is really little to complain about. Sure, the Casio Royale is a better watch. It is one of the models Casio has built its reputation on, an icon. But the Skmei is not a dud IMO, certainly not when one considers its cheap price. However, your point is valid. For about $10 more, you can have the Royale and all its Casio cachet. The Royale is a great watch for an amazingly low price. It would be nice, though, if it came with a translucent, clear case. 😀
For $9.06, there is really little to complain about. Sure, the Casio Royale is a better watch. It is one of the models Casio has built its reputation on, an icon. But the Skmei is not a dud IMO, certainly not when one considers its cheap price. However, your point is valid. For about $10 more, you can have the Royale and all its Casio cachet. The Royale is a great watch for an amazingly low price. It would be nice, though, if it came with a translucent, clear case. 😀
Yeah, 'dud' was overly harsh. The clear case is very cool. While decadent, maybe a modern collection could have the Casio AND the Skmei.
BTW have you ever tried pronouncing Skmei? It's a killer!
Yeah, 'dud' was overly harsh. The clear case is very cool. While decadent, maybe a modern collection could have the Casio AND the Skmei.
BTW have you ever tried pronouncing Skmei? It's a killer!
I actually Googled the pronunciation. The "k" is virtually silent. Phonetically, it sounds like:
"Sa-my."
I understand the EL backlight is superior to the Royale in that it replicates Timex’s indiglo. That in addition to the translucent case sings a tempting song to my senses.
I understand the EL backlight is superior to the Royale in that it replicates Timex’s indiglo. That in addition to the translucent case sings a tempting song to my senses.
Yes, I didn't mention the backlight in my review, but it is very good.
Yes, I didn't mention the backlight in my review, but it is very good.
I'll just add that I looked for a video of the light function, and I saw it inverts the display to a negative which I had forgotten was how indiglo digital works. I'm curious, how does the upper left dial work? I think I still prefer my several ae1200's but thank you for posting the review!
I'll just add that I looked for a video of the light function, and I saw it inverts the display to a negative which I had forgotten was how indiglo digital works. I'm curious, how does the upper left dial work? I think I still prefer my several ae1200's but thank you for posting the review!
It occasionally spins, but other than that, does nothing. There are no hour/minute hands. Yeah, huh?
Yeah, 'dud' was overly harsh. The clear case is very cool. While decadent, maybe a modern collection could have the Casio AND the Skmei.
BTW have you ever tried pronouncing Skmei? It's a killer!
I understand it's supposed to be pronounced something like shi-ke-mei, i.e. from the pronunciation of their original Chinese name, which means something like "beautiful moment in time".