'Casioak' G-Shock GA2100-7A Review

When you look at the hottest watches in the entry-level sphere over the past few years, many have followed similar trends: vintage-inspired, sporty but versatile, integrated straps/bracelets, and looking more expensive than they cost. The pieces that come to my mind are the Casioak, PRX, MoonSwatch/Scuba Fathoms, and Timex Q.

Like many others, I also boarded the hype train when I purchased my Casioak last year. I was looking to buy my first G-Shock, and these were widely available at holiday discounts. I decided to go with this white and black variation which I've seen with various nicknames online: the Black Hole, Panda, Negative display. I don't think the community landed on anything so we'll just call it the White and Black for now. 🔳

When I first recieved the package, I wasn't immediately sold on the watch and had some concerns. How difficult is it to read? Will the white stay white or discolour like the other transparent Casios? How gaudy will it look to wear? My opinions of this piece have evolved greatly over my time of owning it, and while it is not a perfect watch, it has pleasantly surprised me with its versatility.

Go Anywhere, Do Anything? Almost, let me explain:

Pros:

• Versatility - the aesthetics and toughness of this watch allow it to work exceptionally well in a variety of circumstances. I believe it to be a fantastic one-watch travel companion (besides dressing up). It is just sleek enough to wear casually with friends or around town, but durable enough to take on excursions. I had fun taking it on beginner surfing/hiking trips this summer, and it fit the bill perfectly. The white colourway also helps to give it a more modern look, helping its fashionability in social settings. If you travel any distance, in town or across the globe and don't want to worry about losing/damaging a precious timepiece, this watch is more than qualified to assist.

• Comfort: most G-Shocks are comfortable but bulky. The dimensions on the Casioak are incredibly misleading: roughly 45mm wide, 48mm lug-to-lug. This sounds massive! The kicker here is the thickness, only 11.9mm! The famous octagon bezel-thing also helps to give the watch a nice angled look that cuts a lot of the width off of the case. In general, this watch lightweight and wears way smaller than it looks. The comfort is incredible!

• Functions: what is a Casio without functions? Ana-digi, backlight, calendar, stopwatch, timer, worldtime (hence traveling), and alarm. Anything you can do, Casio can do better.

• Hand sweep when setting time: this is such a small thing, but I thought it was so cool when I first noticed. When you go to set the time, the hour and minute hands move themselves out of the way from the display window in a really satisfying way. This is not a new or unique trick by any means, but it is fun! 😁

Cons:

• Legibility: You've heard it before. Where Casio got certain elements above REALLY RIGHT, they totally whiffed on other aspects. This would benefit from more lume, a stronger backlight, and some coloured indeces. I was curious if this white/black version is any worse to read than the classic all-black, at least I don't believe it is any worse. Right on par.

• Discoloration on the strap underside: I was worried about this when I bought the watch. I found inconclusive answers online about how well the white colour maintains itself on these resin Casios. Overall I am actually impressed with how clean the watch is even after a couple years of wear. The exception, however, is on the underside of the strap that is in contact with your wrist. There is definitely some greying happening slowly where the strap collects sweat. It can be somewhat cleaned with a wet wipe, but I have not tried any other cleaning solutions. Worst case scenario, it is very cheap to replace these straps and I'm excited to mix and match colours (see Casey Neistat's Casioak!).

• Battery life: Not the best, not the worst. 3 years is decent for any quartz module. I would have liked to see Casio try to implement the powers of their 10 year batteries, or their Solar modules found in the newer Casioaks. Many other quartz watches need a battery replacement as soon as 6 months after installing, 3 years is not so bad.

Final thoughts:

Yes, the hype is real. This is not a perfect watch, but it is a great one that has exceeded many of my expectations. It doesnt look like a traditional GADA, but it certainly acts the part if you aren't worried about being fancy though I would love to see a thread of G-Shocks and suit jackets 😝. If fancy is what you are after though, you can mod just about everything on this model to your heart's content.

What do you think of my review? Let me know below, and let's see the Casioak's in your collection!