Search results for: “g-shock”

Living with the Casio GW-9500 Mudman G-Shock
The Casio GW-9500 Mudman isn’t my first G-Shock by a long-shot. I thought it would make a bit of sense explaining what it’s like to live with and why I wear it at a time when the world is becoming more connected and documented.

My relationship with the Casio G-Shock started with my time scuba diving. At school my friend Neil had a Casio DW-100, which was a pre-G-Shock digital dive watch, only available in the Japan and the US at the time.

I was introduced to diving when working in my second job out of school by a colleague. I started using an old DW-5500 attached by an Animal velcro strap to my buoyancy compensator of my dive kit, that was gifted to me by a friend. It served as a back-up timer to my dive watch. I couldn’t afford a dive computer. At the time I had a friend who worked in a dive shop and my lessons were done by former military divers. I probably couldn’t afford similar equipment now if I decided to return to driving.

I also wouldn’t be doing the kind of dives we did back then thanks to the governing bodies de-risking the sport to the point of boredom, that’s a subject for another post.

Why do I wear a GW-9500 now?

It makes sense to tell a little bit around why I wear G-Shocks. I want an accurate watch (who doesn’t?). I want a dependable watch (again, probably a hygiene factor for most people). G-Shock offers robustness that 30 years ago would have come from fine Swiss or Japanese engineering – but at a much lower price point. Although the price point for G-Shocks has been steadily increasing.

The GW-9500, alongside other G-Shocks is what watch people would call a ‘beater’. It will take whatever life throws at it, from colliding into door handles, being dropped, to its water resistance – you don’t have to worry about it.

G-Shocks are the grey man of watches, despite some models being colourful – they are ubiquitous on any street from London to Manilla. They blend in with the crowd and are less likely to draw attention. This makes them the ideal ‘London watch‘.

The Apple Watch is closing in on this status in London now, but requires regular charging and is also more fragile than your average G-Shock.

I work in a creative role, my usual work outfit consists of:
- T-shirts
- Flannel shirts, sweatshirts or fleece quarter-zips
- Jeans or climbing pants
- Suede hiking boots or trainers
All of which make the G-Shock an ideal accessory for my form-follows-function wardrobe.

Industrial design of the GW-9500

The design of the GW-9500 is based on form following function. The buttons are designed so that they can be pushed with gloves, but still protected from accidental use. The ‘armouring’ helps protect the watch screen.

Casio worked out a lot of these lessons with the early Casio G-Shock Mudman and Rangeman watches. These models in turn borrowed the learnings of even earlier G-Shock models. G-Central did a good job at teasing out all the G-Shock family tree that led up to the GW-9500 – the link is at the bottom of the article.

The feel of the industrial design evokes the product design in Japanese anime like Ghost In The Shell or Evangelion – where things are over-designed. That has a certain appeal for me.

Materials

One of the biggest steps forward with the GW-9500 is the materials that the watch is made from. The movement and glass is held in a carbon fibre composite case. In my other G-Shock watches, this core case is made of plastic, stainless steel or titanium. This is one reason why the GW-9500 is very noticeably lighter than my other models. It’s also noticeably thinner, yet still offers the same protection.

Casio also has one eye on sustainability, with the watch strap being made of plastic material made from biomass rather than oil based plastic. The plastic is tough but not as supple as the polyurethane straps on cheaper G-Shocks. This bio-plastic strap isn’t as comfortable to wear and doesn’t break in over time. Ideally if I had the option, I would switch the strap out for adaptors and a NATO strap instead, even though it would ruin the aesthetic. After four decades, Casio could still learn a lot from Seiko’s polyurethane dive watch straps.

Connectivity

I have mechanical watches, an Apple Watch Ultra and my range of G-Shocks including the GW-9500 sit somewhere in between these two technological extremes.

The GW-9500 syncs its time via a series of atomic clocks that broadcast around the world. It is aware of its surroundings thanks to its digital compass, altimeter, barometer and temperature. All of this isn’t new technology,

A compass is surprisingly handy even in today’s age. The enemy of satellite navigation is tall buildings. They increase the amount of time that GPS takes to lock on and you end up with less precise positioning. A compass doesn’t have that problem allowing you to orient yourself.

Casio seems to have raided the parts bin of its ProTek series of watches. It doesn’t have Bluetooth, wi-fi or connect to a phone app – which means that obsolescence is less of a concern.

Power comes from on face solar panels that keep the watch battery topped up, rather than relying on a cradle like smartwatches.

Having a watch that just tells the time and has a timer or two for cooking allows me to disconnect from the always-on connected world of the smartwatch and smartphone.

Display

The display on the GW-9500 had a large screen that unlike its G-Shock peers doesn’t make an efficient use of the real estate. That approach has benefits, the sparce screen design and large numerals provide a very glanceable display.

It is well illuminated by a while LED that covers the whole of the display. The light is carefully balanced between bright enough to be clearly legible, and dull enough to not ruin your night vision.

Software

One of the benefits of getting a G-Shock over the years is that you feel right at home, for the most part, new G-Shock watches like the GW-9500 operated like older G-Shock models. The exception to this is when Casio tries to become a connected smartwatch as that part of the market is still in flux.

However the legacy software model requires a degree of patience in comparison to modern phone apps. The GW-9500 like all legacy G-Shocks uses what’s known as a modal approach. You want to set something you go into the set mode and then cycle through to the feature that you want to change. If you don’t get it write, then you have to cycle through the different functions and start again.

I grew up setting my parents video cassette recorder and answering machine so the experience isn’t that alien to me. The Hemingway Editor app also takes this approach with two modes: ‘write’ and ‘edit’ which works well with my text creation process.

As a watch experience, it works perfectly well, and once you have done it a few times you can use 80 percent of any legacy G-Shock watch without consulting the instructions – which still come in a satisfyingly thick paper book about the size of a box of matches.

Are there things that I would like improved? Yes, absolutely. A bugbear of mine, working with other people around the world is the different time zone function. A feature it shares with ChatGPT at the time of writing is that the GW-9500 doesn’t allow for countries which have daylight savings times changing in time difference during spring and summer. So I have ended up calling Asian colleagues an hour early by accident.

Is the GW-9500 a keeper?

The Casio Mudman GW-9500 has its faults, such as comfort, when worn for a prolonged time and the time-zone issue. But those are minor compared to its benefits.

More information

History of the G-Shock Mudmaster and Mudman series of mud-resistant watches | G-Central
June 21, 2025
Casio G-Shock GW6900

Four years ago I wrote about the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000 Frogman, this post is about a much more humble member of the same family the Casio G-Shock GW6900. The GW6900 is an update of the classic Casio DW6900 shape. This gives it a button on the front below the watch face to turn the back light on, very similar to the later 9400 Rangeman series.

This makes it easier to light up than the original 5600 series G-Shocks and many of the other models including my beloved Frogman models.

No name

The GW6900 is much more humble. It has no name like other models. It’s cheap and ubiquitous in nature, being the ‘everyman’ of G-shock models. It has looks that while discreet feel like it was an artefact from a 1980s anime cartoon series with giant mecha, with its soft roundness and form follows function urethane armoured protection.

What changed to make the DW6900 series into the GW6900? Out goes the need to change the battery every few years. Instead you get solar charging and the use of radio signals set the watch with atomic clock accuracy.

Glow in the dark

Electroluminescent technology can trace its way back to work that GE was doing in the US during the early 1960s. GE was making electroluminescent dash instruments for Dodge Charger cars from the 1960 model year. Below is an example via Wikipedia taken by Jonathan Gibbs in a 1966 Charger.

Fastback Jon

With the GW6900, you still get the turquoise electroluminescent illumination that Timex first made famous with their Indiglo watches in the early 1990s. The reality was that electroluminescent thin film materials were becoming a thing and Sharp in Japan and Planar in the US were rolling out the display technology during the 1980s. But the glow still takes me back to early 1990s dark warehouses with sporadic bursts of these watch screens.

The case is unchanged as is the strap. A pleasing resin material that quickly adapts to the wearer over a few weeks and becomes smoother to the touch. It feels quite ‘dainty’ on the wrist compared to an Apple Watch or a modern sports watch, yet it’s been robust enough for use by law enforcement and the military, until smartwatches gradually took over. Now the G6900 and its ilk have been gradually replaced by the Garmin Tactix and Apple Watch Ultra models.

The main section of the display allows you to have have two time zones displayed and is generally glanceable. The night light works well, but the display can ‘wash out’ a little. Upgrading the light to an LED would provide a greater degree of contrast to make the watch more legible when reading with the backlight.

As for the three ring displays at the top of the watch display. The first gives you an idea of battery charge. The second gives you an indication if functions like an alarm or hourly chime is turned on and the third one visualises ten second segments for no apparent reason.

A simple watch

The GW6900 is a simple watch. It won’t make you more sexually attractive or boost your apparent status. It won’t keep you up with the latest online happenings. But it will keep on running even in the most arduous of circumstances and will tell you the time in the middle of the night due to it’s easy to find light button.

I am happy with a simple watch.

Watch ownership as a rite of passage

When I was a child, having your own watch was a right of passage similar to getting your first smartphone today. Knowing the time gave you more control over your life, pulling my phone out of my pocket to look at the time doesn’t scratch ‘knowing the time’ itch in quite the same way. Maybe it’s a generational thing, but I can find smartwatches intrusive at times with their constant reminders and need to be charged.

But at the same time I want to know I have the time with just a twist of the wrist away.

After owning your first watch at school, the idea of getting an ‘adult watch’ was the next big thing: buying a quality watch for life.

COVID seemed to bring people back to owning a serious watch. Serious watches became more of a mainstream thing, although a good watch is now viewed as an investment opportunity, and luxury watch flipping a side hustle. Alongside these developments, watch robberies seem to have taken off, so a humbler watch seems to be a prudent measure when I am out and about in London.

The Casio GW6900 is the grey man of watches, tough enough for life, but tame enough to go unnoticed. It doesn’t hurt that it costs less than 100 pounds.

July 13, 2023
Living with the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000 Frogman
UPDATE – Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000 sudden stopped working and took on water when I washed some curtains in a basin. Which is a bit much for such an expensive model that is well-known for its reputed toughness and 200M water resistance. Certainly not what you expect from a watch brand known for its toughness and having a current street price of £800. You can see the water inside the glass on the watch face and no apparent point of ingress. It’s not that long out of warranty as well. Casio have replaced it as it was just within warranty; but think carefully before purchasing one.

When you typically look at reviews of products, there are usually reviewed over a short time when they are new-and-shiny. Often a products features and character come out over time – a symbiotic process between product and user.

I picked up a Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000 soon after it went on sale for considerably less than the £800 that it is the current street price. Up until I bought the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000; I had owned its predecessor the GWF-1000 (which I will call the 1000 from here on in).

So what is the GWF-D1000 anyway?

The Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000 is the latest in an a series of G-Shock watches aimed at scuba divers. The first Frogman came out in 1993. The overall design has largely been the same with an asymmetric case and a large display to make operation easier. The positioning of the watches and price points changed over time – some of the previous models had titanium cases and came under the Mr-G sub-brand. The last few models have a stainless steel core case with a DLC (diamond like coating) to protect the surface.

Over time it has picked up features as the technology improved. It became illuminated by a small green bulb, then electro-luminescent material. It moved from relying purely on battery power to having solar cells and a rechargeable battery. The watch became more accurate by picking up time signals via radio from six locations around the world that are calibrated with an atomic clock (precursors to the NTP services around the world that keep your computer and smartphone bang on time.)

The key technology gains over the 1000 include:
- A dive computer rather than a dive timer (neither matter to me), it has the same basic functionality that dive computers used to have 20 years ago (minus PC connectivity). No big shakes until you remember that it is doing this all from a solar-powered rechargeable watch battery
- Digital compass which is surprisingly handy, it is very forgiving of the way you hold it, expect this in other Casio watches soon.
- Temperature reading (again more for the diver) or when you are running a bath
- The display has been rearranged and a bit easier to read
- Much better display light and crisper to read at night
The real benefits for me were in the build quality:
- You get a sapphire crystal rather than the usual hardened mineral glass. This isn’t the first time that Casio has used a sapphire crystal on a watch, but they are harder to manufacture and more expensive than the usual mineral glass face
- The manner in which the strap is secured to the case has been completely revised. There is are new Allen key screws and a carbon fibre rod to secure the strap to the case
- The strap is made of polyurethane resin reinforced with carbon fibre. The loop that holds the excess strap length is now a section of stainless steel which has been bent around the strap
How do I use it?

It makes sense to tell a little bit around why I wear a Frogman. I want an accurate watch (who doesn’t?). I want a reliable watch (again, probably a hygiene factor for most people; but one that hints at why the G-Shock has replaced Rolex as the default watch I have seen on Hong Kongers over the past 10 years or so. G-Shock offers robustness that 20 years ago would have come from fine Swiss engineering – at a much lower price point.

I love my Swiss dive watches but there is a time and place for everything. The knockabout case and its water resistance means that you can forget about the watch. You don’t have to coddle it or worry that it will pick up undue attention. You don’t have to worry if you get a bang on an elevator (lift) door, dropped on the bathroom floor or going for a swim.

The G-Shock is an everyman watch – unless its got a lurid colour scheme it isn’t likely to attract the attention of your average petty criminal. I’ve often taken it off in the office so that I can type in greater comfort and left it there by accident when going home. I’ve never had a G-Shock go missing.

It is relatively easy to use, despite the modal nature of its interface design. To change settings, use functions or see recorded information you have to cycle through a series of text menus – it has more in common with a 1980s vintage video cassette recorder or a DEC VAX. Quite how this goes down with consumers more used to iPads and SnapChat is interesting. Casio seems to do alright by attracting them with bright plastic cases reminiscent of Lego -based colour schemes.

I haven’t dived seriously in a long time, I took up scuba diving while working in the oil industry and have never got back into it since moving to London. PADI diving at resorts is tame compared to British diving club scene I had been used to.

My work environment is creative which means that my uniform of t-shirts, flannel shirts, jeans and suede hiking boots make the G-Shock an ideal accessory. I work in the London office of an American digital marketing agency, owned by a French multinational and my clients are scattered in the different offices around the world of pharmaceutical companies. The functions I tend to use most are the world time, date/time and the night light. My iPhone is now my alarm clock.

The reality is that most of these watches will end up on the wrists of people like me rather than people who dive for a living.

What’s it like to live to live with the D1000

The Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000 is only incrementally heavier than the 1000, it felt a bit strange to wear for about 30 minutes after swapping over to the newer model. But in some ways the Casio G-ShockGWF-D1000 doesn’t yet feel like its my watch.

The 1000 strap became shiny in places over time and more pliable, it felt like it became adjusted to me. Give the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000 a rub over and it still looks box fresh. The downside is that the strap feels stiff and I still feel its edges on occasion – this isn’t about discomfort, but about the watch not feeling like part of you. There are no shiny parts of wear – it feels less like a ‘personal item”. It lacks what a designer friend calls authenticity; unlike distressed jeans, customised flight jackets or combat Zippos.

This sounds great for the resale value, but I feel that it provides a worse experience for the wearer of the watch.

The reinforced strap does have one bonus, it holds securely to the case. Look at these pictures of my two year old 1000

You can see how the retaining screw that held the strap to the case came undone and disappeared over time. You don’t have these kind of problems with the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000.

The screen on the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000 uses its real estate in a different way to the 1000.

Here is the 1000

Here is the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000

At first the differences aren’t obvious. If you look at the top right side of the screen, the tide and moon segments are replaced by a multi-use screen on the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000. The small icons for alarms and hourly alerts are moved to the bottom and left of the screen on the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000, the moon icon now moves to the left of the main screen down from the top right. This probably marginally increases the screen real estate and helps make legibility a bit clearer at night.

The biggest 1000 feature that I miss is the ability to toggle with one press of the top left button from showing the date on the screen to showing a second time zone; it was extremely handy for work. And having come from the 1000 to the Casio GWF-D1000 it was a real ‘what the fuck’ moment.

By comparison I have to press six times to get to the world time screen. Instead, it now toggles between a tide table and the day. Even giving it a two press option would be a better fix than what the Casio GWF-D1000 currently has. It’s a small gripe, but it annoyed the heck out of me.

My work around has been to keep the watch in world time mode and if I need to know the day or date, I find myself reaching for my iPhone.

If you are really that worried about tide tables, you will be likely using a specialist service as they vary a good deal over relatively short distances.

If the Casio G-Shock GWF-D1000 still sounds like the kind of watch you want, you can get it here.

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January 30, 2017
June 2025
June 2025 introduction – thee and me (23) edition

Welcome to my June 2025 newsletter, this newsletter marks my 23rd issue or as 23 would be called in bingo halls ‘thee and me’.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan wore the number 23 on his jersey when he played for the Chicago Bulls and when he returned to basketball to play for the Washington Wizards.

At the beginning of the 20th century, 23 and 23Skidoo appeared memetically as short hand for ‘to leave’ or to be asked to leave in American English. There are no satisfactory explanations about its origin.

It went on to be referenced in American plays, a Popeye cartoon, a William Burroughs story and inspire the name of a post-punk band founded by original international Stüssy Tribe member ‘Alex Baby‘.

Burroughs inspired the ’23 enigma’ which appeared in new age and alternative literature including The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.

New reader?

If this is the first newsletter, welcome! You can find my regular writings here and more about me here.

Things I’ve written.
- Walsh’s of Mullingar and more things dwelt on multi-generational businesses in Ireland, memetic ideas in architecture and the political act of hacking.
- Augmented retailing – how machine learning is being used beyond efficiency to actually help customers in a customer-centric approach to customer experience.
- Living with the Casio GW-9500 Mudman watch. Or, why I am wearing an old school G-Shock when smartwatches can do so much more?
Books that I have read.
- I finished Rogue Agent by Andy McDermott. It’s an easy undemanding read, ideal for a holiday. It benefits from good pacing of the plot line and feels like it’s aimed at a British working-class male reader. It feels like it would be a good Amazon Prime or Netflix series if adapted from the novel.
Things I have been inspired by.

Walk the house

Walk the house is an exhibition at the Tate Modern by a Korean artist Do Ho Suh. The exhibition features a number of works that challenge what we think about living spaces and their sense of permanence. There is a traditional Korean house reproduced in charcoal rubbed fine paper, which captures every detail of the building’s exterior.

There is a tension between the scale and ephemeral nature of the work. The traditional Korean house also contrasted with modern apartment replicas in polyester mesh curtain material and wire supports.

The material and the extreme fidelity to detail that the artist brings gives them a dream-like quality like reliving a memory.

The exhibition is on at the Tate Modern until October and I can’t recommend it enough.

Time for some new ‘Age Thinking’

There was a moment in 2023 when the IPA Census of the UK advertising industry saw no one reach retirement age in any advertising agency. Anna Sampson was tasked with writing a report about age, systemic barriers and ageism with in the industry.

This directly impacts concerns around inclusivity, diversity and representation. It’s adversely affecting the work done for clients.

I remember listening to a creative director’s challenge in getting a production company to cast old people for a film. The production company was suggesting 40 year-olds, when what required was 70-plus.

I can also recommend Matthew Knight’s interview with Anna Sampson after the publication of the report.

What’s working in raising brand awareness?

WARC published their report What’s working in raising brand awareness, which is instant click bait to strategists. The findings in the report reinforce what we already knew from The Long and the Short of it and Ehrensberg-Bass’ How Brands Grow. It cites Research by Fospha found that brands who allocated at least 5% of their budgets to awareness and consideration saw a 22% higher return on advertising spend. When higher-awareness brands boosted their spend by 10%, they saw a 13% increase in sales.

AI’s dot com moment?

Given Mary Meeker‘s heritage in the late 1990s dot com bubble as evangelist rather than analyst – I was instinctively a bit leery of the hockey stick-shaped graphs in her new presentation on AI. The report gives good context to where many of the exponential claims. Like telecoms and the web before it, the presentation is an expression of confidence in progress, not a business model endorsement per se. Look instead at the financial results of major players in quarterly and annual filings.

Chart of the month.

Global podcast advertising growth seems to have matured based on data from WARC.

Things I have watched.

Bad Day At Blackrock – the film merges film noir with the western. It has a cast dominated by award-winning actors including Spencer Tracy as one-armed veteran with judo skills. Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin play local yahoos who try and needle a new arrival. The quality of the cast, the setting in the California high desert, a ramshackle western town and the Southern Pacific streamliner train – create an amazing film. Just ten years after the end of the second world war, Bad Day at Blackrock deals with racism against Asians. In my mind, it is John Sturges best film, but always overshadowed by his later works Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape.

I first saw Le Doulos (aka The Fingerman) in an arthouse cinema in Liverpool with some art student friends. It was great to watch it again, this time in Blu-Ray. Jean-Pierre Melville directed a classic piece of French New Wave cinema noir. Jean-Paul Belmondo plays Silien, a complicated character whose true place in the story isn’t revealed until the final third of the movie. Belmondo’s role lights up the screen displaying movie star looks and the hardness of a gangster. The plot is carefully doled out like a well-played poker hand with enough twists and turns that kept me on the end of my seat. It’s a masterclass in storytelling.

Useful tools.

Pocket is shutting down

Pocket was a service that was integrated into Firefox by the Mozilla Foundation that allowed the user to bookmark a web a page that was used to save articles and webpages for later. if you’re a Pocket user and looking for an alternative I can recommend Pinboard. I have been using Pinboard for the best part of 15 years, so can vouch for the service.

The sales pitch.

I am currently working on a brand and creative strategy engagement at Google’s internal creative agency.

I am now taking bookings for strategic engagements from the start of 2026 – keep me in mind; or discussions on permanent roles. Contact me here.

More on what I have done here.

The End.

Ok this is the end of my June 2025 newsletter, I hope to see you all back here again in a month. Be excellent to each other and onward into summer.

Don’t forget to share if you found it useful, interesting or insightful.

Get in touch
June 26, 2025
Apple Watch Ultra 2
I was fortunate to get an Apple Watch Ultra 2. It is the third Apple Watch that I have owned and the sixth wearable. My previous history in wearables were:

A Yamasa Tokei analogue pedometer (I received it around the time I was in primary school. It came in handy for guesstimating walking distances when I was in the scouts). What I didn’t know at the time is that the 1960s-era interest in pedometers that eventually spawned my device was driven by Japanese interest in combating obesity due to modernisation during the post-war economic miracle.

If you are focusing on your 10,000 steps a day you can thank Dr Yoshiro Hatano and manufacturers like Yamasa who eventually sold their ‘Manpo-kei’ (10,000 step measure) in the west as ‘Manpo-meter’ devices from the 1960s through to the late 1990s.

Nike Fuelband – I really enjoyed the simplicity of this device, but it was very fragile and I ended up going through three devices in a matter of months.

Casio G-Shock+ connected device that was let down by its software, but very much a go-anywhere device.

Polar Loop fitness tracker – it was more reliable than Nike’s Fuelband but I didn’t really enjoy it as device.

Apple Watch series 1 and 2 – I lasted about 48 hours wearing the series 1 Apple Watch, but did better with a series 2 device.

Apple Watch Ultra 2

My expectations have been impacted by poor experiences with earlier devices.

How have I found the Apple Watch Ultra 2?

I have worn tool watches all my adult life, a mix of mechanical dive watches and Casio G-Shocks. That meant that I didn’t think about where I took my watches. Into the shower, or the swimming pool – the watches could take it all in their stride. But the Apple Watch couldn’t.

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a classic ‘go anywhere’ watch. It is waterproof like a Casio G-Shock. So fine for swimming, in the shower or scuba diving. Titanium means that it’s hypoallergenic, and corrosion resistant; even more so than most grades of stainless steel. However, if you wear it in the sea or at the swimming pool, rinse the watch in clean fresh water afterwards, like you should do with any other dive watch.

I found the default straps sold with the Apple Watch Ultra 2 were excessively clunky. Awkward to wear and got snagged in random situations. Instead I favoured a Nike Sports silicone band which is ideal for the gym or working in the office.

I bought a cheap clear bumper for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. It keeps fingerprints off the screen and gives items like the buttons and digital crown a modicum of protection from being activated by putting on a jacket as we go into a cooler wetter autumn.

Battery life on it seems to be more generous than the older Apple Watch models I have used and based on what I have seen I think you could get a weekend out of it without a charge.

The ubiquity of Apple watches on the wrists of Londoners mean that this doesn’t attract any good or bad attention.

What’s it like?

Compared to previous Apple watch models I have used the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is faster and more sophisticated. I get the sense that the Apple WatchOS is now supported by less non-health related apps than previously. My watch supports alerts for my train ticket bookings, airline flights and my preferred taxi app.

Part of this might be down to watch might make contextual sense in the 10 second app usage time that a consumer would have. And when does it make sense to just pull the phone out of your pocket.

There isn’t the same lag that made the first series Apple Watch unusable, as the device has become more powerful and more processing happens on the watch. Apple’s health app is more tracking than I need, so I haven’t used it with apps like Strava.

What’s good about it?

All of the Apple watch models have been impressive pieces of engineering and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is no exception. In their own way, they challenge Swiss industry for a different type of engineering prowess.

I really like the strap that I landed on. The material is the right texture and unlike other straps I have worn it doesn’t hinder my typing on a laptop. That being said the strap owes a lot to Marc Newson’s prior work in the early 1990s for Ikepod. This all means that you have a device that feels nice on the wrist.

One of the first things that I liked about the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is ‘night mode’ a plain red on black face, rather than the distracting colour complications. It would be great if this could be a universal theme carried through all the watch faces.

Thanks to mobile phone contracts, Apple watches like G-Shocks are surprisingly poor signals of status. In a city like London, that has its benefits.

What could be improved?

The Apple Watch is over nine years old. A number of problems have been there since the first device launch and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is merely the latest in the line to carry them.

You can’t wear your watch on the inside of your wrist. I used to scuba dive without a dive computer, relying on pre-planned dive tables, a depth gauge and air pressure gauge for my tank. I got into the habit of wearing my watch on the inside of my right wrist so I could hold my gauge console in my hand and see my elapsed dive time at the same time. It also means that your watch is less on-show in public settings.

Screens default to being overly busy with Apple trying to cram in as many complications as possible which compromises ‘glanceability’ – the key experience benefit that wearables like the Apple Watch Ultra 2 provide. Apple should also start to think about accessibility on across the Apple Watch range as much as it does on a Mac. I have have worked bleary eyed from deep sleep, looked at the watch and not being able to read it until my focus kicks in. How could the haptics function in the Apple Watch be used better?

Less apps now support the Apple Watch than have done previously. The more apps that support a platform, the more likely you are to get at least some sticky experiences that add to the utility of the device.

It’s not a particularly stylish device to look at, but it also doesn’t lean into function in the same way that a Casio G-Shock does. This means that it could be better protected out of the box than it is.

The battery life is better than previous generations of Apple Watch, but it still creates battery anxiety. Unlike Casio or other manufacturers, there’s no solar top-up option.

I don’t know how precise the data is. It measures blood oxygen level but freely admits its data isn’t good enough to be used in a medical situation. If you move to an Apple device from a Garmin or similar, you may find that your step count and activity measures may vary.

Price-wise, it’s expensive. It does offer value for what it does, but it’s expensive. You can spend as much, if not more money on a G-Shock than an Apple Watch Ultra 2; but the G-Shock won’t be a worry on issues like obsolescence, software support or even battery replacement in the same way that the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is. I have G-Shocks that I have owned for almost 20 years and are perfectly fine. I won’t be able to say the same of any Apple Watch.

What’s its use?

Still a great question. When I had my first Apple Watch, I stopped using it after 48 hours for a few reasons:
- I couldn’t see a good user case coming thorough in the product at the time
- It was slow
- It had poor battery life
At the time Apple had thrown a number of things at the wall. There was a luxury line with a $17,000 version with a gold case and official third-party leather straps by Hermès. Apple still sells a Hermès co-branded range, but the gold models are no longer made.

In the intervening years Apple has committed to a number of areas:
- An extension of your phone, on your wrist.
- Integration with payments
- Integration with identity
- The quantified self
The use cases I have personally favoured included being an extension of my phone, when it rings my watch vibrates. But since I work most of the time at home and the phone sits on a stand in front of me, this tends to be only useful when I am out. Glanceable updates from a few apps, notably weather and my taxi app.

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 can work as a standalone phone attached to your existing number, but that depends on your mobile carrier supporting it. I didn’t opt for this for reasons relating to my current service plan with 3 UK.

Tracking activity and the quality of my sleep. The quantified self is the area where Apple really pushes now, as do third-party developers such as Strava.

Apple also allows integration with Apple wallet, but you have to turn your wrist in an awkward position to work with most ‘tap-and-go’ systems. It is just as easy to do it with your phone or card.

Finally, Apple and some car manufacturers have been looking at using Apple devices as your car key. I live in London and even if I did need a car, I would be going for a pre-owned vehicle.

Is it a watch?

Is the Apple Watch Ultra 2 actually a watch at first glance seems like a ridiculous proposition, if for no other reason than you have the word ‘watch’ twice in close succession.

But on closer examination, it’s a pertinent question. Watch sales actually dropped as cellphones became ubiquitous. You had the time in your pocket or purse and the phone went everywhere with you. If you went abroad on holiday, it even changed time zones unless you specifically set it not to do so.

Watches offered some benefits from using the cellphone as a portable clock.
- Easy to read / glanceable.
- An analogue face allowed you to visually understand elapsed time.
- It sent social signals in work about taking time seriously and likely punctuality.
- More broadly the watch demonstrates signals about style, wealth, taste and even sub-cultures. This can be especially true of luxury brands and the countless collaborations that Casio has done with its G-Shock range over the years.
- Finally, if you have an automatic movement watch or a solar powered quartz one, you don’t need to worry about a dead cellphone battery.
Smartwatches in general, have put a simplified version of your smartphone on your wrist. Depending who your mobile service provider is, your Apple Watch Ultra 2 can become a fallback phone, allowing you to leave it charging at home.

But as a watch it’s trying to do too many other things. Update you on your messages, provide a simplified experience of some apps (airlines and taxi services in particular) and activity tracking. All of which is squeezed into a screen area about an eighth the size of my smartphone’s screen.

This all comes with experience choices and compromises. It’s this lack of functional purity that is a moat between even the most technical G-Shock and an Apple Watch Ultra 2. Your watch will never compromise on telling you the time despite being a really shitty dive recorder or digital compass.

Yes you can spend the price of a Porsche; on a Patek Philippe watch with lots of complications, but realistically it’s an objet d’art that happens to look like a wrist watch. On that measure the Apple Watch Ultra 2 isn’t a watch, despite sitting on your wrist.

More information

On smart watches, I’ve decided to take the plunge | renaissance chambara

Wearable devices | renaissance chambara

Living with the Apple Watch | renaissance chambara
October 9, 2024

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