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Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 review

Casio's wsd-f20a wear os watch is classier, more reasonably priced than the original.

“The Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 is a good smartwatch with features too niche for most people.”

• Useful outdoor features
• Solid GPS functionality
• Clever dual-layer display
• Wear OS offers better user experience over 2.0
• Daylong battery
• No heart-rate monitor
• Bulky design, still not fully circular
• Fickle charging cable

Looking for an outdoor watch? Your mind may trickle to Casio, maker of the popular rugged G-Shock series. But if you want something different, take a look at Casio’s second-generation smartwatch, the Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20  or WSD-F20A . It runs Google’s Wear OS , meaning you get useful outdoor features, as well as the ability to see and interact with notifications from your phone. Not much has changed from last year’s WSD-F10 , but there’s finally GPS on board. In our Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 review, we find the addition of GPS to be useful, but the watch still is meant for a niche audience.

Bulky but not obtrusive

Casio hits the great outdoors, average battery life, warranty, pricing, and availability.

Update: Casio has released an updated model, the WSD-F20A. We’ve added more details about the watch mostly in the design and price section, and photos as well.

A big watch, no doubt, the Pro Trek WSD-F20 did manage to avoid feeling like we were wearing a brick on our wrist. It’s largely the same size as last year’s WSD-F10, but a little slimmer. We wouldn’t necessarily recommend this as an everyday watch because of the size, but its sturdy construction is a welcome benefit for something bound to take a beating while outdoors.

Casio also released the WSD-F20A, which has a slightly smaller case, and it uses stainless steel for the bezel as opposed to resin on the WSD-F20. We didn’t notice too much of a difference in size and weight, but we think it’s the most aesthetically pleasing version of the WSD-F20 available. It comes in a unique indigo-and-black color, and the markers on the bezel are slightly more subtle. Feature-wise, there’s nothing different about this model, but it is $100 cheaper.

The MIL-STD-810G-certified rugged design doesn’t mean the watch can just take a beating — you can also take it for a swim thanks to its water-resistance of up to 50 meters. The watch’s companion polyurethane band is also comfortable and easy to clean – be it sweat, mud, rain, or whatever the outdoors throws at you. For the regular WSD-F20, the orange color model is our favorite, but there’s also an all-black option if you want something a little more muted. There’s also a “limited-edition” white version of the device, but only 1,500 models of the Casio WSD-F20WE were made, and you can’t purchase it anymore.

While the 1.32-inch screen is large and easy to read, it’s not entirely being used. There’s still an out-of-place black bar at the bottom of the screen, which means it’s not entirely circular. It’s why the resolution is 320 × 300 pixels. This was a trend with a lot of early Android Wear ( now Wear OS ) smartwatches, such as the Moto 360 , but almost all circular Wear OS smartwatches no longer have a “flat tire” and feature fully circular screens. We would have liked to see an improvement here with the WSD-F20.

The resolution isn’t as sharp as many newer Wear OS watches either, and we would have liked it to be a lot brighter, but we’re fans of the dual-layer LCD technology that debuted on last year’s watch. Essentially, there’s a color LCD screen, where you can access Wear OS and special Casio outdoor features — but you can switch to the monochrome LCD, which only gives you the time and date and lets the watch last up to a month. Huawei implemented a similar feature in the Huawei Watch 2 , where you can turn off Wear OS to keep the watch alive for 25 days with just a simple watch face. It’s far more useful than walking around with a dead, blank smartwatch.

To navigate through the watch’s many applications and tools, three metal buttons flank the right side of the large watch face. After spending an afternoon learning the Pro Trek’s ins and outs, correctly utilizing these buttons became second nature. The Tool button on the top cycles through the watch’s compass, altimeter, and barometer, while the App button on the bottom brings up a map showing your location via its built-in GPS. The large button between the two doubles as the back button but also lets you access Wear OS applications. Press and hold it, and you will also be able to talk to the Google Assistant.

Google improved its smartwatch operating system with the release of Android Wear 2.0  last year. It features a better-looking interface that’s easier to use; the Google Play Store, where you can download apps to the watch itself; and the Google Assistant, an artificially intelligent assistant you can ask to perform functions, like send a message or set a reminder. A new update to Wear OS, the new name of Android Wear, is coming soon and will further improve the usability of the watch.

Like other Wear OS watches, the interface is easy-to-use. Dismissing a notification makes it disappear from your phone, and you can interact with a good amount of them — such as responding to emails or replying to a Facebook message. These functions work best when the watch is paired to an Android phone, as iOS capabilities are limited.

Responding to notifications can be awkward, but there thankfully are many options. You can use your voice and the watch will translate it into text; there’s a keyboard you can either tap to type or swipe; you can scribble emojis or letters to form sentences; or there’s Smart Reply, which uses on-device machine learning to offer up short responses based on the context of the conversation.

Access to the Play Store on the watch means you don’t have to crowd your phone with Wear OS apps — they can simply be installed on the watch. You’ll need Casio’s Moment Setter+ watch app to tweak Casio-specific features on the WSD-F20.

A new update to Wear OS is coming soon and will further improve the usability of the watch..

You can access Google Assistant by holding down the middle button, or by saying, “OK Google.” We found it fairly useful, especially to ask for things like the weather or to send messages, but you can also use it to control your smart home products like with Google Home devices.

One of our complaints last year was how the Wear OS interface looks out of place alongside the Casio features. The same is true again on the WSD-F20A. Wear OS looks sleek and minimal, while Casio’s software is noisy and cluttered. Casio’s interface matches the design of the watch, but it does look and feel jarring when you switch between the two. Casio does win points, though, for making this Wear OS watch look distinct when compared to other smartwatches.

Aside from its Wear OS capabilities, the Pro Trek’s strongest appeal rests with its bevy of outdoor features. Featuring a compass, altimeter, barometer, and tide graph, the watch affords a wealth of useful information right on your wrist — and helps consolidate the amount of equipment one might usually tote while outside.

We found it easy to tailor the Pro Trek’s watch face to whichever activity we were currently doing. For instance, if we were ascending a particularly steep hike, the Altitude face would show information relating to our climb, helping us assess how quickly we might reach the summit. If it was just directions we desired, the Traveler face (with its built-in compass) provided us with north, south, west, and east pointers to help keep us on track. In January 2018, Casio also launched the “Journey” watch face, which displays a map of your current location behind an analog watch face. Through Google Calendar events, the face will also show a map to your next destination.

All of the WSD-F20’s features are quickly accessible via the Tool button, making it incredibly easy to navigate to the tide chart, compass, and barometer. We did have to calibrate the watch before accessing some of these tools, but that took no more than a few seconds.

What makes this iteration of Casio’s Pro Trek especially useful is the watch’s integration of a working GPS. Capable of being presented in the style of Google Maps or the vector maps on Mapbox , the built-in GPS adds a unique element to an already feature-rich watch. While in the Google Maps interface, the watch quickly identified where it was located, producing a familiar map upon the immediate touch of the “App” side button. We liked how easy it was to mark places on the map via voice memo or simply touching the screen, a useful way to tag hidden hiking trails or alternate routes and passages – or simply note your favorite sushi spot.

The Pro Trek’s strongest appeal rests with its bevy of outdoor features.

Perhaps one of its best features is the integrated barometer, which uses atmospheric pressure to predict changes in the weather. Though much of our testing occurred during warm, summer days in Portland, Oregon, this feature allowed us to see even slight changes in pressure. As the dial rose and fell, we had a precise view on whether to prepare for rain or switch into a T-shirt to enjoy some sun.

Additionally, the Pro Trek offers five different tracking applications for use while trekking, fishing, cycling, kayaking, or skiing and snowboarding. These features track speed (average and top) and distance traveled, allowing for accurate, continuous recreational tracking for each activity. The trekking function even records ascent and descent statistics, which we found to add a unique (and fun) way to track hikes.

Like most smartwatches, Casio’s Pro Trek had a tough time lasting much longer than a day when we consistently used its buffet of features. We would have liked a longer-lasting battery, especially for a watch built to be used outdoors, but it’s on par with its competition.

That said, Casio does include that particularly useful way to turn off Wear OS in favor of the digital clock (via the monochrome LCD). In this mode, battery life extends to a whopping 30 days. This feature is especially critical for longer backpacking trips where we’d be able to switch off Wear OS when we didn’t need to know an area’s pressure density and simply turn it back on when we did.

Casio sadly hasn’t improved the charger. The proprietary charger magnetically connects to a port on the side of the watch, but the magnetic connection is weak. It easily disconnects when slightly moved, which is frustrating.

The Pro Trek is expensive, coming in at $500 — far more than most Wear OS smartwatches — and it does not have any cellular functionality. The WSD-F20A, on the other hand, is $100 less. We think it’s the one you should purchase. It’s available now at Casio’s website , as well as retailers such as Amazon , Macy’s, REI, Best Buy, and more.

The Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 and WSD-F20A have a standard limited warranty, which protects the watches from manufacturing defects up to one year from the date of purchase. It does not cover accidental damage.

The Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 is a good smartwatch with features too niche for most people. But if you’re an outdoors enthusiast that loves checking out data from barometers and altimeters, or even tracking the way you’ve traveled, you’ll like what the Pro Trek has to offer.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes. If you’re a looking for a simple smartwatch that looks good and can offer up notifications, check out the Movado Connect , Skagen Falster , or the Michael Kors Access Sofie  or Access Grayson . For more targeted fitness features, such as heart-rate monitoring and GPS, there’s the Huawei Watch 2 . Casio also announced the WSD-F30 recently , which will be released soon, so you may want to wait for a price drop on the WSD-F20 or F20A, or just buy the newer model.

Perhaps the closest in competition to Casio’s Pro Trek is Garmin’s Fenix 5X . A full-featured multi-sport watch that also boasts GPS, water-resistance, a compass, barometric altimeter, and a bevy of fitness-tracking options, the Fenix 5X does much of what the Pro Trek offers wearers and does so in style – that is, if you don’t mind the bulk. Clocking in at some $200 more, the premium price buys a premium experience as well as Garmin’s dedication to updating its software and companion application – which mean it might be the last watch any active outdoorsy type will ever need. You should also take a look at the Galaxy Watch from Samsung.

If you have an iPhone, your best bet is the Apple Watch Series 3 , which now boasts cellular connectivity so you can leave your phone behind.

How long will it last?

The Pro Trek WSD-F20 is MIL-STD-810G-certified, meaning it can take a beating. It’s also water resistant up to 50 meters. You’ll have a tough time breaking this watch, so it should last you quite a few years. It will likely only get software updates for two years at the most, so you may see some issues after that point. The battery will degrade over time as well, so every year you’ll see poorer and poorer battery life. Still, we expect this device to remain functional for three to four years.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you like what Wear OS has to offer and are interested in Casio’s outdoors functions, this watch may be for you. If not, there are plenty more affordable smartwatches to check out . We also recommend waiting for a price drop on the WSD-F20 or F20A, or simply purchasing the WSD-F30 when it’s released soon.

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Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 Watch Review

Casio calls their second generation smartwatch the “smart outdoor watch” – a fitting title for the very decent Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 that we see here. While Casio is the only of the three major Japanese watchmakers to embrace modern smartwatches, the segment of “intelligent connected timepieces” was arguably invented if not dramatically improved by companies such as Casio since the 1980s. Now in 2017, a smartwatch is by today’s definition, quite radically different from what the Japanese more or less invented over the last 30 years.

Modern smartwatches (at their best) are a merger between reliable, functional hardware and robust sophisticated software. While sometimes the same company produces both (e.g. Apple), most of the time in the context of smartwatches, the hardware and software are produced by different companies. This is very distinct from more traditional watches where the same company developed or at least had control of both the outside and “inside” of the watch. I always tend to keep this in mind when reviewing smartwatches, since it does change the way they are evaluated, given that there is both a hardware and software component to the review. In this case, the WSD-F20 runs Google Android Wear 2.0, with some exclusive software developed for Casio, inside of a piece of hardware produced by Casio. Thus, the operating system in many ways is a separate element, which merits it own review discussion that will be better explained elsewhere. This review is best for people who already have an understanding of what Android Wear 2.0 is and how to use it.

Smartwatch development is going in a predictable direction as far as I am concerned and timepieces like the Pro Trek Smart in some ways are transitional items of technology, but in other ways serve as excellent niche-appeal products which demonstrate that not all Android Wear 2.0 watches need to look and perform the same. Casio isn’t trying to reinvent the smartwatch segment, or outperform the competition on all levels. Rather, Casio hopes that the Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 will be the smartwatch of choice for those who want better than average durability and features designed especially for hiking and outdoor exploration – plus a connection to their smartphone and the Internet.

I first introduced the Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 here , which is a good place to go if you want to learn more about the product’s history and overall position compared to some of the competition out there. Note as well that the WSD-F20 is a follow-up product to Casio’s original smartwatch, which was the WSD-F10 (aBlogtoWatch review here) from the previous year. In many ways, the watches are similar – with a custom software layer for the “tools,” the watch case’s overall shape and size, as well as the overall wearing experience. Then again, the updates in the WSD-F20 over the WSD-F10 are probably compelling enough to merit an upgrade and offer new reasons to buy for those who were not persuaded by the WSD-F10.

New to the WSD-F20 from a marketing standpoint is the collection’s inclusion to the larger Pro Trek family of Casio watches. Long known for being a “hiker’s best friend,” the Pro Trek family of timepieces is the more outdoorsy cousin of the G-Shock. In reality, these two product worlds have come close to overlapping in many instances, and I think Casio is once again trying to make Pro Trek “its own thing.” By including the WSD-F20 smartwatch in the Pro Trek family, the first thing Casio has acknowledged in the durability of the collection. The upgrade to 50m of water resistance over 30m is a big part of that.

In order to make the WSD-F20 feel more like a Pro Trek watch, Casio redesigned the front bezel, which I actually agree is a bit more attractive as compared to the much more simple case of the original WSD-F10. Maintained is the watch’s assortment of included sensors such as a compass and barometer/altimeter module and the added GPS module. This not only puts the Casio WSD-F20 more in line with other competitive smartwatches, but helps the watch be that actual exploration watch a Pro Trek really needs to be.

Casio offers some nice features to help keep the WSD-F20 relevant where mobile phone signals can’t go. GPS isn’t that useful without being able to show you where you are, so the watch allows you to download (the watch has 4GB of internal storage as well as 512Mb of RAM) area maps for use on the watch when you don’t have any internet signal. I didn’t use this function, but I did use the overall maps feature (when connected) as part of Android Wear 2.0 on the watch, and it worked wonderfully. The Pro Trek Smart is finally the robust modern hiking gadget that fans of the range have waited over a decade for.

Given that the smartwatch market evolves so quickly, it is difficult to anticipate what products may come next as potential competitors to what Casio is doing with its Pro Trek Smart, namely the WSD-F20. Hikers and outdoor enthusiasts will likely try to compare products like the Casio WSD-F20 with other smartwatches meant to be taken outdoors from companies such as Apple, Suunto, and Garmin (among a few others). The same weakness applies to all of them, and that is battery life. No matter how useful these devices are (with or without a mobile internet connection) they still only have about 1-2 days of battery life. Less if you are constantly using features such as GPS, the maps, and even the compass or other tools.

Yes, you can recharge them in the field, but this isn’t always an easy task. Perhaps my biggest complaint with the WSD-F20 (and the model before it) is that Casio seems to have neglected the fact that people might want to charge these devices somewhere other than a stable surface. The WSD-F20 charges fast enough (no smartwatch battery is particularly large), but in order to charge it you still need to rely on a relatively flimsy magnetic cable. This system simply doesn’t work very well if you want to take your watch off for a bit and say, charge it via an external battery (as many people carry these days) in your backpack or bag. Yes, the charging cable will work, but without a way of more securely attaching the cable to the watch – unless you get creative with rubber bands and tape – the movement of simply walking around will disconnect the watch from the charger.

To be fair to Casio, most smartwatches are not designed to be charged while on the go – but that seems like a big mistake in my opinion. Casio would gain a lot of points by offering at the very least a clip-on charger so that your watch can charge while in a bag or even while on your wrist. Casio might also invest in an outdoor external battery with similar durability as the WSD-F20 that can charge the watch as well as other devices. I know for sure that I would trust a “G-Shock Battery” for my devices if Casio were to make one. Just the idea of it makes me want to buy one (given all the crappy external batteries I’ve had that inextricably become damaged while travelling – no explosions, yet).

Casio ProTrek Smart WSD-F20 Watches

Official WSD-F20 Series Description. Powered by Wear OS by Google, WSD-F20 comes equipped with a variety of features ideal for adventure, including GPS, Location Memory, Moment Setter, and more. Packed with Casio’s Triple Sensor technology, dual-layer LCD and water resistance, PRO TREK Smart is the rugged, stylish and versatile timepiece to enhance any outdoor experience.

Enjoy Japanese approaches to Travel and Functional ProTrek Watches!

ProTrek Philosophy . Every adventure needs a reliable partner. PRO TREK is exactly the kind of watch that you need to meet the demands of your interests. PRO TREK is equipped with functions such as solar power operation, a digital compass, an altimeter, a barometer and a thermometer. The combination of innovative technology, a robust precision movement and state-of-the-art design makes the PRO TREK the perfect companion for all adventures under the open sky. Mountain or valley? Forest or meadow? River or lake? No matter what awaits you, you will be well-prepared to make any rough terrain your own thanks to the PRO TREK. Experience for yourself how PRO TREK opens up new horizons while always pointing you in the right direction!

Triple Sensor . PRO TREK watches are equipped with the latest Triple Sensor, version 3 technology, making them even more accurate than before. Three highly sensitive, extremely small sensors measure with absolute precision and instantly display changes in your environment. The precision of the digital compass, altimeter, barometer and thermometer is only possible with the Triple Sensor technology. At the same time, the three layer sensor is 95% smaller and consumes 90% less energy than before.

Altimeter. For all those who set their sights high The built-in altimeter uses a pressure sensor to measure the current air pressure. The measured air pressure is then used to provide an “estimate” of the current altitude. The electronic mechanism in the watch is pre-programmed with “ISA values” (“International Standard Atmosphere”) used to convert pressure values into altitude values. The air pressure and temperature generally become lower as the altitude increases. These values define the connection between altitude, air pressure and temperature.

Barometer. The barometer measures the air pressures and displays tendencies in the weather. The higher a person goes (ascent/terrain), the lower the barometric pressure will be. An increase in air pressure usually signifies an improvement in the weather. A decrease in air pressure usually means that bad weather is on its way. The air pressure is displayed with an accuracy of 1 hPa (hectopascals). The barometer can measure and display a range from 260 hPa to 1100 hPa.

Digital Compass. The PRO TREK digital compass shows 16 compass points. The direction of magnetic north and the bearing are calculated by the compass’s directional sensor The directional sensor consists of two rectangular coils that detect slight tensions created by the earth’s magnetic field. Depending on the position and direction, these tensions vary in intensity. There is a non-magnetic resistance between the two coils, which absorbs the subtle changes in tension. With each new position, the values that are measured by the resistance change. A microprocessor converts the measurements so that they can be displayed clearly on your watch.

Thermometer. The thermometer is used to measure the outside temperature. The temperature is displayed with an accuracy of 0.1 °C. The thermometer can measure and display a range from -10.0°C to 60.0°C.

MOON PHASE DISPLAY . The moon moves through a regular 29.53 day cycle, during which it appears to become either smaller or larger due to the relative position between the earth, moon and sun. The larger the angle distance between the moon and the sun*, the more of the moon we see illuminated.n Europe, the change from summer to winter time is also completely automatic.

TIDE GRAPH DISPLAY. The tides refer to the periodic rise and fall of water in oceans, seas, bays and other bodies of water. This is caused mainly by the gravitation between earth, the moon and the sun. The tides rise and fall approximately every six hours. Always be aware of the tidal patterns . The watch can show the low and high tide phases for any given location or date. This can be quite useful, for example if you want to know the patterns of the tides at your destination in advance.

General Information

Feedback from users *accumulated information from our own comments and emails, forum threads, socials, reviews, etc.

PROs + is amazing, esp if you use Google products/apps. (It integrates with these (for texts, emails, etc)) + if you are into hiking/camping/bicycling/kayaking, etc – there are some great apps to help you and track your progress + the GPS feature really sets this watch apart (you can tell where you are in the WORLD at ANY time) + it tracks fitness activities better than a GearFit or Fitbit + this smartwatch is rugged and waterproof, a reflection of its auspicious G-Shock heritage

CONs – the battery does not last more than about 12-14 hours

WSD-F20 Model Range *may be updated

The most distinctive specs of WSD-F20 *Editorial — 50-meter water resistance (This watch can be worn when showering and bathing – it is tested for water resistance up to 5 bar according to ISO 22810) — Wear OS by Google™ (To connect the CASIO watch to a smartphone, the Wear OS by Google operating system must be installed on the device) — 4 GB internal memory (Large memory offers sufficient space for additional apps) — GPS function (Measures your current position using artificial satellites circling the globe) — Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n (If Wi-Fi is enabled on your watch, it will automatically establish a connection to a known, available Wi-Fi network (if the watch is not connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth®) — Bluetooth® Smart (The watch is equipped with energy-saving Bluetooth® technology, which offers power-saving data transfer at the push of a button) — Mobile link (Wireless linking using Bluetooth(R)) (for time sync with your phone data) — MIL-STD-810G compliant (The MIL-STD-810 is a U.S. military technical standard that specifies environmental test conditions for military equipment) — Double LCD – 320 x 300 (The display consists of two overlapping, independent LCDs. The monochrome display provides an excellent level of readability, even in difficult lighting conditions) — Touchscreen (The watch is equipped with a touchscreen, which allows a wide range of functions to be adjusted quickly and intuitively using familiar touchscreen controls.) — Fishing Timer (Know when they are biting. The watch displays a fish symbol when it is the perfect time for fishing) — Digital compass (measures and displays direction as one of 16 points) — Thermometer (can measure and display the outside temperature in a range from -10 C to 60 C) — Barometer (measures the air pressures and displays tendencies in the weather) — Altimeter (The electronic mechanism “estimates” the altitude based on the air pressure) — Moon Data (The moon phase indicator shows the current moon phase based to the earth) — Tide indicator (Once the high tide time has been entered for a selected location, the watch can display the low and high tide phases at this location on any given date) — Gyrometer (The gyro sensor shows you every little change in direction during navigation, ensuring you always reach your destination) — Acceleration sensor (The motion sensor responds to acceleration and shows this as a speed on the display. The sensor also supports the auto rotation function of the watch, ensuring that the image is always displayed the right way up on the display) — Microphone (Make your daily life easier using practical voice commands spoken directly into the microphone on your watch)

Official WSD-F20 Video

Other ProTrek WSD Watches *similar by price and functions but different by cases

These are not all ProTrek WSD Series. Here is a list of All ProTrek WSD Watches →

ProTrek WSD-F20 on the wrist!

Official WSD-F20 Specs / Features *for base version WSD-F20-RG

• Wear OS by Google™ To connect the CASIO watch to a smartphone, the Wear OS by Google operating system must be installed on the device. Wear OS by Google offers a variety of pre-installed apps for outdoor activities. Additional compatible apps can be installed on the watch from the Google Play Store if desired.
• 4 GB internal memory Large memory offers sufficient space for additional apps.
• 512 MB RAM 512 MB of RAM available.
• Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n) If Wi-Fi is enabled on your watch, it will automatically establish a connection to a known, available Wi-Fi network (if the watch is not connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth®).
• Bluetooth® Smart The watch is equipped with energy-saving Bluetooth® technology, which offers power-saving data transfer at the push of a button. The watch can connect to a smartphone wirelessly via Bluetooth®, enabling access to a wide range of useful functions.
• Smartphone time Local time will automatically be adjusted whenever the watch is connected with a smartphone.
• Super Illuminator At the touch of a button, the display can be brightly illuminated in a fashionable color
• MIL-STD-810G compliant The MIL-STD-810 is a U.S. military technical standard that specifies environmental test conditions for military equipment. The standard defines tests for the compatibility of equipment and devices with extreme temperatures and air pressures, solar radiation, humidity, chemicals, acceleration forces and vibrations.
• Double LCD (320 x 300) The display consists of two overlapping, independent LCDs. The monochrome display provides an excellent level of readability, even in difficult lighting conditions. The colour display can show graphical or colourful measured data in an optimal way and provides a clear overview of the content.
• Touchscreen The watch is equipped with a touchscreen, which allows a wide range of functions to be adjusted quickly and intuitively using familiar touchscreen controls.
• Sunrise/sunset display After entering the geographical location, sunrise and sunset times can be displayed for any given date.
• Fishing Timer Know when they are biting. The watch displays a fish symbol when it is the perfect time for fishing.
• Barometer (260 / 1.100 hPa) A special sensor measures the air pressure (measuring range: 260 / 1100 hPa) and presents this on the display in the form of a symbol. This enables early detection of weather trends.
• Digital-compass A built-in direction sensor detecs the magnetic north.
• 10,000 m Altimeter A pressure sensor detects changes in the air pressure and converts the result into an altitude up to 10,000 m.
• Altimeter data memory Depending on the model, up to 40 sets of elevation data can be stored in the watch’s data memory and re-accessed at any time. Each of these data sets consists of a measured altitude as well as the date and time. In addition to the individual altitudes, the maximum and minimum altitudes during a measurement are also stored.
• Moon Phase Indicator The moon phase indicator shows the current moon phase based to the earth
• Tide indicator Once the high tide time has been entered for a selected location, the watch can display the low and high tide phases at this location on any given date. This can be quite useful, for example, if you want to know the patterns of the tides at your destination in advance.
• Gyrometer Ideal for outdoor activities: The gyro sensor shows you every little change in direction during navigation, ensuring you always reach your destination. The sensor detects the smallest movements of the watch and acts against this by supporting optical image stabilisation or the alignment of the display.
• Acceleration sensor The motion sensor responds to acceleration and shows this as a speed on the display. The sensor also supports the auto rotation function of the watch, ensuring that the image is always displayed the right way up on the display.
• GPS function Measures your current position using artificial satellites circling the globe.
• World time function Displays the current time in major cities and specific areas around the world.
• Vibration alert The vibration alarm discreetly reminds you of important appointments, without emitting a loud signal.
• Airplane Mode (Offline Mode) At the touch of a button, the watch switches to offline mode. This means that you can disable the wireless or GPS receiver when in the air for the duration of the flight.
• Microphone Make your daily life easier using practical voice commands spoken directly into the microphone on your watch. For example, you can start a Google search by saying “OK Google” — without the need to touch the display, or even take your smartphone out of your pocket. Many actions can be performed via the microphone using voice commands.
• Mineral glass The tough mineral glass resists scratching.
• Resin band Synthetic resin is the ideal material for wrist straps thanks to its extremely durable and flexible properties.
• Battery level indicator An indicator shows the current battery level.
• Water resistance classification (5 bar) This watch can be worn when showering and bathing – it is tested for water resistance up to 5 bar according to ISO 22810.
• Dimensions (H x W x D) 61,7mm x 57,7mm x 15,3mm
• Weight approx. 90 g

WSD-F20 Comparison Table with similar ProTrek Watches

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You ask, we answer…

It’s wireless linking using Bluetooth(R) (for time sync with your phone data).

It measures and displays direction as one of 16 points.

It’s the electronic mechanism that “estimates” the altitude based on the air pressure.

It measures the air pressures and displays tendencies in the weather.

The gyro sensor shows you every little change in direction during navigation, ensuring you always reach your destination.

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Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 review: Tracking all your adventures, for a high price

Published on April 2, 2019

Casio’s latest take on the smartwatch is here to cover your adventures near and far. Whether taking a stroll around the local park or hiking through rugged mountains, the Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 keeps you on the map. The Wear OS platform provides a powerful foundation for Casio’s capable trekking software. If you’re the type to abandon society for a weekend to enjoy the great outdoors, the F30 might be for you. 

Here is Android Authority ‘s Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 review.

Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 review: The big picture

Casio makes all sorts of watches, but it is mostly well known for its sports and rugged timepieces. Casio has long targeted fitness-minded folks over the years. The Pro Trek series takes the rugged design of Casio’s G-Shock series and adds Wear OS for some extra smarts.

The Pro Trek WSD-F30 is a hardened smartwatch that’s more for outdoor adventurers than fitness hounds. It lacks a heart rate monitor , which may be a deal breaker for some. Despite this omission, the F30 covers a lot of ground thanks to the associated app for tracking all your outdoor activities. If you’re looking for a device to record the metrics of your mountainous escapades, the F30 is one to do it.

The watch is expensive, however, and competing rugged watches offer many of the same features for hundreds less. Is the F30 worth its lofty price tag?

• Resin housing
• Stainless steel bottom
• Urethane strap
• 60.5 by 53.8 by 14.9mm

The WSD-F30 looks exactly like an outdoor trekking watch should look. That it to say, it is big and bulky. At more than half an inch thick, it knows its role is to stand out on your wrist. It comes in black, blue, and orange with exposed metal parts to give it that tough appearance. It holds nothing back.

Much of the housing is plastic. The bezel and main chassis are made from a resin material. Only the bottom of the watch is covered in stainless steel. This isn’t to say it’s chintzy. The watch meets MIL-STD-810G for durability. That means it can handle extreme cold, big jumps in elevation, fog/moisture, and of course lots of physical abuse as you scramble over rocks or blaze down some killer single track on your mountain bike. It holds up. I left it out in the rain overnight and it came in the next morning none the worse for wear. Speaking of water, it is resistant to 5 atmospheres, so feel free to take it for a swim, paddle, or even some shallow dives.

The straps are made of two materials, a soft rubber on the inside and a harder plastic on the outside. I really like that it has 14 (yes, 14!) holes to catch the buckle. This means you can get the sizing exactly right. You can swap the straps out if you wish thanks to the lever near the hinge. I found the F30 comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. You may find that jacket sleeves catch the watch from time to time.

As for the hardware’s functionality, the F30 mostly gets things right. My favorite feature is the charger. Yes, Casio uses a proprietary connector to charge the watch, but it’s magnetic and attaches to the watch like the magsafe connectors on Apple laptops. I would normally boo at a proprietary port. Casio’s magnetic charger is cool, though, and attaches / detaches easily.

Three huge buttons are on the right side. They are metal colored, though the buttons are actually made of plastic. The central button it the main power button. Pressing it also opens the app drawer and launches Google Assistant. The upper button is dedicated to maps. Pressing it pulls up your location on the screen. The lower button is for the Casio Tool, or the outdoorsy stuff.

I’m just gonna go ahead and say it: These buttons are terrible. You won’t have any problem finding them (even when wearing gloves), but the action is total mush and it’s hard to tell if you’ve even pushed them. Truly, these buttons are bad. The buttons on the older WSD-F20 watch from Casio are perfect. It’s hard to understand how Casio got these so wrong.

The F30 is not an elegant timepiece to wear to the theater on a Saturday night, and it’s not trying to be. It unapologetically stands out. Some competing fitness watches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active , strike a better balance between function and form as far as looks go.

• 1.2-inch OLED
• 1.2-inch LCD (overlaid)
• 390 x 390 pixels, 459ppi

The F30 sports a dual-layer display, allowing you to experience full color during app use and monochrome when simply using it as a watch. It’s a neat idea and helps save battery life in some circumstances.

The main screen is an OLED panel . It looks very good. The pixel density is more than adequate for resolving detail on the display when looking at maps and such. The color looks accurate and isn’t oversaturated. Viewing angles are good, meaning it’s easy to glean the time without fully raising the watch up. It could be a little brighter.

When the monochrome LCD is on, it shows the time, date, battery life, and sensor readings. I found it to be plenty readable outdoors. It, too, has solid viewing angles.

My only real complaint about the screen is the size. At 1.2 inches, it feels cramped when compared to watches with 1.4-inch screens. I wish it were a hair bigger, though I realize that would impact the already-formidable size of the F30.

Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100
• 4GB storage

I didn’t run into any performance snafus with the F30. It’s not running the newest or fastest chip in the world, and for the price it should have more memory and more storage. These limitations didn’t appear to impact the watch’s ability to run fluidly or smoothly.

Apps opened surprisingly quickly, and screens such as the app drawer didn’t exhibit any lag when scrolling through. The GPS location is particularly speedy. It can pinpoint you in just a couple of seconds. This is vital for true outdoors folks.

There are tons of sensors inside the F30 and they all functioned as expected. The watch has a magnetometer for finding direction. The compass takes a few minutes to calibrate and might need to be re-calibrated every once in a while. The altimeter measures altitude up to 32,000 feet. I didn’t scale Mt. Everest to test that, but the watch did accurately show me the ups and downs of my favorite local trail. A barometer measures air pressure and can show you trends in the mercury so you can spot possible changes in the weather. The F30 also provides tide and sunrise/sunset data culled from online sources. I really like that you can set your local port for the most accurate tide details.

As noted, there’s no heart rate monitor. This watch isn’t the type you wear to bed for sleep cycle tracking , either.

• Lithium ion
• Casio proprietary charger

Casio isn’t saying what capacity the F30’s battery holds. Whether it’s 300mAh or 400mAh, we simply don’t know. What we do know, however, is how long the battery lasts.

The F30 has three modes of operation as far as the battery is concerned: normal, extend mode, and multi-timepiece mode.

Normal mode is exactly what it means. When using all the features of the watch, including consistent GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi with the color screen on, you’ll get 1.5 days of battery life. Extensive GPS use may drag that down a bit, but the F30 does consistently last exactly 1.5 days on a single charge.

Extend mode drops the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections and makes more aggressive use of the monochrome LCD. Casio says the F30 will last about three days on a charge in extend mode. Casio envisions the watch being used in this manner for a weekend camping. You can still use GPS and see color maps. When testing this mode, the F30 lasted just under three days. It was more like 2.75 days, or from 8am one morning to mid-afternoon on the third day.

Then there’s multi-timepiece mode, which is the F30 at its most basic. When this mode is on, the watch only displays the time and sensor data on the monochrome LCD. This mode cuts power use by a huge factor, allowing the watch to last up to 30 days on a single charge. I easily got the F30 through a week in this mode and it still had plenty of juice left in the tank.

The bottom line here is that you have some degree of control over the battery. I do wish the watch got two days of normal mode use, but 1.5 isn’t terrible.

• Bluetooth 4.1
• GPS/GLONASS

Using the watch for several weeks, I was able to assess location performance in urban environments as well as out in the woods. Casio knows how to do GPS. The F30 is a mapping beast. Your pinpointed location is never more than a single button press away. Accuracy is outstanding. In New York City, the F30 was able to show me which side of the street I was on. On the trail, the GPS kept track of a hike perfectly. You can’t ask for better GPS performance.

The F30 connects to your phone via Bluetooth 4.1. Pairing via the Wear OS app on my Pixel 3 XL was easy. Once paired, the watch and phone remained connected as long as they were in range of one another. Range is quite good, covering the full 10m radius from the phone. I didn’t miss any real-time alerts, such as incoming messages, due to a dropped connection. One bummer is that the F30 itself doesn’t support media storage / playback. You can control music playing from your phone via the watch, but you can’t store songs on the watch and listen over Bluetooth headphones . This is a feature many less expensive smartwatches have.

Last, there’s Wi-Fi. The F30 will automatically connect to whatever Wi-Fi network your phone is attached to. This is great when you wander out of Bluetooth range from your phone. It also helps when downloading maps.

There’s no LTE option.

• Wear OS 2.6 by Google
• Casio Moment app

Wear OS gets a bad rap from many and it’s mostly deserved . That said, the latest version thereof is easily the best and most capable. Together with the phone-based Wear OS app, owners of the F30 have plenty of control over the experience. Casio didn’t do too much to change Wear OS, though it did add several of its own tools.

The F30 offers myriad swappable watch faces with quick access to notifications, Assistant , settings, and Google Fit. These are all reached by swiping up, down, left, and right. Wear OS runs smoothly on the watch.

The biggest additions are the map and tool features. As mentioned earlier, a press of the upper button instantly opens Google Maps and pinpoints your location. From this screen, you can zoom in or out, as well as perform searches in the area for nearby coffee shops and such. The point navigation tool is helpful. This lets you drag the map to the place you want to go and get directions to that spot. You can also download up to five maps for offline use. Remember, the GPS radio works everywhere, so downloaded maps will still provide real-time location as you move around. This is clutch for those times you’re deep in the woods and cell signal is nowhere to be found.

The tool app provides access to all your local metrics, including air pressure, direction, elevation, tides, and such. If you need to quickly assess whether or not you’re going to make it out of the woods before dark, the tool app will provide the answer. I like that it is customizable and can be set to show a specific metric first.

The Casio Moment app is meant to help you reach goals. Whether you’re mountain biking or kayaking, the app allows you to set specific targets, such as elevation gains, or distance traveled. These are tied to activities being monitored through the watch, such as trekking or skiing. It is easy enough to walk through the app and set goals. When you’re done, the app catalogs your activity and can export it to a PC if you want to further examine the results. The app is free to download from the Google Play Store , though it is not needed to use the watch.

Value for the money

This is where Casio runs into some trouble. The Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 costs a sobering $549. I understand that stuffing all these sensors into the waterproof, rugged chassis is no small feat of engineering. The watch can handle all sorts of abuse on the trail, beach, or street. The powerful software allows you to measure incredible amounts of detail concerning your activities.

Sadly, the F30 costs far more than much of its competition. Many Wear OS devices, including some semi-rugged options, hover in the $250 to $350 range. The new Galaxy Watch Active from Samsung is just $199, and the Gear S3 Frontier is only $229. The $549 price point of the F30 far exceeds these. Only a handful of Garmin watches, which focus heavily on GPS features, cost as much as the Casio.

The math is not in Casio’s favor.

Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30: The verdict

The Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 is a tough sell. There’s no question that the watch is durable and capable. It handled plenty of abuse in various conditions and allows you to collect more data about your activities than most any other watch I’ve encountered. The offline, real-time map and GPS functionality could potentially be a lifesaver, and it’s very accurate. The dual screen design gives you control over battery life, though the watch most often lasts only about 1.5 days per charge. All the radios work very well. I wish the buttons weren’t so mushy. Surely some will be put off by the lack of heart rate monitor .

The Wear OS platform has its limitations, and yet it ran very well on the F30. Moreover, Casio’s dedicated activity apps are powerful and produce real results.

The watch really loses its appeal, however, when you consider the price. You can find watches that are nearly as capable for hundreds of dollars less. As much as it has going for it, I’d only recommend the F30 for die-hard adventurers who really need or want the advanced tracking capabilities. People who are only casually adventurous might be best served by something less expensive.

This concludes our Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 review. What do you think, will you buy the F30?

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Hiking Gear and Adventures

Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 – Outdoor GPS Watch with Android Wear 2.0

Casio Pro Trek Smart

For many, Casio might stand as the quintessential manufacturer of high quality sports watches, but regrettably the brand has fallen behind the competition (namely Suunto and Garmin) in the area of outdoor watches. Until 2012 Casio Pro Trek watches offered features and functionality comparable to Suunto’s outdoor watches such as Suunto Core (first released in 2007 but redesigned since then) and Suunto Vector (discontinued in 2015). These watches were equipped with altimeter, barometer and digital compass and were often referred to as ABC watches.

However, in 2012 the first proper GPS watches aimed towards hikers, trekkers and mountaineers were introduced; Suunto released the Ambit series watches and Garmin its Fenix series watches. In addition to ABC (altimeter, barometer and compass), these watches feature built-in GPS for tracking and navigation which is indeed very useful for outdoor activities such as hiking and trekking. However, Casio decided not to follow the competition and thus didn’t develop any watches with built-in GPS and support for tracking and navigation. Now, 5 years after the first outdoor GPS watches were released, Casio has finally announced the release of a new Pro Trek Smart series watches with built-in GPS.

Unlike Suunto and Garmin watches which use custom-made operating systems, the Casio Pro Trek watches will use Android Wear 2.0. The new Casio Pro Trek watches will thus allow you to use Android Wear apps on the watch. Every Pro Trek Smart watch will come with several apps developed by Casio. These apps will make the watch suitable for outdoor activities such as hiking and trekking (for example app for navigation, activity tracking etc.). According to Casio, the new Pro Trek Smart watch will, via one of the Casio apps, even be able to show a topographic map on its colorful 1.3-inch display. Such a feature would indeed be very useful as it allows you to see the terrain that awaits you and thus choose the optimal route to your destination, avoiding large bodies of water and other obstacles. However, Casio is not the first to introduce topographic mapping in outdoor watches – the recently announced Garmin Fenix 5X watch will also support maps and is expected to be released in March 2017.

Note:   Several smartwatches released before Casio and Garmin Fenix 5X have the capability to show maps on the display but none of them features built-in GPS or an adequately robust design for outdoor activities such as hiking, trekking, climbing etc.

1. Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 Specifications

2. casio pro trek smart wsd-f20 preview.

Casio Pro Trek Smart Collection

The product is suitable for:

• Everyday use
• Mountaineering
• Backpacking

Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 Collection

The Casio Pro Trek Smart collection consists of two watches; WSD-F20-RG and WSD-F20-BK. The watches differ only by the color of the case – the WSD-F20-RG has an orange case while the WSD-F20-BK has a black case. Both watches come with an AC adaptor and a special charging cable. They are both expected to be released on the 21 st of April 2017.

What is on the outside?

Casio Pro Trek Smart – Design

Casio has not yet provided the information about the materials of the watch. However, it seems like the watch is equipped with a silicone band and has a case made of composite materials. The bezel seems to be made of plastic, unlike at the high end Suunto and Garmin watches which typically have stainless steel bezels. Nevertheless, Casio states that the watch meets MIL-STD-810 standard (United States military standard for durability) and thus it is to be expected that the watch will provide good sturdiness. It is not yet clear if the watch will come with a mineral crystal or Sapphire lens. It would be a great advantage if the watch comes with a Sapphire lens for those who often do technically challenging hikes as mineral crystal lenses get scratched very fast on cliffs and rocks and nobody wants to wear an expensive watch with a severely scratched display.

The watch is also quite bulky – its dimensions are 61.7 × 56.4 × 15.3 mm which means that it is bigger than the Garmin Fenix 5X (the biggest watch from Garmin’s Fenix 5 series) with the dimensions of 51 x 51 x 17.5 mm. Therefore, those with narrow wrists (especially women) might have problems wearing it.

The 1.3-inch dual-layer display (touchscreen) combines monochrome and color LCD. In time mode the watch uses the monochrome LCD for reduced battery consumption while in other modes it uses the color LCD with a resolution of 320 x 300 pixels. How useful a touchscreen is on an outdoor watch is discussable, but keep in mind that you might have problems using it with gloves on.

The Casio Pro Trek Smart watch also has three buttons on the right side; a tool button, power button and app button. The buttons allow you to navigate through menus and can be assigned specific functions. The watch also features a water-resistant microphone which’s functionality depends on the apps and Android Wear features.

What is inside?

The features of the Casio Pro Trek Smart watch include barometer, barometric altimeter, digital compass and built-in GPS capabilities. The functionality of this hardware is highly dependent on the Android Wear apps.

Casio Pro Trek Smart – Maps

GPS Capabilities

In addition to the GPS, Casio Pro Trek Smart watches also support Russian Glonass and Japanese Michibiki . Therefore, the watch has plenty of satellites at its disposition and is thus more likely to get a satellite fix in narrow valleys, dense woods etc. The Casio Pro Trek Smart watches are the first watches to support the Japanese Michibiki positioning system.

Note: Casio states that Glonass support will be added soon after the release via software update. When Suunto released its first Glonass compatible watches (such as Suunto Traverse and Ambit 3 Vertical ), the Glonass support was also added after the release.

Casio’s Pre-installed Apps

Casio Pro Trek Smart watches will come with several Casio apps for Android Wear; Casio Moment Link, TOOL, Moment Setter and Activity.

Casio Pro Trek Smart – Activity App

The Activity app supports several sport modes such as trekking, cycling, paddling, fishing and skiing. The app shows a topographic map and your location on it. The maps also work without internet access but they do have to be downloaded in advance. The app uses Mapbox’s maps which are also used by Suunto’s Movescount app .  Additionally, the app can also show other GPS-based data such as your current speed, elevation etc.

The Moment Setter app triggers a notification when pre-set conditions are met – for example you can set the app to trigger the notification when you have walked the distance of 10 kilometers. This app could actually come in very handy for hiking, trekking etc. However, it all depends on the final version of it and it is not yet clear which kinds of conditions will you be able to set (altitude, coordinates etc.).

In the TOOL app you can access compass, altimeter, barometer, sunrise/sunset times, tide graph and activity graph.

Casio Pro Trek Smart – Moment Link App

The Moment Link app shows your friends’ current locations on the map (if they also use the Moment Link app) and allows you to send them messages (you can use the watch’s microphone to compose the message). However, this app requires that you have internet access (through your smartphone) and GPS signal. It also doesn’t work with iOS devices.

Connectivity

The Casio Pro Trek Smart watch comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth connectivity allows you to connect the watch to a smartphone. When connected, you can see emails, texts, alerts etc. from the phone directly on the watch. Furthermore, Bluetooth connectivity also allows you to connect other devices to the watch such as a Bluetooth heart rate belt, Casio action cameras (you can control the camera directly from the watch) etc. Wi-Fi connectivity can be used to download the maps.

Preliminary Verdict

The Casio Pro Trek Smart watch will be priced similarly to Garmin Fenix 5 and Suunto Spartan , but the question is if it can really compete against these two watches as both Suunto and Garmin have much more experience with producing outdoor GPS watches than Casio.

My main concerns regarding the hiking/mountaineering functionality of the new Casio Pro Trek watch are:

• Will the watch allow you to import GPX routes for easier navigation on the trails? I regularly use this feature on my Suunto Ambit 2 watch (it just makes navigation so much easier) and I’m definitely not buying a watch which doesn’t support it. Keep in mind that both Garmin and Suunto have their own web apps ( Connect IQ and Movescount ) which allow you to draw GPX routes on the map and import them to the watch. Casio at the moment doesn’t have such software so I guess that the brand relies on third-party apps to offer this functionality.
• Will the watch record your activities and where will you be able to review them? In Garmin Connect IQ and Suunto Movescount apps you can see the routes of your hikes drawn on a map and other information such as distance, duration, calorie consumption, ascent etc.
• Casio doesn’t mention heart rate monitor support. I regularly use heart rate monitor because it allows me to maintain a steady pace on my hikes. It is, however, likely that a heart rate monitor can be supported as the watch has Bluetooth. Nevertheless, Suunto and Garmin are introducing wrist-based heart rate monitors (no chest strap required) to their high-end watches and I would definitely like that my next hiking watch has it – it’s more comfortable and you don’t have to roll up you shirt to put the strap on (which is annoying in cold weather).
• What is the battery life of the watch in GPS mode? Casio doesn’t give any specific information regarding that.
• The watch seems slightly bulky – it’s bigger than the outdoor GPS watches from both Suunto and Garmin. However, it is not significantly heavier.
• Casio relies heavily on third-party software including Android Wear. Basically the majority of the watch’s functionality is dictated by third-party software.

Nevertheless, it is completely possible that the Casio Pro Trek Smart watch will surprise us with its functionality when released. To see against which watches the Pro Trek Smart competes against, check our review of the Best Watches for Hiking .

Note:   Casio Pro Trek Smart watch was released in April, 2017.

• Topographic Maps
• Michibiki Support
• Dual Display
• Relies heavily on third-party software
• No wrist-based heart rate monitor

Where to buy?

Casio Men's 'Pro Trek' Resin Outdoor Smartwatch, Color:Orange (Model: WSD-F20-RGBAU)

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Outdoor enthusiast with experience in all types of hiking and mountaineering. Hiked in the Alps, Iceland and other countries. In love with via ferrata trails and snow-covered slopes. Check out my hikes .

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Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 Review

An Android Wear watch for hikers

• Page 1 Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 Review
• Page 2 Fitness Tracking Review
• Page 3 Software, Battery Life and Verdict Review
• Plenty of sensors
• Great hiking features
• Versatile two-layer screen
• A bit bulky
• Typical Android Wear battery life
• Low-end CPU

Key Specifications

• Review Price: £450.00
• Android Wear 2.0
• Dual-core 1GHz Cortex-A7 CPU
• Magnetometer

What is the Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20?

The Casio WSD-F20 is a watch made for active people. It looks more like a top-end runner’s watch, rejecting the style-obsessed blueprint of the majority of smartwatches.

But this isn’t an everyday sport watch, because it runs Android Wear. It’s Casio’s second Android Wear watch, following the WSD-F10.

This new version doesn’t radically improve battery life but it does add GPS, making it a much better tracker of outdoor activities. However, serious athletes may still prefer the Garmin Forerunner 935 or Fenix 5X , thanks to superior battery life – even if they have less smartwatch credibility.

Casio WSD-F20 – Design and Display

The Casio WSD-F20 wears its size as if to prove its serious sports watch status. Although it isn’t distinctly thicker than some more normal-looking Wear watches, its face is oversized and the bezel super-chunky.

Related: Best smartwatch

Like a true dedicated sports watch, however, its bulk makes it easier to fit in proper ruggedisation. As well as having a screen recessed beneath its surround – which makes smashing the glass far less likely – the Casio WSD-F20 has been tested against the MIL-STD-810G standard. This encompasses a whole series of ‘military-grade’ conditions for temperature, pressure, shock impact and more.

Probably the most important offering is water resistance. The Casio WSD-F20 is water-resistant up to 50 metres, or five atmospheres of pressure. It sounds impressive, but as a result of the added pressure caused by your movement, this actually only equates to “swim-proofing”. Digging deeper into Casio’s documentation, diving and windsurfing aren’t recommended while wearing this watch.

It’s a shame, but this isn’t the main premise of such a watch – nor alternatives such as the Garmin Fenix 5. I find the Casio WSD-F20 less comfortable than the Fenix 3 , but this is largely a result of the latter’s more flexible, better-ventilated strap. There isn’t too much in it as – despite the bulk – this watch isn’t uncomfortably heavy.

The Casio WSD-F20 does feel pretty solid, although not quite as overtly as some of Garmin’s best. While the inner frame of the watch is stainless steel, the outer parts of the shell are plastic.

The screen is covered with “mineral glass”, which isn’t as hard as Sapphire. However, thanks to the chunky raised bezel, I can see trouble only if the face lands directly on a rock. That’s would be bad news no matter what the coating, though. The glass also has an amusingly dubbed “anti-fouling” coating, designed to repel finger marks and other stains.

This watch looks the part, although I do much prefer the sober design of the Garmin Fenix 5. All that bright white text around the bezel is a bit much, particularly when you should be able to memorise the functions of the three buttons without too much effort.

All three buttons sit on the right side of the watch. One is the standard Android Wear button, flicking between the apps menu and watch face. The top one launches the ‘Tool’ part of the Casio WSD-F20, offering such functionality as a compass. The bottom button launches the main location-tracking app. We’ll deal with these parts in more detail on the next page.

First let’s tackle the screen, which is one of the more interesting parts of the Casio WSD-F20. It’s a circular display aside from a small, inoffensive cut-out at the bottom; it uses a two-layer LCD panel.

When used normally, you see a standard 1.32-inch colour LCD screen of 320 x 300 pixels. It’s reasonably sharp, lacking the slight fuzziness you get with OLEDs that aren’t particularly pixel dense. However, outdoors, visibility isn’t as good as the Samsung Gear S3 ’s bright OLED display or the Garmin Fenix 5’s screen, which feeds off ambient light.

With one of the simpler watch faces, the Casio WSD-F20 switches to a non-backlit monochrome second layer when not in use, which helps to save battery. This layer is transflective, made clearer on a sunny day rather than diminished by it.

The watch also has a watch-only Timepiece mode that extends the battery from a day or so to a month. It’s handy if all you’ll want is a watch some of the time – and it also gets rid of any outdoors visibility issues since it just uses the secondary display layer.

Display quality isn’t jaw-dropping, with a slight recessed look to the main display layer, but the duo-personality style makes up for this.

Andrew Williams is a technology writer, who has contributed to Stuff, WIRED, TechRadar, T3, Wareable and, of course, Trusted Reviews. Here he test and reviews some of newest mobile, audio and camera d…

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Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 review

Interesting, but flawed.

TechRadar Verdict

The Casio Pro Trek WSD F30 has a much better design than its predecessor, but the combination of hiking and Wear OS is still an awkward one.

Clever two-layer screen

Smart hiker software features

Tough casing

Poorly designed charger

Slow charging

No heart rate monitor or NFC

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

• Introduction, design and display
• Battery life, fitness and specs

The Casio Pro Trek WSD F30 is one of just a few truly interesting Wear OS watches. Sure, it still suffers from the usual pitfalls of the platform. Battery life is dismal if you actually use it freely, and its fitness functions fit into the software rather awkwardly.

However, it has meaningful software additions for hikers. Casio has also added modes for those who like to fish, and kayakers. But the Casio Pro Trek WSD F30 makes most sense for hikers, ramblers, walkers, fell runners and other on-foot adventure activities.

As with the previous generations of Casio WSD watches, you’re left wondering why you shouldn’t just go and buy something like a Garmin Fenix 5 Plus , though.

To make the Casio Pro Trek WSD F30 last long enough for a weekend of trekking you have to limit its features, and only use navigation sparingly. And just like the Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 , the charger is infuriating enough to get a mention right at the beginning of this review.

In terms of fit and look, at least, the Casio Pro Trek WSD F30 is a major improvement over the WSD F20. Casio has slimmed down the casing to make wearing one a far less embarrassing spectacle.

The watch costs $550 (£449, around AU$900). That makes it one of the most expensive Wear OS watches, but a chunk cheaper than the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus at the time of review.

• Slimmed design
• 5ATM water resistance
• Military spec tested in nine areas

Casio’s main design goal for the Casio Pro Trek WSD F30 appears to be “make it smaller”. We were not fans of the WSD F20’s oversized look. And while this follow-up is still large and bulky, it seems more a chunky watch, less a plastinated funeral pyre for some middle-aged man’s dwindling testosterone and hairline.

There’s still plenty of macho bravado to the Casio Pro Trek WSD F30, though. Great big shiny bolts on its sides appear to be part of the strap hinge, but are not. The buttons on the side are aggressively embossed, and the strap has a carbon fiber-like effect that’s just a pattern inlaid in silicone.

Yes, Casio is out to put on a show here, and it makes a Garmin Fenix 5 seem tastefully subdued in comparison.

However, let’s not forget Casio is a bit of an underdog in this space. If an ultra-rugged look helps it sell the WSD F30 as a tough watch, fair enough. We feel much less self-conscious wearing this than its predecessor, and it’s marginally more comfortable too.

If you’re into the bold look, you can go further too. Casio makes versions of the WSD F30 with blue and orange highlights.

The watch has great rugged cred to pair with the appearance. It offers 5ATM water resistance, making it suitable for swimming and some water sports, but not diving. It is certified to some of the US military’s MIL-STD-810G rugged standards too.

This consists of 28 tests for different conditions, and Casio says the watch has been checked to meet nine of them. These are the standards for shock, vibration, humidity, low pressure, high temp, low temp, temperature shock and ice.

Its website also says, “The device has been tested to perform under test conditions, but is not guaranteed to operate under all conditions in actual use.”

This line likely protects Casio from any warranty claims based on ‘failed’ ruggedization. However, the spec does cover the most important real-world bases, those of low temperature and temperature changes.

One other factor is worth noting, though. A couple of years ago 5ATM water resistance and MIL spec adherence were extremely expensive features. Nowadays cheap trackers like the Honor Band 4 have 5ATM, and the TicWatch S2 has both 5ATM and some of the MIL spec ticked off. 

Of course, the tougher the casing is, the less likely the ruggedization is to fail after, say, a year of being bashed around.

The Casio Pro Trek WSD F30's shell is tough-feeling plastic aside from a plate of stainless steel on the back. And all the buttons and bolts on its sides are metal, not silver-painted plastic. The display surround is, sensibly, raised too. This should help avoid scratches on the display glass.

• Dual layer screen, OLED and monochrome
• 390 x 390 pixel 1.2-inch circular OLED
• Auto brightness

Wear OS is not a natural fit for a hiking watch. The poor battery life of this platform means you could quite easily kill most Wear OS smartwatches within a good day’s hiking.

This is why the Casio Pro Trek WSD F30’s additional screen tech is essential. It has a dual-layer display. There’s a 1.2-inch OLED of 390 x 390 pixels for Wear OS use, and a transflective display on top.

It’s closer to the kind of LCD used in a traditional digital watch. It looks clearer on bright days, where the OLED layer competes with ambient light.

Efficiency, not clarity, is the aim, though. It uses far less power than the OLED layer.

The best way to use the Casio Pro Trek WSD F30 day-to-day is to make it show the low-power display until you either tilt the watch to your face or interact with the touchscreen. However, this also limits the watch faces that look ‘right’.

Casio has packed in a few of its own. There are imitations of big, chunky analog watches, another that shows an ultra-zoomed-out map of your location in the background.

However, to make a smooth visual transition between the two display layers, you have to use the ‘2 layers’ watch. This makes the OLED mimic the simple digital characters of the upper layer.

This may not be the tech-soaked vision you imagined for a smartwatch, but in our opinion this is the way to use the Casio Pro Trek WSD F30. It also makes the watch seem less ‘fake’, an issue with many Wear OS watch faces.

You can choose between orange, blue and white for the color of the OLED’s characters. And there are two modes. Daily shows the time and either the battery level or your steps. Outdoors displays the time, altitude and pressure.

As these stats can be harvested from low-energy sensors, the barometer and accelerometer, you get to see them in the non-OLED display too. The two-layer screen style paired with the '2 layers' watch face is one of the Casio Pro Trek WSD F30’s most successful elements.

This screen architecture does seem to hit the OLED’s visibility slightly in very bright sunlight. However, the max backlight level is just about strong enough to compensate and there’s an Auto Brightness setting. Outdoors visibility has been improved since the WSD-F20.

Image Credit: TechRadar

Current page: Introduction, design and display

Andrew is a freelance journalist and has been writing and editing for some of the UK's top tech and lifestyle publications including TrustedReviews, Stuff, T3, TechRadar, Lifehacker and others.

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Casio’s PRO TREK Smart line of watches is geared for outdoor enthusiasts. Powered by Wear OS by Google, these timepieces are equipped with a variety of features ideal for outdoor adventures including GPS, Location Memory, Moment Setter, and more. These timepieces also boast Casio’s Triple Sensor technology, in addition to a dual-layer LCD and water resistance. Casio’s PRO TREK Smart line offers rugged, stylish and versatile timepieces with features that enhance any outdoor experience. For additional information on Casio’s PRO TREK Smart line of timepieces, please visit: http://wsd.casio.com/us/en/ .

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PRO TREK's ability to combine the best that technology has to offer and innovative designs has made it the timepiece of choice for climbers, hikers, campers, and other outdoor enthusiasts.

This watch uses Casio's advanced SMART ACCESS system, which provides you with quick, intuitive access to all of the watch's key functions using an electronic crown.

This new addition to the PRO TREK Multi-Field line comes with a highly readable STN LCD that enhances readability.

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