Me - Diary - Projects - Resume

Meet My First Casio: DW-290

Intro

My earlier exercise did give me a fair idea of what all was out there, and at least a rough idea of what I would want to have in a watch. All that was left was to set my aim on a particular design, look for a good deal, and pull the trigger.

Got Pulled Towards G-Shock

So according to the story till now, I was being pulled hard towards G-Shock. After days of research, which I obviously won’t be able here, I narrowed down my options to the following:

Now keep in mind that the models that we’re about to discuss come in a lot of different variations and features, like Bluetooth capability, or an inverted display, so that may change a lot of things including the price and the overall value of the watch in terms of how useful it is eventually. The models were as follows:

  1. GWM5610 appeared to be the perfect option as it came with everything that I wanted apart from being an automatic watch, which I’m yet to find in a digital watch. This one is water resistant up to 200 meters, has solar charging along with multi-band radio reception, and also provides multiple time zones, more than one alarm, and more.
  2. GWB5600 was something a little older and cheaper with more or less very similar features and with differences in only a few minor characteristics.
  3. DW5600 was even cheaper and probably the best value while it lacked world time, multiple alarms, multi-band radio reception, and even solar charging.
  4. DW290 was pretty much a stylish DW5600, in an arguably attractive outer shell. These two watches are pretty similar from the inside and even use the same module, also being the cheapest of the ones I mentioned.

Needless to say, I went with the DW290.

What the DW290 Misses

Now the DW290 isn’t a perfect watch by any means, and as a matter of fact, it’s not even a G-Shock, but it’s as close as you can get to a G-Shock on a regular Casio digital watch.

Also, it has no solar charging, no multi-band radio reception, no world time, or even multiple alarms. We’re not even talking about the auto light feature we have in some other watches that illuminates the face when you turn it towards you.

What the DW290 Gets Right

Then why go with the DW290, you’d ask? Well, definitely not because it was featured in one of the most popular action movies out there.

To me, this design, even being over 30 years old in 2025 was the best looking among the ones I shortlisted, the most affordable, and came with a few unique features that the others did not provide, at least at that price. Two of the few features that I found interesting are the EL Backlight, which frankly made the decision easier, and the other was the flashing alarm. It also did not have any variants, so I didn’t have to lose my appetite over looking for the best variant for me and still living in fear of missing out on some other cool variation that I could have gotten, unlike the 2100 series.

Is This the Best Casio Ever?

So is this the best Casio watch ever? I’d say most certainly not, and the answer is all over the web. A way better choice would have been its successor, the DW291 which improves over it while only losing a few minor features. But I believe the first of anything shouldn’t be the best anyway. Besides, these watches aren’t like your regular smartphones or smartwatches that get refreshed every year and sometimes even twice a year. Instead, one can buy the same model after decades of its initial launch, so if you were to buy the best watch as your first, that wouldn’t leave any scope for future upgrades, would it? I know Casio or G-Shock enthusiasts who own dozens of these would disagree, but to me, I’m covered for the time being.

Is This a Start of Something Big?

The next obvious question to someone like me who already has an unreasonably deep fascination with ThinkPads would be whether this is the start of a series of watches. In fact, this is already my second one, as I picked up a Casio Forester pretty recently as a beater watch and I just love it! I got inspired by an online acquaintance who happens to be a little too invested in watches (along with a few other things), kind of similar to how I’ve been with ThinkPads in the last couple of years.

Conclusion

I guess it wouldn't be an overstatement if I said that owning this DW290 gave me the same amount of happiness as I get by trying an old ThinkPad. Now let's see where this new fascination with Casio digital watches takes me.