Apple Watch Upgrade To Analog

For the time being, I’m done with smart-watches. Yesterday I bought a “dumb” watch — a traditional analog time piece. It does only two things (okay, three): shows the time, date, and lights up. That’s it. Simple. And that’s the best feature: simplicity.

Smart watches, on the other hand, are like little computers on your wrist; they do a lot. I grew tired of managing my Apple Watch and no longer used its fitness features. It’s great for what it is, but I no longer needed or wanted all that.

All I really need and want is the current time and date at a quick convenient glance. My new watch does that. It’s a Casio Forester, and it only cost me $22 on sale at Walmart — nice deal.

I used to prefer digital watches, but I’ve recently grown to appreciate analog dials. I love how it’s easy to visualize the span of time by the numbers around the clock. There’s an elegance to the simple rotary action. Mine uses a quartz mechanism, which helps accuracy (call it modern analog).

Being somewhat of a tech geek and Apple fan, what made me turn back the clock to a traditional time piece? Well, as mentioned, I wanted to simplify. But that’s not all.

It started last Fall with the release of watchOS 10. Apple drastically changed how its smartwatch worked. It irked me, really turning me off from using Apple Watch. Then I went a week without it, followed by a few months being watch-less.

Yet I missed having the time with a flick of my wrist. So I started to consider owning just a classic watch again and began shopping for the right one. Wrist watches aren’t just for utility; they’re about fashion too. (I plan to get a few more watch styles…which altogether will cost less than my Apple Watch.)

During this time of hunting for the best watch, I learned that this coming Fall, my 2020 Apple Watch SE (gen 1) will not be supported by Apple anymore — no watchOS 11. So after what will be four years, my smartwatch won’t be smart enough for new or improved features. That info instantly sealed the deal for me: no more spending hundreds of dollars on a bracelet computer. I don’t have time for such quick obsolescence.

Besides, a simple analog watch is an upgrade in some ways. Compared to my Apple Watch SE, my Casio Forester stands out in two striking ways:

1. Instead of the battery lasting about one day, it lasts over 1,000 days — about three years. (And it never needs charging.)
2. The display is always “Always-On.” No tapping or wrist-raising required. Talk about convenience.

Also, as I mentioned before, my Casio’s most striking feature of all is its simplicity. And it was time for me to simplify.

The Forester case is resin. The strap is a nylon fabric with leather parts, and its closure is velcro. I had wanted an all brown leather strap and a metal casing, but for the price, this deal was too good to pass up.

To close this, check out Kev Quirk’s watch collection blog, which features a Casio Forester among many other wrist-clocks. He has spent much time with watches and has good experience with them. If you want comparison info, his site is a nice destination, well worth your time.