CASIO AE-1300-WH-blue-review
- Cheap watches what a passion!
- Mar 5, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 5, 2024
No gimmicks, dear nerd! With this Casio you start your training, full stop!
This post is mainly for all residents in the United States of America, because while in Europe this Casio gem is now unobtainable, on Amazon USA (I am an Amazon affiliate for USA, Italy and Spain) all its variants are available. At least at the time of writing this post! So if you come across this post, do not hesitate to buy it, because the value for money of the Casio AE-1300 is exceptional. With this model, Casio achieves that typical Casio perfection as in the cases of the Royale, A168 and DW291H. In this post, in addition to providing you with the technical specifications of this Casio, I will share my experience through pictures and tell you about its functions, which are very useful for those who, when playing sports, find annoying to use smartwatches or smartphones.
Let's start with a small clarification about the model you see in the photos, and the watch of this post, which is often confused with the resin variants of the Royale. The model you see in the photos belongs to the AE1300 series, while the Royale is part of the AE1200 series. Casio has produced the AE1300 series in three different colors, namely, blue, which is mine and its complete code is Casio AE-1300WH-2AVEF (click here), the red one which is Casio AE-1300WH-4AV (click here) and the black one which is the Casio AE-1300WH-1AVT (click here).
But because you are resident in USA, and you were born with a silver spoon in your mouths, on Amazon USA, there are also some special editions of the AE1300: Casio AE-1300WH-8AVCF (click here), Casio AE-1300WH-1A2VEF (click here), and Casio AE1300WH-8AV (click here) (bastards!).
The difference, however, with the Royale silver is remarkable. As I mentioned before, there are resin versions of the AE1200 that can easily be confused with our AE1300. In any case, I leave you some link to the resin Royale available on Amazon in order to understand better their differences (click here, or click here). Having made the necessary clarifications, let's move on to our AE-1300WH-1AVDF. Some specifications: Dimensions of the case (H x W x D), 45 x 42.1 x 12.5 mm. The case and bracelet material is resin, while the glass is acrylic. Although very cheap, its water resistance is up to 10 bars, and the battery life is about 10 years with a CR2025 type battery. Its weight is just 40 grams. Its being almost imperceptible on the wrist, both for its weight and for its very soft resin strap, make this model, as I had already mentioned, perfect for sports. Not surprisingly, I bought the AE1300 during the lockdown due to the Covid pandemic.
Due to Covid, as you well remember, we were forced to train at home, and the luckiest ones like me, who live in a seaside city, spent the summer in their own city, as travel for pleasure trips were not allowed . With one order, I bought a punching bag, weights, a couple of new watches and a new MTB. Never loved Casio as in that period. Thanks to the interval timer function, I could organize the rounds on the bags like in the gym, each of 3 minutes with a one minute interval for recovery and breathing. Same thing with the abs and the squat (you can organize any exercise in series with interval).
Furthermore, as you can see in the photos, the AE1300 has also come in very handy for my summer MTB rides. Just to clarify, 60 km in MTB (my beautiful Apulian coast), under a scorching sun with a temperature of 35 degrees and 68-75% humidity. In such conditions, anything on my wrist would have bothered me.
With my Casio, on the other hand, I stopped at the first beach or rock I came across, and off I went with a nice dip and a nice swim before setting off again on the saddle of my MTB.
And now let's move on to the description of the individual elements and all the functions of our little Casio jewel. Typical vintage style dial with a retro taste, with the four side function keys. On the left we have the adjust and mode keys, while on the right the light and start keys. As you can see, the dial is full of writings and elements. From top to bottom we find: the word Illuminator, the Casio logo and the word WR100M, 3 circles which, based on the active function, indicate the minutes, seconds and tenths of a second, the word Countdown Timer, the display with the complete date without the year, the complete time, the alarm and chronograph writings, and, finally, the 10 Year Battery writing. The dial, as you can see, is very large and easy to read.
The back, however, also in typical Casio style, has a stainless steel case back, screwed down with four steel screws. Also on the back we find engraved the writings: CASIO, the module number 3426 in a rectangle, AE-1300WH, Stainless Steel Back, Water Resistant 10 BAR, Made in China, EA. The strap measures 8 cm, and the part with the holes 12 cm. However, to make it easier for you, my wrist measures 20 cm in circumference, and considering the space between the holes still available to enlarge it, I can guarantee you that it can also be used by those with an extra large wrist.
Setting the clock is quite simple, you just need to familiarize yourself with the correct sequence of keys to press when you want to adjust or use a function.
In main mode, press the adjust button, and the seconds will start flashing. Instead of the name of the day (e.g. sun), the last two digits of the year will appear at the top left, preceded by an apostrophe (e.g. '23, to indicate 2023). With the mode key, you scroll through the items you want to adjust, and the first option that flashes is the standard time (DST). The side keys on the right, on the other hand, allow you to go forward or backward (eg minutes forward or minutes backward). After solar time, you can select the time zone of your interest (ROM and MIL are the abbreviations for the Italian time zone). This model is a world time with 29 time zones and 48 selectable cities.
Still remaining in main mode, you can silence the sound of the keys by holding down the mode key for a few seconds, until the icon of a barred musical note appears (same operation to reactivate the sound of the keys). Still in main mode, by pressing the start key once, you can select the 12-24 hour format. By pressing the mode key, the second function displayed is that of the stopwatch (STW). The chronometer of this model has some peculiarities. First of all, when the chronometer is not running, the complete time is displayed, while at the top from left to right you will find the writings STW and 00'00. By pressing the start button, the stopwatch starts and continues to stop even if you change modes. By pressing the start button again, the time measured in pause will appear at the top right, while the stopwatch will continue to run. Also in this case, while changing modes, the stopwatch will continue to run without interruption, starting from zero once 59,59,59 has been reached. To restart your paused time, you must press the start button again, and if you want to reset everything, you must press start and then press the adjust button for a few seconds.
Another function within the stopwatch mode is the one known by the acronym TGT, i.e. the measurement of an event. In stopwatch mode, press the adjust button until TGT appears with two flashing lines. Use the light and start keys to adjust the tempo of the event. You can set an event lasting from 1 to 60 minutes. Once the time has been set, press adjust again to return to the stopwatch function. If you activate the stopwatch, in this case, once the time has reached the value entered in TGT, an alarm will sound for a few seconds. If during the TGT function, you pause the chronometer, two times will be displayed, the one in pause, and that of the chronometer which continues timing. When the latter reaches the time set in TGT, the alarm is triggered and sounds for a few seconds. This way you can subtract the paused time from the TGT event time.
After the stopwatch function, we find the countdown function (TMR), which is also a bit particular in this model. In fact, I did not understand Casio's decision to impose fixed values. In fact, by pressing the adjust button, you can only select the following minutes: 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35. 40 and 45. By pressing the adjust button, however, you can select repetition of the selected time. When the selected time reaches zero, instead of stopping, the countdown starts from 1 second and stops when it reaches 60 minutes. Basically, it should let you know how much extra time has been added to your countdown.
Even in countdown mode, the time without seconds is always visible (top right).
After the TMR, we find the interval function. This function is perhaps the most useful if you train with exercises in series, which, however, require a break. You can select up to 9 intervals, each up to 60 minutes long, and make them repeatable automatically. The interval function also allows you to see the time without the seconds at the top right, and continues to work even if you change modes during its activation. After the interval function we have the World Time function. With the side keys light and start, scroll through the time zones of your interest, and with the adjust key, you can activate or deactivate the DST, if the chosen country or city changes from summer time to standard time. Even in World Time mode, the main time without the seconds will always be visible at the top right.
The last function of this crazy Casio is that of the alarm. This Casio has only a single alarm, and from the alarm mode, it is possible, by pressing the start button, to activate or deactivate the alarm/alarm clock, and to activate or deactivate the acoustic hourly signal. Finally, as regards the lighting of this Casio, we have two amber colored diodes (but orange for me) placed at the bottom, with a standard duration of 1.5 seconds. Don't let him get away!
Hello watch lover, I hope you liked my post and that you found some interesting or more info on the watch model subject of the post. If you have decided to purchase it please do so through my link as I am an Amazon affiliate. Otherwise visit my pages with the lists of different watch brands or, if you are a watch enthusiast, follow me on Instagram. See you next post!
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