G-shock gba-800-3a review năm 2024

Casio is known for its innovations, and specialisations. They've got diving watches, pilot watches, even the previous iteration of the GBA series (the ) specialised in music, by letting you control your playlist from your watch! With the GBA-800, they've moved on to fitness, and we had a chance to try these watches out. Ready to hear my thoughts? Let's get to it!

Firstly, you're absolutely spoiled for choice. The GBA-800 has 6 different colours to choose from. All 6 of them are analogue/digital combos, with an extra-large case and screen. The coloured models all have a negative display (which is light numbers on a black background), while the white model as the regular display. The hour markers, as well as the hands are extra-large and thick, so you'll always be able to tell the time.

The bands themselves have a new band ring to prevent sliding, as well as more holes so you can adjust the band even better. The GBA-800's will fit pretty much anybody, and they're comfortable to wear.

Now let's get to the features. First up, if you've bought a combo watch before, you might be a bit cautious. Especially when you see “negative display.” Unlike the old combos though, both the analogue and digital displays have a dedicated super LED Light, making it easy to see both times at the press of a button. The hands and hour markers in the analogue display are also treated with a Neobrite solution, so even when the backlight switches off, the hands keep glowing.

As I mentioned at the start, this is a fitness watch, and a cool feature here is the step tracker. There's a 3-axis acceleration sensor, so you won't be able to cheat the system by just moving your arms and legs back and forward. It also lets you set a step goal, and keeps track of your progress. Finally, it gives you your step-counts in graph, so you can see whether you're ahead of your goal, or you need to get stepping.

Most fitness watches come with a lap counter, with a maximum of 100 laps. Like the GA-800 that inspired this series, the GBA-800 doubles that, and gives you 200 laps. So if you're an athlete, or just want to keep track of your running progress, this is a great feature.

Now, this is a Bluetooth watch, which means it has some tricjks up its sleeve that the original GA-800 didn't. First up, when you connect it to your phone, you can get it to automatically set the right time, so you never need to worry about changing the times again.

The step count graph that I talked about earlier, can also be imported straight to your phone, so after a few days you'll have a progress chart, and it can tell you which days you're slacking off (let's face it, sometimes we all slack off). You can also send the 200 lap records you've saved up straight to your phone.

Finally, the world time feature is upgraded by a huge margin. With other G-Shocks you get 30-50 cities at most, whereas here, you can see the time in over 300 cities. You can also easily swap times so if you travel, the default time will be whichever city you're in now.

Now, believe it or not, but there are quite a few other features I didn't get a chance to discuss, but if I did, this would be more like a book than a blog piece! Not to worry though, the GBA-800 series is coming out shortly, and you'll be able to familiarise yourselves with all of its cool features.

Fitness trackers, for the most part, are not very attractive pieces of wearable tech. They may be cheap, but they never look quite right outside the gym. How about a hybrid smartwatch? They often provide way more functionality than a traditional fitness band, but at a steeper price.

Contents

Casio has found middle ground with the G–Shock GBA-800, which visually is obviously a G-Shock, but with all the step-tracking functionality you want from a simple fitness band. The price is realistic, and you’re getting all the usual G-Shock watch benefits — toughness, toughness, and a bit more toughness — to go along with a Bluetooth connection.

Unmistakably G-Shock

The GBA-800 is unmistakably a G-Shock. The angular, chunky, built-for-anything body is attached to a flexible strap, and the whole package is made to resist even the harshest treatment. Waterproof to 200 meters and able to withstand knocks, bangs, and long drops, you’ll have to work hard to even scratch the GBA-800. It may look over-engineered, but that’s a part of its appeal, and at least it has the brawn to match the looks.

Glance at the face and you’ll see it’s a hybrid analog, with two hands telling the time and a digital readout underneath. The display shows time, world time, stopwatch and timers, plus information on fitness levels. There’s also a circular graphic at the one o’clock position showing progress towards your daily step goal. There are four buttons on the body, each performing a different function, and a single large button to activate the backlight. There’s no touchscreen or complicated functionality here.

Put the GBA-800 on, and it’s a comfortable everyday watch. Casio has fitted a set of plastic case protector mouldings either side of the 15-hole strap, which helps it fit better around the wrist. But these often painfully catch our wrist hair. These aren’t found on the majority of G-Shock watches, so they will come as a surprise to even the most experienced G-Shock wearers. The watch is made to be worn loosely, so it never became sweaty, and despite it still being a fairly large watch, it’s compact by G-Shock standards.

Casio doesn’t seem to consider the GBA-800 unisex, and advertises it on men’s wrists. But while it’s larger than Casio’s Baby G range of G-Shock watches aimed at women, it is still smaller than most other regular full-size G-Shock watches. This means if your wrist is too slender or small for other G-Shocks, this one may still work on you. For women who don’t want the masculine design, Casio’s BGS-100 is the Baby G equivalent.

The GBA-800 is unmistakably a G-Shock.

Although we’ve been wearing the shockingly-bright lime green model, there are other versions in more muted colors out there. The combination of the green and dark grey is so funky, it’s hard to settle for the matte green or blue versions. They’re just a bit dull after looking at this one.

The GBA-800 looks like a G-Shock, and G-Shocks look like watches, not fitness trackers. This is a very good thing, and provided you pick a more everyday color, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t want to wear it everyday, with anything. Try saying that about a basic Fitbit or Misfit wearable.

Fitness tracking and app

It’s a fairly basic fitness tracking system using a three-axis accelerometer inside the G-Shock. It’ll count your steps, estimate calorie burn, and measure exercise intensity. Using the timer, you can count the number of sets you do, and the stopwatch is there for runners who want split times and to assign targets. There’s no heart-rate monitor or sleep tracking, and the app doesn’t provide instruction, motivation, or exercise plans.

On the watch, press the Reset button to see exact step count, and features are cycled through using the Mode button. Progress is quickly visible on the graphic at the 1 o’clock position. Handily, the stopwatch is all setup using the G-Shock app, which quickly and reliably connected to iOS on our iPhone every time. This is a massive improvement over early connected Casio watches, so if you were put off early on, things have changed for the better.

The GBA-800 is the epitome of wear-and-forget tech. You don’t have to remember to start exercise routines, worry that the watch isn’t tight enough on your wrist for the heart rate monitor to register, or even to charge the watch on a regular basis. You put it on, go for a run or a workout, or just about your daily business, and get a basic indication of your activity levels. The GBA-800 isn’t for the serious fitness addict, but it doesn’t aim to be either. The chance to download stopwatch logs will make it attractive to runners though.

The app is Casio’s general G-Shock Connected app, and it looks after all G-Shock watches with a Bluetooth connection, should you own more than one. We tried the version for iOS, but were disappointed to see it still hasn’t been tweaked for native display on the iPhone X. It’s only been about 8 months, so no hurry Casio.

It’s attractive and pleasantly designed, with menus spread across the bottom of the screen, and big red text that’s easily found and tapped for more details. We like the way it’s possible to set the world time in the app, adjust step count targets, timer and stopwatch goals, and even see a visual user guide. Few other fitness apps are so concise and user-friendly. It’s not the fastest app, which seems to be a design choice, as swiping through screens is often slower than we’d like due to animations and screen fades.

Watch features and battery

What else can the watch do? Outside of telling the time, you can select an additional world time zone, and activate a phone finder with a five-second press of the Start button. There are five different alarms, which sadly have to be set on the watch rather than in the app, which would have made life easier. Everything worked as you’d expect without any problems.

Good news on the battery side. You don’t have to charge the GBA-800. It has a standard CR2016 battery inside, which is expected to last two years before it needs replacing.

Price, warranty, and availability

The G-Shock GBA-800 is reasonably priced at $100, or 120 British pounds, which puts it above cheap fitness bands from Xiaomi, but alongside some of the better looking fitness bands from Fitbit. It’s also less expensive than most smartwatches, including hybrids. It’s available directly from G-Shock’s online store, through its retail stores, and selected partner retailers. G-Shock watches have a two year warranty.

Our Take

The G-Shock GBA-800 is visually exciting, practically indestructible, and straightforward in every respect. It’s a classic G-Shock watch first, with added activity tracking to tempt you more, and it’s a massive style improvement over a cheap fitness band. A regret-free buy you’ll enjoy.

Is there a better alternative?

The world isn’t short of fitness trackers. There are dozens if not hundreds out there, at all different prices. We recommend the $25 Misfit Flash if you don’t want to spend much. Alternatively, Fitbit’s Flex 2 is the cheapest from the popular brand, costing around $60 now, while the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 or Mi Band 3 are around $35 with an importer. They’re great examples of fitness bands, but aren’t exactly stylish. We’re not denying their functionality; but the G-Shock GBA-800 has them beaten when it comes to wearability.

The Garmin Vivosmart HR+ is our pick for anyone that doesn’t want a smartwatch-style tracker, all of which cost at least $200. The Garmin is feature-packed and definitely one for fitness addicts. However, while it comes in different colors, it’s still damn ugly. The GBA-800 is better compared to hybrid watches like the Nokia Steel HR, but that’s $180. If you’re a fan of the G Shock look, the GBA-800 is the only G-Shock watch with fitness tracking.

How long will it last?

It’s a G-Shock, therefore it’ll outlast us all. The battery will only need attention every couple of years, so provided Casio maintains the app, the GBA-800 will give you many years of happy use.

Should you buy one?

Yes. The GBA-800 has that unique G-Shock style and provides basic activity tracking without any fuss, all for a sensible price. The app works perfectly, there are plenty of colors to choose from, and it’ll withstand anything up to and including light artillery fire. We actually wanted to wear the GBA-800 without worrying about daily step count, something we’ve never felt about a fitness band, showing Casio has managed to breathe a little life into the sub-$100 fitness wearable market. The GBA-800 is here so you don’t have to settle for an ugly, cheap fitness band anymore.

Is the GBA 800 accurate?

Movement.

Is the G

Water resistance of 200 meters allows you to use the timepiece even during surface swimming and diving to considerable depths. The G-SHOCK Style G-Squad Bluetooth Sync Step Tracker GBA-800-1AER comes with a 3-year manufacturer's warranty, with the option to purchase an additional 3 years from a Casio distributor.nullG-Shock GBA-800-1AER - Watch - Watchard.comwatchard.com › g-shock-step-tracker-gba-800-1aer-men-s-watchnull

What is the function of GBA 800?

Besides recording daily step counts and calorie consumption, the app displays a step count graph showing step counts, calories and exercise intensity (5 levels) for each day, week and month. When activated by the smartphone, the step count is displayed graphically on a map every 30 minutes.nullGBA-800-1A | CASIO MALAYSIAwww.casio.com › watches › gshocknull

What battery is in the G

GBA-800 - Casio G-Shock Databaseshockbase.org › watches › subseries_dynnull