Addnature Tests: CASIO PRO TREK SMART WSD-F21HR
Marcel, one of our category managers who, by his own admission, has more hobbies than he does free time, took on the fun task of testing this watch. Marcel takes care of the selection of outdoor equipment for Addnature and spends every free moment he can outdoors, whether that’s hiking in the mountains, climbing, cycling, skiing or snowboarding. Clearly, Marcel is more than qualified to test Casio’s PRO TREK SMART watch. "I already have a slightly older model and think it's great. The only thing I wished it had was the ability to measure my heart rate, so I was very pleased to hear that Casio had launched a similar smartwatch including this feature.”
"This watch can be used for all kinds of activities: for hiking, gym use, everyday life or exploring a new city."
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First Impressions
The watch comes in attractive packaging and all the necessary accessories are included. It seems solid and well made, though I thought the watch’s relatively large diameter might make it uncomfortable or look too big on smaller wrists. All buttons are easily accessible and the display functioned flawlessly. The device uses Google Maps, which gives you a good overview of the area around you, and the watch itself is intuitive and simple to use – a suggestion is to configure each button as you wish. It took me less than 20 minutes from powering up the watch to completely personalising it. However, if you don't want to customise it with your own settings, you can be up and running within a couple of minutes.
Practical Test
I tested this model in a few different situations: running twice a week, hiking using its navigation functions and as my day-to-day watch. The above-mentioned wrist pulse monitor allowed me to train more effectively and moderate my efforts. During a longer hiking trip, I used the navigation function as well as the offline maps – these I could use irrespective of how strong a signal I had – a very practical feature when you want to find your way in the wilderness. The watch met my expectations to the full. Only in rainy weather was it harder to operate the touch screen, which is something you can experience with all comparable devices. For everyday use, it’s important to set the device to ‘watch mode’, thus disabling all unnecessary functions that cause the battery to deplete faster, such as GPS. The only thing I struggled slightly with was the charging station: as it uses a magnet to connect to the watch, I found that it wasn’t always so secure and occasionally fell out.
In Conclusion
The Casio has everything a modern sports smartwatch should have. The offline maps are very useful, and thanks to them your phone can stay safely stowed in your backpack. Be sure to use the ‘watch mode’ to reduce battery consumption – if you use the watch with all the functions turned on, expect to have to recharge it in the evening. The watch can be used for all kinds of activities: for hiking, gym use, everyday life or exploring a new city, the watch is a great companion and a lot of fun!
Marcel's Scores:
[progress_bar gradient="no" title="Function/Performance" percent="100" active_background_color="#0088ab" noactive_background_color="#00c9d8"][progress_bar gradient="no" title="Value for money" percent="100" active_background_color="#0088ab" noactive_background_color="#00c9d8"][progress_bar gradient="no" title="Workmanship/durability" percent="100" active_background_color="#0088ab" noactive_background_color="#00c9d8"][progress_bar gradient="no" title="Design" percent="60" active_background_color="#0088ab" noactive_background_color="#00c9d8"][progress_bar gradient="no" title="Innovation" percent="60" active_background_color="#0088ab" noactive_background_color="#00c9d8"]CASIO PRO TREK WSD-F21HR at Addnature
- Integrated heart rate monitor
- New pulse display screen (automatically switches to heart rate display when motion is detected)
- Dual-layer display: pressure, height and compass sensors
- New apps for running and trail running
- GPS (GLONASS and Michibiki)
- Offline maps (up to 5 maps from OpenStreetMap)
- Google Wear OS operating system
- 50 m water resistance
- Colour display
- Resistance to harsh environmental conditions specified by MIL-STD-810 standards
- Integrated sensors: digital compass, altimeter, barometer
- Hiking
- Cycling
- Rowing
- Winter sports
- Fishing