Casio Blazes a New Trail with Their Updated Pro-Trek WSD-F30

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There are a lot of fitness trackers/smartwatches out there that claim to fit any scenario, but if there’s any niche that needs special attention, it’s the outdoors. You need to be conscious of battery life, feature availability without internet, and of course, ruggedness. Casio has been nailing it with their Pro-Trek WSD line, and the newest WSD-F30 looks eye-poppingly good. 

The Pro-Trek WSD line is Casio’s smartwatch entry. It’s not designed to look nice in a meeting or blend in like a regular smartwatch or Apple Watch, it’s designed to replace a slew of tools you might use while hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, camping, etc. Casio has rolled an ABC (altimeter/barometer/compass) watch with a GPS watch with a smartwatch (powered by Google’s Wear OS), making it into a jack of all trades wearable for multiple needs. First, check out their promotional video for the new WSD-F30:

Aside from wondering where the photogenic couple was keeping bikes, fishing rods, camping equipment, and kayaks (I’m assuming the other portion of this ad is for a Subaru), this is a pretty effective way to showcase what the watch can do. Casio cleverly layers two screens into the watch, so you can use it multiple ways. If battery life isn’t an issue, you’ve got the full Wear OS experience [called normal use].

If like the couple in the video, you’re cramming your entire outdoor vacation into 3 days, you can call up a battery sipping screen but flip to a full-color map screen when needed [extended mode]. Or, if you’re going to spend a month in the woods and really just need a compass, barometer, and altimeter, you can shut off the Wear OS portion entirely to preserve the battery for longer [multi-timepiece mode].

At $549, the WSD-F30 is right in line with Suunto, Garmin, and other ruggedized outdoor watches and will be available in January 2019.

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About the Author

Zek
Zek has been a gadget fiend for a long time, going back to their first PDA (a Palm M100). They quickly went from researching what PDA to buy to following tech news closely and keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff. They love writing about ebooks because they combine their two favorite activities; reading anything and everything, and talking about fun new tech toys. What could be better?