Casio announces first Wear OS smartwatch in the G-shock lineup

Casio has announced the first Wear OS smartwatch in its iconic and long-running G-shock lineup called the GSW-H1000. The company claims that the GSW-H1000 is a fitness-focused wearable designed for everything from surfing to snowboarding featuring shock resistance and water up to a depth of 200 meters.

Since 2016, the company has been releasing devices using Google’s smartwatch OS however for the first time Google’s software has appeared on a G- shock series watch.

The GSW-H1000 comes with many of the features expected on a fitness-focused smartwatch. The watch rocks an optical heart rate sensor, and Casio’s built-in software which supports 15 activities and 24 indoor workout options. Moreover, it supports GPS and has a built-in compass, altitude sensor, accelerometer, and gyrometer. Wear OS means there’s Google Assistant and Google Fit support, and you can download apps from Google Play.

In regards to the hardware features, the watch has a 1.2-inch 360 x 360 dual-layer display that combines a monochrome always-on LCD display with a color LCD panel. The battery life is rated at around one and a half days if you’re using the color display, extending to up to a month if you only use the watch for timekeeping and sensors. A full charge takes around three hours, according to Casio.

The watch will cost about $699 and will be available in red, blue, or black.