Like many people on WUS have already said after their detailed reviews, the AE series from Casio are the most feature packed budget watches in the Casio lineup you can find with hard to beat prices at such a level that Casio’s competitors’ offering feel overpriced for what they are. This is the very reason many watch nerds including me love the series for the design and functionality offered in a small budget.
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The design bears resemblance to the 80's great The three dials are used for the same purpose as the original.
We look at the more underdog member of the AE series, the AE-2000W. It was introduced with the more popular AE-1000W and AE-1200W models but stays under the shadow of their popularity while being superior in terms of construction as well as having a design which is a throwback to Casio’s iconic designs. The TGW-100 Tri-Graph.
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The blue tinted display is unreadable in most conditions.
Honestly, this watch was not under my radar when I was looking for my first proper Casio back in the day. Compared to what the AE-1000W and the AE-1200W provided with their LCD screens, it fell a little short. That’s because it did not have the display of the world map like those watches. As someone who was fascinated by screen space not being wasted, the world map took the priority which seemed a far better choice than the seconds counter found on the AE-2000W which could be barely seen due to the blue tint in the base model.
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As the years passed, I moved on to G-Shocks from the AE series and did not look back, until I found the watch in question for sale. It was the display which drew it to me the most. The blend of negative and positive screens is not what you see much on Casio watches. This watch reminded me of the SGW-600H with its positive layout for the top portion and negative layout for the bottom. This feature combined with the colour coordinated light button were the deciding factors of buying along with nostalgia for the AE series.
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The recessed crystal, curved strap, 200 metre WR and mineral crystal are considered G-Shock attributes
The watch has some attributes of the contemporary G-Shock line. 200 metre water resistance, mineral glass, recessed crystal and a curved strap. Those who have used the watch term it as a good G-Shock alternative. But under my use, it fell short under some areas.
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Budget G-Shock vs a G-Shock. The fit is much better on the latter despite being large.
As you can see, the most important area is the fit. While the watch fits okay and is light on the wrist, the problem is the strap. It is overly long and the ridges present on it prevent a comfortable fit. Due to the ridges, the strap keeper stops where they start which results in a large tongue sticking out like a sore thumb which can get caught on things. In comparison, my G-Shock Mudmaster which is a chunkier and large watch fits much better. The strap is also much thinner and filmsier which does not instill much confidence while wearing. While I understand some corners had to be cut, the strap should not have been one of them.
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The LED light looks much cooler.
The second area is the LED light. While It does a decent job of illuminating the display, the use of dual LED lights like those on the AE-1200 would have been a better choice as the right side of the display is not well lit in some situations when the backlight is activated. Though on this negative display variant, it does look cool.
The positive sides outweigh the negatives as the watch is very functional. It has all the features of the contemporary AE series watches while harking back to Casio’s classic designs. The LC analog display is readable and the countdown timer is useful. This is one of the fewer Casio watches which display the home time in all modes which also make it a plus. Due to the upper part of the display not having the blue tint, they are more easily readable. Though I much prefer the positive display in digital watches, the time is not unreadable here due to the large digits as compared to the other AE brethren (only the AE-3000W can compete with it but it is too large). While I like the watch, it will be going on for sale soon due to it not fitting me properly. While it may be smaller than the G-Shock it is trying to compete with as some would say, it does not fit as well as one.
The design bears resemblance to the 80's great The three dials are used for the same purpose as the original.
We look at the more underdog member of the AE series, the AE-2000W. It was introduced with the more popular AE-1000W and AE-1200W models but stays under the shadow of their popularity while being superior in terms of construction as well as having a design which is a throwback to Casio’s iconic designs. The TGW-100 Tri-Graph.
The blue tinted display is unreadable in most conditions.
Honestly, this watch was not under my radar when I was looking for my first proper Casio back in the day. Compared to what the AE-1000W and the AE-1200W provided with their LCD screens, it fell a little short. That’s because it did not have the display of the world map like those watches. As someone who was fascinated by screen space not being wasted, the world map took the priority which seemed a far better choice than the seconds counter found on the AE-2000W which could be barely seen due to the blue tint in the base model.
As the years passed, I moved on to G-Shocks from the AE series and did not look back, until I found the watch in question for sale. It was the display which drew it to me the most. The blend of negative and positive screens is not what you see much on Casio watches. This watch reminded me of the SGW-600H with its positive layout for the top portion and negative layout for the bottom. This feature combined with the colour coordinated light button were the deciding factors of buying along with nostalgia for the AE series.
The recessed crystal, curved strap, 200 metre WR and mineral crystal are considered G-Shock attributes
The watch has some attributes of the contemporary G-Shock line. 200 metre water resistance, mineral glass, recessed crystal and a curved strap. Those who have used the watch term it as a good G-Shock alternative. But under my use, it fell short under some areas.
Budget G-Shock vs a G-Shock. The fit is much better on the latter despite being large.
As you can see, the most important area is the fit. While the watch fits okay and is light on the wrist, the problem is the strap. It is overly long and the ridges present on it prevent a comfortable fit. Due to the ridges, the strap keeper stops where they start which results in a large tongue sticking out like a sore thumb which can get caught on things. In comparison, my G-Shock Mudmaster which is a chunkier and large watch fits much better. The strap is also much thinner and filmsier which does not instill much confidence while wearing. While I understand some corners had to be cut, the strap should not have been one of them.
The LED light looks much cooler.
The second area is the LED light. While It does a decent job of illuminating the display, the use of dual LED lights like those on the AE-1200 would have been a better choice as the right side of the display is not well lit in some situations when the backlight is activated. Though on this negative display variant, it does look cool.
The positive sides outweigh the negatives as the watch is very functional. It has all the features of the contemporary AE series watches while harking back to Casio’s classic designs. The LC analog display is readable and the countdown timer is useful. This is one of the fewer Casio watches which display the home time in all modes which also make it a plus. Due to the upper part of the display not having the blue tint, they are more easily readable. Though I much prefer the positive display in digital watches, the time is not unreadable here due to the large digits as compared to the other AE brethren (only the AE-3000W can compete with it but it is too large). While I like the watch, it will be going on for sale soon due to it not fitting me properly. While it may be smaller than the G-Shock it is trying to compete with as some would say, it does not fit as well as one.
