Watches
=======
:date: 2026-06-22
:category: Personal items

I'm a long-time watch wearer, perhaps starting with an unspecified Casio-like
watch that could play melodies (much to the annoyance of after-school club
teachers, back in elementary school).  Here are some personal notes.

About my smart watch
--------------------
Some years ago, I bought a _Garmin fēnix 5 Plus_ smart watch, in the '`Carbon
Gray DLC Titanium with DLC Titanium Band`' version.  Mostly out of
curiosity, but also partly in the blind hope that I'll be able to write some
useful custom software for it.  This hope quickly died when it turned out that
it can only connect to the Internet through a phone--Wi-Fi is reserved for
software updates.  Eventually I've found out that I can't make real use of most
of its other functions either, as I'm a homebody.  And some plainly suck:

 - The music player knows no good Bluetooth codecs.
 - Sleep tracking cannot cope with an irregular sleep regime, showing gaps.
 - The temperature sensor measures Lord knows what.

Newer fēnix watches have gained LTE connectivity, which makes this class of
devices less redundant in that they used to duplicate many smart phone features,
but weren't independent of them.  Otherwise there seems to be minimal progress,
as with the iPhone: regular re-releases of essentially the same thing,
often even downgraded in some aspects.

Smart watch vs. dumb watch
--------------------------
Given my dissatisfaction and stagnating evolution, I've converted back to a more
conventional analogue-digital watch, the _Casio LCW M170DB-1Aer_, which is
already a rather vintage model.  I think they compare rather interestingly:

image::/files/watches.jpg[Garmin fēnix 5 Plus next to Casio LCW M170DB-1Aer]

[options="header",cols="1h,2,2"]
|===
| | Garmin | Casio
| Release       | 2018               | 2014

| Price
| 41,221 Kč (inflation-adjusted for 2026)
| 5,990 Kč (2026)

| Size
| Huge, very inconvenient
| Tiny, looking rather unmanly

| Weight        | ~115 g             | ~101 g
| Battery life  | About 12 days      | Potentially unlimited (solar charging)

| Precision
| GPS-controlled but somehow always *quarter a minute late*.  This makes it an expensive bracelet and not a watch.
| Radio-controlled, otherwise ±15s/month.  Synchronisation takes quite long and doesn't like being indoors.

| Dial visibility
| There are many different watch faces available, but hands in the analogue-digital ones like to cover text.  Otherwise excellent readability irrespectively of sunlight conditions, unlike with AMOLED.
| The digital display is low-contrast, and unilluminated.  Though placing a finger over the 6 o'clock light will reflect some of it back onto the display, if needed.  You'll just add a fingerprint.

| Crystal
| Sapphire; good AR coating
| Sapphire; ineffective AR coating, which gets annoying while driving

| Band
| Titanium, 4 micro-adjustment holes!
| Stainless steel, *only 1 micro-adjustment hole*: either too loose or too tight for me.

| Ergonomics
| Plentiful and large buttons.  Navigating through menus and features is simple.
| Small, hard to press buttons.  Controls are somewhat cryptic--you must consult the manual for things you don't normally use.

| Dirt-friendliness
| High, with many hard-to-clean details
| Low

| Durability
| You'll reliably damage everything _else_ you hit with it.  The DLC holds up really well, but still scratches a tiny bit.
| TBD
|===

You win some, you lose some--I really don't like the strap.  This watch suits
my needs the best from everything I've seen on the market, and I don't even
consider prices, as indicated.
The second place in my research was taken by the _Citizen JV1008-63E_,
which has no radio, and looks slightly odd.

Analogue vs digital
-------------------
Both.  While as of writing I don't instinctively '`know what time it is`' from
hands, it's an interesting visualisation, so I suppose I'll try to get more used
to this representation.  Detailed mechanical dials are pretty.

The thing that I can't wrap my head around is the existence of digital watches
with circular dials.

What the heck do I actually want
--------------------------------
Design-wise, ideally something resembling a larger uniform rubber band,
with perhaps a movement-sensitive white OLED display hidden within.
And, like with the Casio, it must have effectively infinite battery,
and synchronise with the time signal.

So something looking like the Fitbit Charge, just completely different.

Of course, this is a pipe dream, if only because silicone and similar soft
materials don't last long, getting shiny with use in places.  Thus perhaps
stretchy textiles?  And we're already making compromises.