The G-Shock GBA-400 is the latest smartphone-connected Bluetooth watch from Casio, but instead of delivering notifications or measuring fitness levels, it’s all about music. It’s built to interact with Casio’s G’Mix app, to which it connects using Bluetooth, and uses a combination of the rotary dial and side-mounted buttons to activate several features.
Unusually, the watch can be used to listen out and identify music that’s playing around you. Twist the dial to turn the ID feature on – which is symbolized by a cool dial on the watch face – and using Soundcloud technology, the name of the song you’re trying to identify will scroll across the built-in screen. All without reaching for your phone, or bothering Siri.
The dial can also be used to adjust the volume of music playing on your phone, skip to other tracks, or change the EQ preset. Using a button on the opposite side of the phone can play or pause tracks. When the Bluetooth connection is active, it’ll keep the time on the watch up to date, even if you change time zones. If you misplace your phone, the watch can remotely sound an alarm to help find it again. Additionally, the app can control the watch. You can set up daily alarms and timers, fix the amount of time the Bluetooth connection stays active, and even how long the backlight stays lit.
All these smart features are inside a familiar G-Shock watch, which has a tough 51mm case that’s waterproof to 200 meters, shock resistant, and contains a battery that’s good for two years. The GBA-400 will be sold in four different color schemes – sporty red or blue, a muted black and silver, or a flashier black and gold model. The price for this interesting take on the smartwatch has been set at $200, and it’ll be on sale in October.
If you’re ready to pick one up, be aware the device compatibility page currently only lists iOS 7 Apple devices, and a handful of Samsung Galaxy smartphones running Android 4.3 or 4.4. This could all change before release, but make sure you check it’ll work with your phone before buying.
