The best digital watches on the market might surprise you. With popular smartwatches from brands like Apple and Samsung and others, it’s easy to overlook the classic digital watch. But did you know calendars, alarms, time zones, and fitness monitoring were built into Casio and Timex watches before tech giants got involved?
These watches combine some of the functionality of smartwatches with the long battery life of a digital wristwatch, all while providing a quirky, eye-catching appearance and low pricing.
Naturally, a large part of the purchasing decision is based on personal taste. Which timepiece is the most appropriate? Or, which one offers the characteristics you’re looking for? Perhaps you’re wondering which is the most appropriate for your style?
Of course, there are additional factors to consider. Do you want a vintage Casio with a calculator that may help you pass your exams? Do you like a watch that combines conventional hands and a digital screen in one neat little package?
Table of Contents
1. Casio G-Shock GA100
Casio’s G-Shock GA 100 is a big 51mm watch that’s built to take a beating. It’s water-resistant up to 200 meters. Plus, it has an anti-magnetic construction to guarantee accurate timekeeping no matter where you travel. Also, it has an LED backlight to read the time and other functionalities in the darkness. Those being the physical hour and minute hand. As well as a second dial, two additional complexities, and two digital displays for displaying the date, stopwatch (accurate to 1/1000th of a second), calendar, and other functions.
This watch is a classic with its stainless steel body, scroll wheel, and odd vintage style. The watch comes with a complete calendar, countdown timer, alarm, and second time zone. Also, an EasySkroll operating system can be upgraded over time.
The casing is 42mm in diameter and can withstand three atmospheres of pressure or around 30m of water.
2. Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar
When the Swiss become engaged in the production of digital watches, this is what happens. Tissot has created a watch that is probably more analog than digital, rather than just putting an LED display in a military-grade rubber casing. Silicone, leather, and titanium are all choices for the strap.
A Swiss quartz movement keeps time, while a solar watch face keeps the battery charge. The sapphire crystal protects the 43mm case, and the wristwatch itself is water-resistant to 100m.
Over 20 functions are included in the titanium-bodied watch, including various time zones and weather predictions, as well as an altimeter and compass.
3. Garmin Fenix 5X Sapphire
When a smartwatch is designed to be the strongest outdoor device it can be, the result is the Garmin Fenix 5X. The Garmin is a touchscreen smartwatch that substitutes the Apple Watch’s panache with highly developed GPS and mapping, barometric altimeter, and 100m water resistance. Instead of pestering you with social media notifications.
The watch comes pre-loaded with full-color recreational mapping for the whole continent of Europe, as well as turn-by-turn instructions for walking, hiking, cycling, and jogging. GroupTrack is a mechanism that allows you to keep a watch (pun intended) over your pals while you’re adventuring.
24-hour heart rate monitoring and statistics on daily activity and calories burnt are among the fitness aspects. There’s also a VO2Max calculator, which calculates your maximum oxygen consumption per minute.
There’s also a VO2Max calculator, which calculates your maximum oxygen consumption per minute.
4. Casio Databank
Casio is the king of making the best digital watches. At school, there was always one student who wore a calculator watch and dazzled their classmates with their mathematical skills. Before the invention of cellphones, such innovation was considered cutting-edge.
Casio’s famous Databank series is still available for purchase. The CA53W-1 mode has an 8-digit calculator and dual time zones, daily alarm, hourly time indicator, and an automated calendar. What a bargain at around $30!
5. Braun BN0159
The Braun BN0159’s simple style sets it apart from the majority of the digital throng. It has analog hour, minute, and second hands and a tiny digital display with the date, alarm, stopwatch, and second time zone shown.
The watch has a quartz mechanism and a 44mm stainless steel case with a rubber strap (available in black, white, and grey). The BN0159 is water-resistant to 50m, according to Braun.
6. Timex Expedition Digital Chrono
The Timex Expedition Digital Chrono is more of a digital display for your outdoor excursions than just a watch. With a distinctive widescreen display that presents several bits of information at once.
Boasting a 100-hour chronograph with split times and laps available, 24-hour time format, 2 time zones, 3 daily alarms, and a calendar with the day and month.
As well as a green Day-Glo digital display, it offers an Indiglo light-up watch dial. A black resin 39mm casing with acrylic glass, tough leather strap, and 100m water resistance.
7. Casio A168WG-9
You could go out and purchase a regular Casio in black, but where’s the joy in that? This gleaming gold version screams 80’s retro while being reasonably priced.
The A168WG-9, like other Casio watches of this design, is small and inconspicuous on the wrist, measuring only 37.5mm wide.
It has a basic digital display that always shows the time, day, and date and a stopwatch, daily alarm, and optional hourly chiming. What’s more, it offers water resistance, a backlight, and a battery life of 7 years.
Who said anyone could be too old to rock a retro watch?
8. Bulova Computron
This is a re-release of one of the earliest digital timepieces, which was released in the 1970s. While the stainless steel industrial style and red digital display hearken back in time, Bulova improved the design to meet the needs of today’s customers. The watch now has a 3 ATM (30 meters) water-resistant certification and a far more durable mineral crystal glass than the original.
9. Suunto 9 Baro
To say that the Suunto 9 Baro is simply another digital sports activity watch is an understatement. While it has many activity monitoring capabilities and up to 120 hours of battery life to support those exercises before having to be recharged, it can do a lot more. An elegant touchscreen interface sits behind its sapphire glass crystal, allowing you to manage all elements of this wristwatch, including discovering your GPS location. When connected with your phone, it will even provide turn-by-turn navigation instructions. And, as the name suggests, it has a built-in barometer that may help you track weather changes, which is particularly useful if you’re out on a walk, especially in and near dangerous mountains.
10. Timex Q Reissue LCA Digital Watch
The Timex Q Reissue LCA Digital Watch is an all-digital vintage style that brings back one of Timex’s most popular designs from the height of the digital watch craze. The watch’s distinctive feature, a digital-analog watch face, is visible at a glance, giving it a distinct appearance.
There’s also a built-in chronograph, timer, and alarm. Keep in mind that this watch will not use Timex’s current Indiglo illumination technology; instead, they chose to revive vintage LED backlighting to maintain the nostalgia aspect.
11. Nixon Regulus SS Digital Watch
The Nixon Regulus SS is built to meet heavy demands. The Regulus features a modest design that provides excellent visibility of the time and date, which was designed with assistance from military personnel.
However, unlike other watches, which emit a loud beep to indicate button pushes, the Regulus SS has a silent mode while you’re snooping about. Even if circumstances get a little tense on the job, the metal band’s double clasp will keep it on your wrist without slipping off.
That’s it for the best digital watches. If you dig their aesthetic, we bet you’ll also love calculator watches.
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Last Updated on July 12, 2021
Maygen is a multifaceted writer, proofreader and an experienced smartwatch industry writing and editing professional.
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