I purchased this G-Shock model for three primary reasons: 1) atomic timekeeping, 2) solar charging, and 3) readability. I have found over the years of owning G-Shocks that these are the three most important features to me. Atomic timekeeping means that this is a "set and forget it" timepiece. Solar charging means that I never have to open the watch to replace a battery, keeping it water-tight for the life of the watch. Finally, have you ever noticed how "busy" and crowded some of the G-Shock watch faces are? In some cases, it makes it really difficult for older (not ancient, mind you!) eyes to read the time at a quick glance. This model is a basic, no-nonsense EDC. It doesn't have an altimeter, heart rate monitor, GPS, thermometer, or whatever. The watch I wear doesn't really need those things because I think there are better specialized tools for those jobs anyway. It does have the tools I do need in a watch though like a stopwatch, timer, alarm, day/date, back lighting, military time display, and world time. If you need more in terms of lap timers for swimming and fitness training activities, there may be better options for that. Otherwise, this is a tremendous watch. The atomic function works flawlessly. It actually works while on my wrist. I was up late gaming with one of my sons and I noticed that it was setting the time while I was playing on the PS4! My atomic watches in the past were much more finicky. Those things had to be placed in a particular spot in the house, pointing in a particular direction, the voodoo witch doctor had to shake a chicken foot over it, and then maybe it would pick up the signal. Not anymore! When I received the watch from Amazon, it was completely dead with no charge at all. It appeared to have come directly from the manufacturer and had not been out on display or anything like that. It took a couple of days (it's winter time and cloudy up north right now), but now it's good and charged up. Be advised that it can take a little time to get charged to the "High" level, but once there, these watches tend to hold the charge for a long time with the power save feature active. Give it a good bit of sunshine once every few months and you'll never have a problem. The readability on this watch is excellent. Casio did a nice job of keeping the view uncluttered. Many of the G-Shocks suffer from lots of "stuff" on their faces. The older models suffer from the three-eye syndrome that shrinks the size of the useful information you want to see in lieu of useless little circles that nobody needs or cares about. This watch increases the size of the useful information and uses a white background to increase readability. The obvious thing about this watch, of course, is that it's a G-Shock. It is essentially the toughest mass produced watch in the world. Good luck killing it in the normal course of everyday wear. Among other things, I like to go snorkeling and skin diving on vacation, so this will be going with me for those activities with no worries. If these are good enough for Navy SEALS and law enforcement personnel, they're probably good enough for the rest of us. Go ahead and beat it up. It laughs at you for trying to take it down! I do have one small gripe about the watch, more specifically about the strap. Why does Casio insist on producing the world's toughest ADULT watch and then slap a child-sized strap on the thing? I am an averaged-sized, athletic male (6' 2", 230 lbs.). I have to wear the watch right at the end of the band, so it just barely fits. To be honest, I wish there were just a little more band poking through the holder. I worry about losing it. In short, the band could be longer and more robust. All in all, this is a great watch. Get it, charge it up with some intense sunlight, get it set up (it's easy to do, just read the instructions), and you're good to go.
