[Edifice Review] EQB-1000XD-1A – for important negotiations

Five years ago, nobody could think Casio would “dare” to try itself in the SmartWatch industry. Today almost all the primary watch lines, except the cheapest ones [like Casio Collection], can boast of series with wireless technologies – progress in watchmaking is developing rapidly. And now you know, most manufacturers have so deepened into the smart market that they have forgotten the main thing – their products are no longer watches in the most real sense of the word. There is nothing wrong with it, only if you are addicted to the classic display with the hands. After all, it’s cool when the watch tries to be at the “cutting edge” of technological progress and the primary tool for reading time without losing its elite hand status at the same time. Today we are talking about the long-awaited EQB-1000 series, which entirely fits into the classical understanding of watches and has severe technical potential.

EQB-1000 is a logical continuation and, in some sense, work on mistakes after the previous EQB series. 

Just remember how much excitement the EQB-500 and EQB-501 series have caused. They took on the heavy burden of “pioneers” in the world of smartwatches for Casio. Since then, many EQB series have been released, but the whole Casio lineup task was evident – the desire to make the classics “smarter” and more convenient for the user.

There were enough mistakes in design, materials, and functionality. The engineers finally managed to make EQBs fit almost perfectly [in my opinion] into the smart, compact, and premium concept. The EQB-1000 can be praised for its size, or preferably its thickness – only 8.9 mm. According to the engineers’ words, it was achieved by sealing the parts inside the housing and a newer version of the Bluetooth module. That is a small revolution in watchmaking because serious stuffing cases have always been thicker than the simpler products.

The 1000′ is just perfect in terms of size, as far as I am concerned. Even taking into account the steel bezel that rises above the glass, it has also become flat. Nobody will argue with such case positioning – business style and “good for the suit,” and the watch should fit under the shirt’s sleeve.

Bezel surface is a very convenient place for some scale, in this case, a tachymeter. By the way, the basic version of this watch doesn’t have any scale. It only exists in red and black models. I have not found any reference to the tachymeter in the manual, so I would not be surprised if this scale is made, as they say, for the eyes’ beauty. The inscriptions are a bit drowned in the steel surface, so there is no risk of destroying the paint here.

Someone will criticize the four side screws on the bezel, but I like them – at least the watch looks more substantial and exciting.

There are still some recognizable cylindrical buttons that you can immediately understand – we have something interesting in front of us from Casio. By the way, the keystrokes have softened in comparison with the EQB-900.

The strap consists of ordinary steel links [sorry, but not solid]. I do not know why such savings are associated with while talking about the upper price segment for the Edifice line.

Dial – a specific issue. Look how cool red and black colors are combined. Such bloody red hands attract me, markers, and different windows scale – you feel like the “master” of the watch world. The dial’s readability is at the highest level, thanks to the black backing with the “hair” texture.

The bottom window is an indicator of [time/calendar, stopwatch, double-time, and alarm] modes and shows the difference from the previous stopwatch circle [when using it]. I will return to this moment a little later when I get to the phone synchronization. The window itself is gray, not like the others, so I dare to conclude it’s through this window that most of the light to recharge the battery will fall.

Why read tons of manual pages when you came up with Bluetooth? Download the Edifice Connected application, choose EQB-1000 from the list, and wait for instructions. The program suggests pairing devices by holding down the bottom button for 2 seconds. Time and date are automatically pulled from your smartphone – and that is the essential connection part.

After simple manipulations, I get to the Home screen, where there are several tabs – Guide, Stopwatch, World Time, and Utility.

I enter the Guide tab and see two points – world time and stopwatch. The manual tells you a window at 9 o’clock displays the time in the second time zone, which can be selected in the World Time section in the application. Here, as always, everything is very cool and clear – it is enough to choose the city on the interactive map and send the set to the watch, and then in an additional window will be the time in the selected city.

It is even more enjoyable with a stopwatch. The manual tells you about the presence of the target lap time indicator. In short, the lower window of the stopwatch indicates that the lap time is lagging or ahead of the previous lap.

Ok, I’m trying to start the stopwatch. Press the upper button in current time/calendar mode, thus beginning the countdown. To create a new lap, press the lower button, and the second hand will freeze, but it will last exactly 10 seconds. During the second stop, the bottom window’s hand will indicate the difference between the last lap. The scale is small – 5 seconds ahead of schedule and 1 second behind, but that is enough for more or less accurate measurements. The mark “OVER” indicates a delay of more than 1 second.

I will try to demonstrate the process in a small video:

In the Stopwatch section in the application, you can import data from the watch and then view the laps. The stopwatch is quite capacious – for 24 hours, with a quick start directly from the current time mode.

I was also wondering what happened to the hands, or rather with their manual correction – there is a point in the settings to adjust each hand separately. It may be useful in case of a strong impact or magnetic field action.

The Utility tab contains only an alarm setting, and it is not very advanced here – the usual daily triggering at a specified time.

I noticed the timer’s absence, but I wanted to observe the reverse movement of the hands … But there is nothing here.

Sapphire glass is a paradise for a watch perfectionist. You will not know exactly what reflections, scratches, and fuzzy dial at different angles are with this watch.

The date window [at 4 o’clock] and the time window in the 24-hour format at the top of the dial are also worth mentioning. These watch elements are used less often than others, but their usefulness is apparent.

The lack of backlighting is a little frustrating, especially if you have a solar battery. The hands and hour markers have Neobrite [luminous coating], but it would be foolish to compare it with a full LED backlight.

EQB-1000 Comparison Table with similar Edifice Watches

Conclusions

Of all the “smart” line  –  EQB-1000 is the only series that caught me. Nothing fundamentally new, but the watch has its feature, namely a very thin case – it will be a decisive factor in case of a difficult choice. There are only two moments which I would correct – timer and backlight. At its cost of $500, it is an excellent option for the hands’ fans with a “smart” and advanced caliber.

Author Yamakot, special for casioblog.ru and casiofanmag.com. All Rights Reserved…

Edifice EQB-1000 Photo Gallery

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EQB-1000 Profile / Casio Edifice
Average Amazon Price: $330 (yes, we may earn a commission on qualifying purchases from our links to Amazon)
Year of first release: 2019
Nominations: best design, best materials, best functions, best size
The most distinctive specs:
– 100-meter water resistance (good for swimming but not for deep diving)
– Edifice Connected App (you may manage all watch settings through your phone)
– Mobile link (Wireless linking using Bluetooth(R)) (for time sync with your phone data)
– Tough Solar (CASIO’s original solar-charging system converts not only sunlight but also light from fluorescent lamps and other sources into power)
– Sapphire crystal (no scratches, no flares)
– Last Lap Differential Indicator (When using the watch to measure lap times, the difference between the current lap and the last lap is indicated by a dial within a range of –5 to +1 seconds)
– Dual Dial World Time (A dial on the face of the watch always shows the current time in another zone whenever you need it. A sub-dial also indicates a.m. or p.m. at a glance)
Other colors and full specs: EQB-1000 Wiki Page