AllOutdoor Review – Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 ProTrek Watch
Patrik Orcutt 07.10.23
Designed for the outdoors, but equipped for so much more, I have been wearing this watch almost every day for the past 5 years. The Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 ProTrek Watch is truly a timepiece that fits into every category and looks good doing it in my opinion. While Casio is synonymous with watches, the company didn’t actually begin life selling timepieces. Casio was founded in 1946 in Japan in the aftermath of World War II. The founder, Tadao Kashio, started out by producing mechanical parts. He was joined by his brothers, who had expertise in electronics and by 1949 they had begun producing calculators. In the 1950s, they successfully produced Japan’s first electronic calculator, and it was small enough to be portable and desk-sized.
Casio began producing electronic instruments and by the 1970s, the company was a household name across the world. It wasn’t until 1974 however, that Casio had refined its best product yet, the Casio watch.
Casio watches quickly became a hit after their release in 1974. The Casio company was pioneering the mass production of quartz watches, which were run electronically. These were the world’s first successful electronic watches, and they were the height of fashion and technology. With the success of their digital quartz watches, Casio took their technology even further than digital watches had ever been taken before. They began developing their famed G-Shock range, which became the precursors for the robust, digital watches that are still around today.
The PROTREK line takes all of the robustness of the G-Shock series and wraps it in a cleaner design with more features for those who spend much of their time in the outdoors.
The Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 PROTREK was purchased by myself and CASIO has not been allowed to preview this review prior to publishing.
Specs – Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 ProTrek Watch
- Case Size (L× W× H): 51.6mm x 51.5mm x 13.4mm
- Case and Bezel Material: Resin/Stainless Steel
- Water Resistance: 100-Meter Water Resistance
- Power Supply and Battery Life: Solar Powered; So, Forever…
- Weight: 78g
- Band: Silicon Band
- Environmental Resistance: Low-Temperature Resistant (-10℃/14℉)
- MSRP: $350
Features – Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 ProTrek Watch
While being a tiny device, the PRG600-1 comes with and incredible amount of features. Starting of with a World time setting that is correct by about give or take 15 seconds. The World time feature also has 29 time zones (29 cities + coordinated universal time) that are engraved into the bezel of the watch. This makes it easy to adjust your watch when traveling from time zone to time zones. There is one-touch UTC Time Zone Access, daylight saving on/off.
The stopwatch can go for just under 24 hours uninterrupted with elapsed time, split time, and 1st-2nd place time features. The Timer has a countdown of timer Measuring unit: 1-second Countdown range: 60 minutes Countdown start time setting range: 1 second to 60 minutes (1-second increments, 1-minute increments) There are 5 programable alarms on the watch and these are great features to have when you can’t use a traditional alarm clock or your phone is dead or not with you. I used this feature a lot when I’m going through military training and my phone is locked up.
When it’s too dark to read the face of the watch or the double LED light comes in handy. The activation button is located below the face and is easy to find with minimal light. The LED also backlights the entire watch face giving you full visibility. Other Features worth Mentioning but not worth elaborating on include the following:
Full auto-calendar (to year 2099), Mute feature, Button operation tone on/off, Hand home position correction feature, The auto hand home position correction, Energy saving feature, Power Saving (display goes blank and hands stop to save power when the watch is left in the dark), Battery display/alert, Battery level indicator, Run time, Approx. battery operating time: 7 months on rechargeable battery (operation period with normal use without exposure to light after charge) 25 months on rechargeable battery (operation period when stored in total darkness with the power save function on after full charge), temperature measurement)
More features built into the watch include the following:
Altimeter Measuring range: -700 to 10,000 m (-2,300 to 32,800 ft.) Measuring unit: 1 m (5 ft.) Hand indication of altitude differential Manual memory measurements (up to 30 records, each including altitude, date, time) Auto log data (High/low altitudes, cumulative ascent and descent) Others:
Relative altitude readings (±100 m/±1000 m), Selectable measurement interval: 5 seconds or 2 minutes *1 second for first 3 minutes only *Changeover between meters (m) and feet (ft)
Barometer Display range: 260 to 1,100 hPa (7.65 to 32.45 inHg) Display unit: 1 hPa (0.05 inHg) Hand indication of pressure differential
Atmospheric pressure tendency graph Barometric pressure tendency information alarm (beep and arrow indicates significant changes in pressure) *Changeover between hPa and inHg
Digital compass Measures and displays direction as one of 16 points Measuring range: 0 to 359° Measuring unit: 1° 60 seconds continuous measurement Hand indication of northThermometer Display range: -10 to 60℃ (14 to 140℉) Display unit: 0.1℃ (0.2℉)
As you can see this watch is loaded with features but some definitely work better than others in my experience. The Alometer liked to reset itself on me every few months so I tended not to rely on it too much. The Thermometer was also pretty unreliable and definitely was affected by my body temperature.
Case / Band – Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 ProTrek Watch
First of all, I think this is a great-looking watch, it strikes a great balance between a semi-tactical and outdoor watch while being classy enough in black for a more formal occasion if necessary. The design team at CASIO really nailed the looks on this watch and to this day its still my favorite-looking watch that’s not a full Dive watch. The face is very clean and simple to read and i love that about this watch.
All of the buttons on the bezel are large but not too big to be activated accidentally. As mentioned before the LED light button is in a great place for quick access when in low-light conditions. The face has a few glow-in-the-dark features with the hands and the 3,6,9, and 12 numbers are eliminated for a short time when out of sunlight. They are not too bright to be a problem when working at night in tactical situations though.
The crown of the watch will need to be unscrewed a few times to be activated and this is when you can find access to some of the more technical features on the watch like world time and time adjustments. Being constructed of stainless steel and a mystery resin, this watch is very light while also being very tough. The face of the watch is very large at roughly 44mm and is made of a mostly scratch-resistant mineral glass. We will touch more on this glass in the next section on durability.
The Band is made entirely of silicone and is very wide coming in at 24mms. This bad is also one of the most comfortable I have ever word when compared to other Casio or Citizens bands from cheaper models. The band is replaceable but finding the straps can be tricky and expensive, costing nearly $75 on some sites.
Durability – Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 ProTrek Watch
The durability of the PRG600Y-1 is exceptional, I have taken this watch into the shower with me almost every day for 5 years and the band has not begun to frey in any of the band holes, unlike on my older watches. The Band strap holder did need to be replaced a few months ago but that is a very cheap and easy part to find.
The face of the watch lasted a good 3 years without any scratches on it until I decided to go bouldering one time at my local rock climbing gym. Until then I was convinced that I couldn’t make any marks on its face, but I was proven wrong when exiting a hold that afternoon. The aluminum parts of the bezel have held up remarkably well and have what I would call a nice “worn” look to them. Aside from that, everything else on this watch has held up great and still works as well as the day I took it out of its box.
Likes – Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 ProTrek Watch
- Great Looking Watch
- Relatively cheap, can often be found for only $200
- Loaded with lots of features
Dislikes – Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 ProTrek Watch
- Some features do not work as advertised
- Watch face can be scratched
- Hard to find replacement parts
Wrap Up – Casio 2018 PRG600Y-1 ProTrek Watch
If you’re looking for a handsome watch that is loaded with features and blends into most situations, then I think the PRG600Y-1 is a great option. I can often be found for around $200 making it a good budget choice for any watch newcomers. The battery lasts forever and the face is well designed.
- Altimeter Measuring range: -700 to 10,000 m (-2,300 to 32,800 ft.)
- Measuring unit: 1 m (5 ft.)
- Hand indication of altitude differential
- Manual memory measurements (up to 30 records, each including altitude, date, time)
- Auto log data (High/low altitudes, cumulative ascent and descent)
- Others: Relative altitude readings (±100 m/±1000 m), Selectable measurement interval: 5 seconds or 2 minutes *1 second for first 3 minutes only *Changeover between meters (m) and feet (ft)
- Barometer Display range: 260 to 1,100 hPa (7.65 to 32.45 inHg)
- Display unit: 1 hPa (0.05 inHg)
- Hand indication of pressure differential
- Atmospheric pressure tendency graph
- Barometric pressure tendency information alarm (beep and arrow indicates significant changes in pressure) *Changeover between hPa and inHg
- Digital compass Measures and displays direction as one of 16 points
- Measuring range: 0 to 359°
- Measuring unit: 1° 60 seconds continuous measurement
- Hand indication of north
- Bidirectional calibration
- Magnetic declination correction
- Thermometer Display range: -10 to 60℃ (14 to 140℉)
- Display unit: 0.1℃ (0.2℉) *Changeover between Celsius (℃) and Fahrenheit (℉)
- Calendar
- Full auto-calendar (to year 2099)
- Mute feature
- Button operation tone on/off
- Hand home position correction feature
- The auto hand home position correction
- Energy saving feature
- Power Saving (display goes blank and hands stop to save power when the watch is left in the dark)
- Battery display/alert
- Battery level indicator
- Run time
- Approx. battery operating time: 7 months on rechargeable battery (operation period with normal use without exposure to light after charge) 25 months on rechargeable battery (operation period when stored in total darkness with the power save function on after full charge)
- Accuracy
- Accuracy: ±15 seconds per month
- Other features
- 12/24-hour format
Hand shift feature (manual or auto (during altitude, barometric pressure, and temperature measurement))
Regular timekeeping: Analog: 3 hands (hour, minute (hand moves every 10 seconds), second) Digital: Hour, minute, second, am/pm, date, day
