Hands on with the Casio Edifice Race Lap Chronograph

I am not a fan of full-on smart watches but the new line of Casio Edifice watches have piqued my interest. These are analog but with a Bluetooth connection to help control the list of features that Casio packed into this watch. Victor recently reviewed the Edifice EQB-600D world timer which is a great looking world traveler. Now Casio has released a new model which is the Casio Edifice EQB-800DB-1A Race Lap Chronograph. If you are a track nut you might really like this one. Lets take a look.

The Dial

First off, I love the look of this dial. The blue on black colors look fantastic. There is a lot of depth to this dial. With the large hour markers tapering down to the face of the dial and the raised hour/min/sec hands hovering above the sub-dials there is a lot of depth. The sub-dials serve multiple functions. The sub-dial at the 12 o’clock displays which modes are used such as alarm, stop watch, or calendar. When in calendar mode this dial displays the current day of the week and when in stop watch mode it will display use the lap evaluation area to indicate the difference between lap times. The sub-dial at the 6 o’clock serves one function and that is the world time which is great for travelers. The sub dual at the 9 o’clock displays battery charge level, Bluetooth connection, and 1/20 seconds count when used as stopwatch. The bezel displays the tachometer scale which looks cool but I can never figure out how to use because I will never use it. Protecting all of this is a mineral glass which is very clear and has little glare.

The Case

The case on the Casio Edifice is quite large at 49.2mm wide and 13.1mm thick. Although being large it looks good on the wrist. The case is made from nicely polished stainless steel. The bezel has a great-looking blue ion plating which looks great surrounding the dial. There are four pushers and a screw down crown. Water resistance is a decent 100m which is fine for an above water watch.

The Bracelet

There is a nice mix of brushed and polished finishes on the bracelet of the Casio Edifice. The bracelet is very smooth on the wrist and is not a hair puller which is important if you are of the hairier variety like myself. The bracelet does add a good amount of weight to the watch which is at about a total weight of 199 grams with all links on. The clasp has a smooth locking mechanism which is easily released by pressing the two side pushers.

It’s Bluetooth!

One of the coolest features of the Casio Edifice is that’s its kind of smart. Once you pair this watch with the Casio app you can adjust the world time, set the alarm, and track all the stopwatch activity. This watch will log all the of lap times and other stop watch data that one would need to use at the track. For me I would really love the world time settings and auto time zone adjustments. You can also use the Bluetooth connection to find your phone by activating the phone finder feature on the watch. Pretty cool.

Overall Impression

This Casio Edifice EQB-800DB-1A Race Lap Chronograph totally has the cool factor going on. It just looks important on the wrist. The quality of the watch is great and I really like the blue detailing on the dial and bezel. As for the features, its really great if you area race engineer but for me I would never use any of those features and don’t really know anyone that would, but like a helium escape valve on a diver its cool to know its there. The best feature is the world clock and that could be very handle for the traveler. This watch has a whole lot going for it and at a price of $350 USD its a good value.

Summary

Brand and model: Casio Edifice EQB-800DB-1A
Price: $350 USD
Who’s it for? Travelers, race engineers, watch geeks.

Would I wear it? I would for traveling.
What I’d change: Nothing
The best thing about it: Automatic time change function.

Tech Specs from Casio

Smartphone Link Functions
- Automatic time adjustments.
- Easy watch settings : World time for about 300 cities and daily alarm settings.
- Target time indicator.
- Stopwatch data transfer (lap/split time display measured in 1/1000-second units for up to 100 entries.
- Phone finder.
Tough solar
Dual Dial World Time