Casio A700 Review: Retro Greatness Achieved

In this article, we will be doing a review of the Casio A700. This watch is another one in Casio’s retro styled line of watches. Casio’s retro watches are a throwback to their watches that were popular in the 80’s and 90’s. They have been brought back for a new generation.

These retro inspired watches are a treat real for older Casio fans, who were into these styles back in the day. They will remember a lot of these styles. If you fit into that group, then no doubt these styles ignite your sense of nostalgia.

For the newer fans, you get a chance to try out these blast from the past retro designs. I like them because they have a thin, slim profile and simplistic design structure. This style is definitely appealing to a lot of people.

Now these retro designs are not made exactly like the ones from the old days, but they take great inspiration from the design and structure of those watches so as to be nearly identical to them.

Anyway, let’s get into the Casio A700! We will be looking at the build structure, design, features, and pricing of this watch. I will probably be making some comparisons to this one, and others in the retro line that we have previously covered.

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Casio A700 Review

The very first thing to look at in this watch is its basic specifications.

Specs

• It has a digital display.
• Uses quartz movement.
• Case is 33mm in diameter, and 6mm thick.
• Band is 21.5mm in width.

Build Structure

Now we’ll check out the build. We already know that Casio makes dependable, and sturdy watches. You need look no further than their almighty G-Shocks as a prime example of this. But these aren’t G-Shocks. G-Shocks are designed to be as tough as possible. The retro series, not so much. Don’t get me wrong, these watches are still sturdy and reliable, they just won’t survive the same kind of extreme conditions that a G-Shock will.

But enough about that. The Casio A700 has a silver colored resin case, with a stainless steel case back. The dial window is acrylic. Its band is made of stainless steel. The water resistance is 30 meters, so light splashes are ok, but complete submersion in water, however would not be recommended.

This type of build is typical of what you would find in Casio’s retro series. It is a decent build, but nothing overly spectacular. And now that we’ve looked at the build, it’s time to take a look at the design.

Design

I’m going to go ahead and say this, but the A700 looks pretty much identical to both the A158, and A168. It has the same simplistic vintage look. Overall the watch has a very slim, slender design to it. The case is squarish in shape, and it only has 3 buttons total. The light and mode buttons are on the left, while the 12/24 hour button is on the right.

Looking at the watch face, you will find descriptions of the functions of the watch written both above, and beneath the digital display. Despite there being a good bit of text on the watch face, it does not really stand out too much or detract from the overall aesthetics of the watch. Basically the text blends in well.

Moving onto the band, you have a slim segmented chain link band. This band is very thin, allowing it to match the slim case design. This keeps the overall look of the watch pretty low profile.

Let’s take a look at the features next.

Features

The way I would describe the features of the Casio A700 is basic. Basic, basic, basic. The 12/24 hour button on the right side allows you to choose which of the two time formats will be displayed. Other than that it has a backlight, alarm, and stopwatch function. You can easily adjust each of these features, via the mode button, located on the bottom left. After choosing which mode you want to adjust the settings for, you would use the 12/24 hour button on the right to adjust the settings for the selected mode.

The backlight here is actually pretty decent. While it is not an illuminator, like the A168, or the W86, the backlight does not suffer from the same issues as the A158. The light on this one has a yellowish tint to it, and it will be pretty easy to see the digital display in the dark using this backlight.

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Pricing

As far as the prices go for this watch, it is very affordable. Pretty much all of Casio’s classic retro styled watches are going to be budget watches. Now while this watch is cheap by any standards, you may end up paying a little bit more for this one than say the A158 or the A168. That being said, you would need to weigh the pros and cons of each of those watches to decide whether or not this one is going to be worth the purchase. But any way you choose, you will not be spending a whole lot of money at all.

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Casio A700 Final Thoughts

So what do I think of the A700? Well I keep drawing comparisons between this and the A158 and A168 because of how similar these watches look. Ultimately though, I would say that out of those 3 watches, this one would be my choice. I’ll tell you why.

The A158 looks good for the most part, but has a terrible backlight. The A168 has a great backlight, but the text on the watch face is bright, noticeable, and takes away from the aesthetics a bit. The Casio A700 has the classic simple slim look and style, the text on the watch face doesn’t take away from the aesthetics of the watch, and the backlight is pretty decent.

So out of those 3, this one would be the best in my opinion. It might cost a bit more, but it is worth it to have, in my opinion, Casio’s best slim silver throwback watch!

And that concludes our Casio A700 review! If you enjoyed this, we have more reviews of watches and watch brands that you can check out right here