Ana-Digi Forester Illuminator Sport Watch: Great Value and Looks

I've recently been on a health kick, and I've finally gotten back into exercising after over a year of a very sedentary lifestyle. Since I'm out and about without my cell phone (who wants to carry a phone when you're walking/jogging?) I decided to get a watch.

Since I'm not usually a watch-wearer, my requirements were pretty easy to meet: I wanted something under $30, fairly rugged, with an alarm, stopwatch, and a light would be a great bonus. Of course there are hundreds of really ugly cheap watches that fit most of these requirements, but I wanted something that I would at least enjoy wearing. After a lot of research, I was drawn to the Timex Expedition and Casio Forester lines of watches, which have an outdoorsy feel. After determining that the Expedition watches by Timex were just a bit more than I wanted to pay (although they seem to be definitely of a higher quality) I settled on getting a Casio Forester. There were several of the Forester variations available where I went shopping, but my wife immediately picked out the Analog/Digital Illuminator Sport for me.

I was also immediately drawn to this particular model due to it's distinct style, and the fact that it was a combination Analog/Digital watch. I like the look of analog watches best, but since I am using the watch for exercise, I really wanted some features afforded by digital watches. Unlike other analog/digital combinations, the digital display is very unobtrusive and doesn't take away from the elegance of the analog design at all. The colors are all in nice brown and tan shades, so it looks very rustic and adventurous. While it's a fairly slim watch, the numerals are definitely big enough to read easily. The band is is leather with a canvas trim that looks very durable and rugged, and the clasp seems to be pretty high quality as well. I'm very satisfied with the overall look and quality of the watch, although I'd have liked to have seen a glass crystal instead of plastic; the face is probably going to be prone to scratches.

The array of features offered by this watch is impressive for this price range. The digital display is able to show time from two time zones as well the month, date, and day of the week. There's also an hourly chime feature, one alarm, and a stopwatch that is able to display cumulative time elapsed. The Illuminator Sport Watch is also water resistant to 100M, which means it can handle snorkeling and light diving! You'll have no problems swimming or washing your car with this watch. Add in the great Illuminator light, and you've got a pretty compelling feature set! Everything you need in a basic sport watch is present.

In terms of design, it's easy to use...once you know how to operate one Casio, you pretty much know how to operate them all. The button to set the analog time is very difficult to press, though, so you'd better have a pen or butter knife handy! You can also only progress forward when setting the analog time, so if you pass your target you'll have to move the hands all the way back around the face of the watch, which a cumbersome process. I also had an issue with the Illuminator light, because even though it lights the face of the watch evenly and brightly, the digital display is not lit--so you're without a lot of handy features in the dark!

Of all the Forester models, the Illuminator Sport definitely strikes the best balance between features, looks, and value. Although I'd have liked to have seen a glass crystal, I understand that sacrifices have to be made for a $28 watch. That being said, not having a backlight for the digital display really annoys me, and seems like a design oversight rather than a price-point issue. Nevertheless, I can still definitely recommend this watch as a great option for those needing an attractive, functional, and well-priced watch for basic sports needs.