The Casio AE-1500WH-1AVDF is everything a watch should be

Sometimes it is the small things in life that makes the greatest difference. I’ve had the Casio AE-1500WH-1AVDF for half a year now, and it is easily one of the best purchases I made in 2023. After having a smartwatch for many years, the freedom of not having to worry about charging my watch has been fantastic, and I don’t stress about minor scruffs and bumps. The watch is lightweight and comfortable, and I can use the stopwatch feature while working out. If you are looking for an affordable and easily readable watch, this one would fit the bill. Simple as that.

Now that we have that out of the way, I wanted to take a more philosophical twist to what would otherwise be a short watch review. This watch wasn’t just a great purchase, but a reminder of how complex some things have gotten in day-to-day life, often needlessly so. Having to charge a smartwatch at the end of every day, remember to bring another charging cable on multi day journeys, and applying software updates was just too much for a device that was mostly used to tell the time.

Sure, getting notifications on my wrist was nice in one sense, but in another, it also caused me to be constantly tethered to my phone. While originally I took never missing a notification to be a point of pride, I eventually realized that it is okay to leave the phone in another room and just let it be. Nothing is that urgent.

With the Casio, I never have to worry about the watch reaching end-of-life, or the battery slowly deteriorating to the point where it needs to be charged hourly (a point which my three-year-old airpods have now hit). The battery is supposed to last 10 years, but even if it lasts 7 or 8 I will be happy. Then, I can simply screw off the back, buy a new battery, and keep chugging along for another decade. I intend for this watch to be my last unless it irreparably breaks.

Perhaps it is just a symptom of getting older, but now I just want many things to just do one job, and do it well. It’s the reason why I prefer the terminal to a dedicated blogging program, a wired keyboard, and physical books. There is peace in the tranquility, and that’s what I feel when I look at the AE-1500WH-1AVDF.