The best digital watches to keep time readable

The Casio G-Shock is an undeniable classic. It’s a distinctive timepiece that revolutionized electronic watches by offering durable, water-resistant, and simple digital features. The GWM5610 updates the classic “square” profile with solar timekeeping, making it one of the best military watches out there. Plus, it can withstand almost anything.

This solar G-Shock is arguably the pinnacle of practical G-Shock development, solving the issues that are inherent to all digital watches with the addition of the solar panel on the face of the watch. The solar charging capability means that if you regularly expose this watch to sunlight, it’ll stay charged, theoretically forever. Couple this with the G-Shock’s legendary durability and reliability, and you’ve got a watch that won’t quit in any circumstance.

The unfortunate reality with brutish digital wristwatches like the G-Shock is that they’re openly utilitarian. This G-Shock, like most of them, doesn’t dress up well, since hardly anything goes well with black resin. You’re also stuck with the uncomfortable stock resin strap unless you get adapters, which is an extra cost on top of the price of this watch. Finally, the pushers on this particular model of G-Shock aren’t the handiest, being very small, so I’ve found that it can be a pain if you’re wearing gloves.

The Timex Ironman was my first big kid watch growing up, and it’s no wonder, given that the Ironman was purpose-built for triathletes, and my parents figured that it would stand up to everything I threw at it. This is an affordable, wearable watch that leads the charge by having some of the best readability of any watch on the market. Not just the Pepsi to the G-Shock’s Coke, this is an underrated classic that deserves a place in anyone’s collection.

The Timex Ironman Endurance 30 is a less stodgy digital watch, offering several ergonomic choices that make it even better than some G-Shocks, with all of the durability that comes with that territory. The biggest advantage is the readability, with huge numbers on a large display for easy reading in the daytime, and the scorching blue of Timex’s trademark Indiglo backlight. The size of this is another huge advantage, with Timex nailing a wrist-hugging form factor much better than most Casio watches, making this one of the best digital watches for women since many watches these days are overly large. Finally, Timex knows its audience with the Ironman Endurance 30, putting the chronograph start/split button front and center, which when combined with the large pushers, means this is a watch that controls well even with gloves or while under stress.

Like with the G-Shock, the stock resin strap on the Timex Ironman sucks, frankly. Compounding this, unlike the G-Shocks, there’s not much of an aftermarket for adapters to use larger straps, so while the lug width on the Ironman is a serviceable 18 millimeters, and adapters do exist, they’re not as prevalent. There’s also the personal fact that the Ironman will always remind me of the late 1990s, due to the association with my childhood. It doesn’t look like the charming retro digital watch that the G-Shock square is.

The Nixon Regulus is one of the best retro digital watches that isn’t retro at all. It’s a completely original design, intended to look like something futuristic, yet nostalgic. Additionally, it’s an idiot-proof watch that innovates with its display, controls, and wearability, making it an excellent contender for a military watch. I personally owned the Mk1 variant of the Regulus, which was a military-only version that had no real extra functionality beyond an engraving and the fact that it came in a plastic bag rather than a box.

The biggest selling point for the Regulus is that it addresses all the issues of more common digital watches like the Casio G-Shock — almost all of them, anyway. The biggest thing that it addresses is that it allows you to see all parts of the display at any given time, and gives you full control over the chronograph function, allowing you to run two separate stopwatches and monitor them even if you flip back to the main time display. The strap is also a straightforward 24mm strap, meaning that if you don’t care for the rubber, like me, you can easily swap it for a NATO strap without any modifications from the factory.

The downside to the Regulus is that what it doesn’t improve upon relative to other digital watches, it arguably makes worse. For starters, this is a very thick watch, one of the thickest on this list, meaning that you can forget any hopes of fitting this under a shirt cuff, and even my cammies blouse cuff gets snagged on it often. Secondly, the water resistance isn’t much compared to Casio G-Shocks, and while 100 meters isn’t exactly wimpy, it undercuts the military character of the Regulus. Finally, all the innovation and design work that went into the Regulus clearly affected the price tag, since MSRP on these is well north of equivalent Casio and Timex models that maybe don’t look as cool.

“Luxury digital watch” sounds like an oxymoron, but when Hamilton designed the original Pulsar P1 in the 1970s, it was the apex of space-age futurism. Now, Hamilton has brought this concept back, right down to the vintage LED display, with all the modern amenities like a sapphire crystal, solid bracelet, and the ability to view the time without pressing a button. The Hamilton PSR is the best watch to make a statement with, being truly unlike anything else currently on the market.

When James Bond strapped on his Pulsar LED watch in Live and Let Die, he was dating the movie worse than the bell-bottom suits and Wings-performed title track ever could. The idea of a metal digital watch that displayed the time with light-emitting diodes at the press of a button was novel, and this Hamilton embraces that 1970’s charm with zero shame or reservation.

Additionally, the design updates the original by featuring a sapphire crystal, more water resistance, a solid steel bracelet, and improved battery life. All of these characteristics combine to make a watch that’s still a classy, stylish way to do something different, which proves that luxury digital watches are alive and kicking.

Over $500 for a digital watch with less water resistance than a G-Shock, and less functionality than even some analog watches on the market, is a lot to ask. This isn’t a practical watch by any stretch, and it’s not supposed to be, but it’s a statement piece that fits into a small niche. The time is visible even without pressing the LED button on the PSR, but it’s dim and difficult to read at a glance, so if you can, use the LED function. Overall, this watch is a professional statement piece.

The Seiko SNJ025 is a watch that we love, and that we’ve featured on our lists of solar watches and dive watches, due to its fantastic durability, undeniable brutal 1980s style, and cinema link. This watch is a blend of analog and digital that nails both, bringing digital timekeeping to the world of SCUBA diving. This is one of my favorite watches that I own, and it’s perfect for those who want a sleek pro digital watch that can handle the depths of the sea and the tops of mountains.

The Seiko Arnie is a super-durable dive watch. Every single watch is professionally tested to withstand over 20 atmospheres of pressure, resist extreme temperatures, and is equipped with straps that can withstand the hardships of underwater adventures. This factor no doubt played a role in its predecessor, the H558, gracing the wrist of Arnold Schwarzenegger in action movie classics like Predator in his role as elite CIA paramilitary commando Alan “Dutch” Schafer. Luckily, for the rest of us, the SNJ025 wears surprisingly compact, in spite of the large diameter that includes the shroud, so you don’t have to be Arnold-sized to wear it.

Despite the fact that it wears smaller than you’d expect a 47.8-millimeter watch to wear, the SNJ025 is an extremely large watch, and there’s no hiding that, meaning that it’s not going to wear easily for smaller people. The stock rubber strap, while comfortable, traps dirt and moisture, and causes a rash for me every time I use it, which is why I swapped almost immediately to a NATO strap. Finally, a friend of mine had the experience of his dive bezel getting fouled by dirt, causing it to lose functionality.