workout buddy: the wristwatch timer auto-repeat feature

If you do any sort of workout that involves repetitions, a.k.a. reps, you need a watch with this very specific feature.

This is kind of a follow up to my last post and the Which Casio keeps the best time? post.

Although my Casio B640WD keeps the worst time (as in worst "for a Casio," which isn't bad at all really,) there is one feature it has that none of my other Casio digitals have. A countdown timer with auto-repeat feature.

On the B640WD, the timer with auto-repeat means that when the time elapses, the timer starts over again along with 10 seconds of beeps to let you know of a timer restart. And yes, you can toggle the repeat on or off, your choice.

I personally use this feature for my workouts now. What the auto-repeat timer feature allows me to do is go from exercise to rest to exercise and so on without having to stop and reset the watch. This is a very convenient feature.

Do all Casio digitals with a countdown timer have the auto-repeat feature?

No. You have to specifically seek them out. For example, my AE1200 is packed with a ton of features including a countdown timer, but without auto-repeat.

These are the models (at least for the US market) that have countdown with auto-repeat:

B640WD (as noted above)
AE1300
WS220 (this is a really fancy one with timer-to-timer with 10 repeats!)
W734 (this one can count down from 100 hours, others are limited to just 24)
F201WA
AQ160W and AQ160WD (this is an analog-digital model)

What about G-SHOCK models?

The classic DW5600 model has the countdown with auto-repeat. However, the super-ritzy (and super-expensive) Casio GWG1000GB G-SHOCK model does not have a timer with auto-repeat. It has everything else you could think of except that one function.

In other words, where Casio is concerned, getting that auto-repeat timer function is a mostly-digital-only thing. Not exclusively. Just mostly.

Is the auto-repeat timer good for anything else besides working out?

Yes. If you're the forgetful type that needs to be reminded to do something every X hours (you set the interval,) a watch with an auto-repeat timer is a godsend.

Which model is the best?

For men, I'd recommend either the AE1300 or the DW5600 G-SHOCK.

For ladies or for guys with really small wrists, the F201WA is the best choice. It's also the cheapest watch of all the models mentioned here. Some really like this model because it has 4 alarms with 1 snooze alarm, 10-year battery life, dual time feature, stopwatch and full time/weekday/month/day information displayed on the face all at once. It's packed with some fairly decent goodies for being so cheap.

Published 2016 Mar 20