casio w738h, the awful repackaged w736h

I just mentioned the W221H, which again I may get, but in all honesty is probably something I'll give a miss to. But then there's the new W738H, which is supposedly going to be released in the US this month May 2026. Casio Singapore already has a product page up for it.

This is another one of those models where Casio gets it but at the same time they don't.

I own the W735H. The W736H has an identical case with identical features to the W735H, except the LCD panel is arranged slightly differently.

Both the W735H and W736H are what I call I-don't-care watches, as both are seriously fugly. More on that in a moment.

The W738H is functionally identical to the W736H with exactly the same LCD appearance, save for that the case and strap are different. The W738H is smaller, thinner and 7g lighter in weight. It also comes in three colorways. 1AV, a black case people will like but with a silver bezel everybody will hate. 1BV, an all-black case that everybody will love but with negative display everybody will hate. 3AV, an ugly olive color case with black bezel and olive strap that only those who couldn't get the black/silver one will buy. And on all of them, the strap is the same garbage on the W221H.

Oh, and for the 1AV black w/silver bezel version, the one most likely to sell best, it has a purple button at bottom right for no good reason. Yes, purple. It's just there, proud as can be.

The only way to get one of these that isn't an embarrassment to wear would be to buy the black/silver positive display and the all-black negative display, swap the positive LCD module into the all-black case (which thankfully does not have a purple button on it), ditch the strap for something better, and then you've finally got something respectable.

At least with the W735H/W736H, the ugly there is on full display. The W738H however is trying to look better, but Casio just could not resist with the ugly crap. This is why I say Casio gets it but at the same time they don't.

The biggest insult of the W738H, just like with the W221H, is that strap.

With the W738H, even if you could deal with its ugly points, that strap has to be junked. And that means buying that model is not a one-and-done. You have to factor in cost of watch and strap at bare minimum.

Heck, even the W218H-1AV, a super basic model (I have two), has a better strap.

When I first saw the W738H, I actually really wanted it. But that was before I saw the Casio Singapore W738H product page with better photos. When I saw that bad strap and purple case button, my decision of whether to buy or not once available was made right there and then.

Nope.

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