Casio AQ-230 Review: Why This Minimalist Ana-Digi Watch Still Matters After 30 Years

When you think of Casio watches, one inevitably goes to digital classics like the F-91W, A168, AE-1200, or the G-Shock line. The Casio AQ-230 is the odd exception, in that it’s almost a minimalist dress watch intended to slip under a cuff. It’s also been around for over 30 years now, so it has to be doing something right.The Casio AQ-230 is the quintessential under-the-radar piece that doesn’t shout "digital watch" too loudly. The cleanly minimal, ana-digi design is thoughtful in ways that I appreciate but are subtle. For example, the analog hands never touch the digital LCD screen.

The AQ-230 was released all the way back in 1995 as a follow-up to the old Casio Janus AQ-200 from 1982. The design was almost completely unchanged, other than the addition of another pusher on the left side of the case and a slimmer case width. Naturally, the AQ-230 stands out from other Casio watches due to its slightly “dressier” appearance and aesthetic. I have heard some people say it’s Casio's version of the Cartier Tank — which sounds a little outlandish but kind of checks out once you think about it.

Casio AQ-230 Case and Bracelet

This is a quintessentially unisex case size, coming in at 29.8mm wide, 8.1mm thick, and 38.8mm tall (with 30 meters of water resistance). This may sound a little small and, honestly, it is. But that’s not a bad thing, especially considering the rectangular case shape. The Cartier Tank Louis in the large case size measures 27.8mm wide and 38.1mm wide, so it’s actually a little smaller than the AQ-230. Rectangular cases just wear a little bigger than their footprints suggest, and I really think this Casio lands right in the sweet spot.

Beyond the specs, the AQ-230 case is angular and sleek, with two pushers on the left side and one on the right. The top pusher on the left side is used to cycle between functions (date, alarm, stopwatch, dual time) while the lower pusher on the left side is used to select the input. Finally, the single pusher on the right side of the case is used to set the analog time. This is a fairly straightforward Casio watch without all the extras, which is actually pretty refreshing.

The three-link bracelet is good enough. It looks nicely finished and actually wears really well on the wrist. Sure it’s a little jangly when it's off the wrist, but let’s keep the price in mind here. It’s got a slide adjustable clasp and locking system that is simple enough to use, but I’ve always had a hard time fiddling with these kinds of clasps. Note that while the bracelet is done in stainless steel, the case is actually a chrome-plated resin.

Casio AQ-230 Dial

I love an ana-digi dial and I think Casio nailed this one. The lion’s share of the dial is taken up by the simple analog time display, which is nice and legible here against the black dial. The slim digital bar at the bottom of the dial displays information cleanly and does so without being too much of a distraction. There’s no backlight or lume to be found, because this really is a casual-wear watch that makes sense for the office or just hanging out, but not for any outdoorsy-type activity.

Movement and Functionality

The quartz Caliber 5154 movement used here runs on the SR920W battery, which should get you about three years of use before needing replacement. The 5154 is accurate to +/-30 seconds/ month and powers the hour-and-minutes analog display, the digital display (hours, minutes, seconds, am/pm) and allows for either a 12- or 24-hour display and has a dual-time function. There’s also a date indicator mode, which tells month, date, and date of the week (it takes the 28 days of February into account). The alarm mode can be set to either daily or hourly time signal. Finally, there is the stopwatch mode which allows for up to 59 minutes and 59.999 seconds measured to 1/100 of a second in either elapsed time or cumulative elapsed time. It’s a lot of practical functionality in a slim package.

Final Thoughts

There have been many iterations of the Casio AQ-230 produced over the years, though it looks like Casio has trimmed availability in the states. Currently there are a handful of versions from Casio’s website: the AQ-230A-3A which has a forest green dial; the AQ-230A-7AVT, with a simple silver dial; and the AQ-230GA-9BVT, which is all gold-toned. The steel models retail for $60 while the gold-tone model is $80. Of course, there are a lot of sellers out there, including Amazon which currently has the model I shot here (AQ-230A with black dial) for about $40. You can learn more over at casio.com.