The Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD F21HR is the latest outdoor smartwatch from the watchmaking giant, Casio. This smartwatch runs on Wear OS, Googles operating system.The Pro Trek smartwatch has seen much iteration by now and over time it has evolved as a good companion for those who love adventure. It now packs a heart rate monitor that is capable of displaying real-time heart rate data.It is ideal for trail runners who train in challenging terrains. The Casio Pro Trek F21HR and WSD-F30 (released last year) are similarly priced and are available for 40,000 INR. So you do not have to pay anything extra for the addition of a heart rate monitor.

Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F21HR: Design

The F21HR does not completely follow Casios recent Pro Trek WSD-F30 in its style and features but is more a follower of the WSD-F20 Pro Trek which was released in the year 2017. It points to the fact that this smartwatch does not include many alterations made in the F30. The most snappy thing is the size of the watch.The F20 was a bulky watch and F21HR followed suit. Casio Pro Trek F21HR weighs 81g and compared to Garmin Fenix 6X (which is 93g), it is 12g lighter. It is the lightest smartwatch from Casio in the WSD range until now. There are two design options available -- black or red bezel. Previously, F30 has come in orange and blue colors.

Other than the change in color, there is no major change in design in comparison with the predecessors. If you have loved how the earlier models of Casio have looked, you may like this one as well. Like before, the bold feature labels are placed around the face -- tool, map, sensor and GPS. It is water-resistant up to 50m. It has military-grade protection, MIL-STD-810G, which is a feature rarely seen on other smartwatches. There are three buttons to operate the watch, which are glove-friendly, along with the touchscreen. All the sensors are on the left side.Casios proprietary magnetic charging point has not seen any modification yet and it still falls even with a slight knock. The dual layer 1.32-inch display packs a 320x320 pixels color TFT LCD screen and a monochrome LCD option. The color LCD screen does a great job in most lighting conditions. The quality of the screen is outstanding.

Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F21HR: Wear OS

Like all the other Casio smartwatches, this one also runs on Wear OS. So you get an army of Wear Features including Google Assistant. You can download any number of watch faces from Google Play in addition to a number of watch faces present on the watch.The recently added heart rate based watch faces come in handy to view the heart rate data. The regular addition of apps by Casio makes it the best companion for outdoor activities. The F21HR has the benefits of the upgraded version of Activity app from Casio.The Activity app has a dedicated profile for running and trail running. The data in the running profiles can be customized. Other apps available are the Extend Mode, Moment Setter and Multi Timepiece.The app, Moment Setter, allows customization of notifications with the information available from the sensors. This feature is helpful mostly during outdoor activities. It helps you plan the length of your outdoor activity, especially when you go to remote destinations. It will guide you on when to stop and return.

Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F21HR: GPS and mapping features

The F21HR being an outdoor watch, GPS is an important feature. There are two options integrated into the software for the map -- Mapbox and Google Maps. Pressing the top button will bring them to you instantly. But when you are outdoors, you need a data signal to access these maps. You have the option to download the maps beforehand and use it while you are outdoors as well.Maps up to a distance of 50km can be downloaded. Among the two map options available, Mapbox is far superior to Google Maps for remote locations. It allows you to download and save up to five maps on the watch. This is a pretty convenient option and is more than enough.The ViewRanger app is a different experience altogether. It uses Ordnance Survey maps as well as gives access to a number of user-generated routes that you can use yourself. It keeps you on the right track with explanatory notes.

Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F21HR: Heart rate tracking

There is a fair amount of sensors in F21HR. In addition to the in-built GPS, there is a magnetic compass, a barometer to measure air pressure/altitude and gyrometer sensors. The Tool app provides all the data for most of the sensors. The new sensor added to the army of sensors is the heart rate monitor.You can track several activities with this smartwatch such as running, trekking, paddle boarding, trail running, fishing, hiking, snow and cycling. Other than these options, there are Google Fit or third-party apps for tracking workouts. You cannot add custom or extra activities using built-in options.You can monitor your heart rate in two ways -- firstly by choosing the heart rate watch face.

This option allows the watch to operate by focusing primarily on your workouts and heart rate. Your daily activities are displayed on this static screen. There is also a tiny graph that displays the peaks that you achieve over a day. It also shows high and low heart rates for the day and calories you burned. Secondly, you can choose the real-time heart rate display. It provides a live heart rate. When you are stationary, the watch will opt for the static screen. But the moment you start moving, the active screen will be enabled and it will track the heart rate.To take heart rate readings at rest, you have to press the screen. Depending on your preference, the screen can be slightly modified. The heart rate sensor can be activated by simply starting an activity and this is another way of using the HR function. The post-workout report available on the watch is limited to VO2 Max readings.

Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F21HR: The data

The WDS F21HR does an impressive job in live data and mapping. The watch is quite helpful for hikers who need to check the compass for direction and elevation. It gives pretty detailed and easy to grasp information. The information on the tracked location can be saved to map the route of your hike or can be used for future hikes.Casio has enabled integration with Google Drive for the users to access and automatically export workouts as KML or GPX files. The Google Calendar will also be updated with the activity. It comes with the advantage that the data can be uploaded to Strava.Since WSD-F21HR uses Wear OS, there are many tools that can be downloaded to customize and make the tracking functionality better. For example, Strava, which can be directly used from the phone, allows you to track the whole activity through the watch and all the tracked data will be uploaded on the phone.

Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F21HR: Battery life

The basic smartwatch mode gives a battery life of one and a half days, without regularly taking heart rate readings or turning the in-built GPS on but is paired to the phone. The battery stayed for 15 hours while activity was tracked.This is good but can be an issue for those who spend a lot of time on outdoor expeditions. Casio has worked on this and provided a mode named, Multi-Timepiece. This mode turns the screen to monochrome which reduces battery drain. Many functions are turned off when this mode is enabled.It reduces the watch to a digital watch which counts steps and performs a bit more of functional outdoors. In this mode, the battery life of 30 days is assured. It takes 3 hours to charge the watch fully.

• Share on:
• WhatsApp
• Deel
• Tweet
• Pin it
• Messenger
• Email

---