Get fit with the G-Shock Move GBDH1000

I’ve reviewed a wider variety of fitness watches, and while I have my trusty favorite that I head out with most days, I’m always curious to see what else is out there in the market. More and more brands are figuring out how to plug a heart rate monitor into their watch, to varying degrees of success. One that looks to have it done right is the G-Shock Move GBDH1000.

If you’re at all familiar with the G-Shock family of watches, what is seen here with the G-Shock Move GBDH1000 should be some very familiar styling. I mean, even my 10-year+ old G-Shock (pictured above on the left) had the design cues. Of course, G-Shock is renown for their toughness, so building up an outdoors-oriented fitness watch makes sense, does it not?

Let’s just get one thing out of the way – the G-Shock Move GBDH1000 is a big watch. At a 55mm case diameter measurement – and 20mm thick – it’s a watch that you notice on your wrist. Though, at 100g, it’s a lot lighter than you might expect. In a traditional watch, this case size would be right out for me. In this use case, though, I thought it was fine. It gives you a lot more real estate for that MIPS LCD screen display, which makes it very easy to check at a glance as you’re running down the trail.

In fact, that was the primary place I used the G-Shock Move GBDH1000 while I had the loaner in – going for a jog. Sure, I wore it around the house too, but the dress code these days is very casual, so it worked just fine as a daily watch. I don’t envy anyone who would try to fit this under a shirt cuff, though.

And I suppose there might be some who would want to – along with the fitness functions (more on that in a moment), the G-Shock Move GBDH1000 has some smart watch capabilities, in that you can get notifications and reminders, and text messages, showing up on your wrist. That’s something I’m not as much a fan of, so I only played around with it some, and then went back to focusing on the fitness features.

The focus for fitness with the G-Shock Move GBDH1000 is of course due to the HR sensor that’s built into the back of the watch. Pair that up with the GPS sensor in the watch, and you’re ready to go for a run that can automatically track the distance for you. I did find the HR sensor to be reasonably close to my other workout watch; on the GPS connection, it worked fine but it did seem to take longer than I would expect to get a lock to start the tracking.

With the data that the G-Shock Move GBDH1000 collects, it can calculate some interesting information. Along with your steps, distance, pace, and heart rate charting, the watch – and it’s associated app (the G-Shock MOVE) you can have something called your VO2 max calculated, which tells you what your cardiovascular capacity actually is. Here’s what the brand says about it:

This measurement is useful when trying to increase stamina for running and other activities. In addition, new phone apps are now available to help you configure watch settings more easily and manage your workouts. You can monitor your current fitness level and training progress, and even automatically create a training plan based on targets specified by you. VO2 max calculation and other data analysis capabilities use a library by FIRSTBEAT, a renowned sport science company. Algorithms of improved accuracy support a higher level of training.

That second item? Not a run, but a bike ride

One thing that I felt was a bit curious (in it’s absence) for the G-Shock Move GBDH1000 was the fact that it’s really setup just to help you train in running. In going through the app, I didn’t see a way to be able to say, no, we want to track a bike ride (for example) rather than a run. And ostensibly, some of the watch displays made it look like tracking other workout types would be possible, that was not something intuitively or immediately obvious.

So, that might be something very specific to consider for how you exercise. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a solid outdoors-oriented watch (it can do the normal compass, temperature, and barometric pressure stuff) that also folds in some fitness-oriented features, well, this is a good spot to start. It’s also features solar charging (always handy for the outdoors) with a backup charging option via a magnetic cable connection on the back (if you’re doing extensive GPS-tracked training or notifications, that battery will drain quicker than solar may be able to keep up).

So, what was my takeaway from my time with the $399 G-Shock Move GBDH1000? It’s certainly got a lot of compelling features, and I was a big fan of the display (particularly the split screen for world time). As a fitness companion, it wouldn’t unseat my current daily driver, but I could see it being an interesting option for the G-Shock fans out there. And if you could do without the HR or GPS sensors, then the GBD100 will cut the price in half, with similar styling. For the whole enchilada, just head on over to G-Shock for more details and to order your own: gshock.com

Editor’s Note: If you like that sweet G-Shock styling, but want something a little more compact, check out the review we just published on the Mudmaster over at WWR

Review Summary

Brand & Model: G-Shock Move GBDH1000

Price: $399
Who?s it for? You’re a G-Shock fan looking for a fitness fix, or you just want an outdoors watch that folds in those extra sensors to track your time on the trails
Would I wear it? While it was interesting, I don’t think this would be the workout buddy for me