G-Shock vs Timex Ironman: two cheap digital watches, and one of them tells you how long the battery lasts

Verdict

Side by side

The crystal decides it

On a cheap digital watch the crystal is the only part you look at every day and the only part that visibly deteriorates. Three of these four are mineral glass, which hazes slowly and survives knocks. The Ironman Classic 30 is acrylic — Timex describes it as a highly impact-resistant plastic polymer, which is true: acrylic flexes rather than cracks, and it is genuinely the tougher material against a sharp blow.

It is also dramatically softer. An acrylic lens picks up scratches from a doorframe, a desk edge, a jacket zip, and after a year it is hazed. You can polish it, which is acrylic's one real advantage, but you will be polishing it repeatedly. On a site whose whole argument is what a watch looks like and does in year ten, that puts the Classic 30 last — see sapphire vs Gorilla Glassfor why lens material carries so much weight here.

One brand publishes a battery figure

This is the quiet difference and it is the reason the G-Shock wins. Casio publishes an approximate battery operating time for every module in its operation guide, with the usage assumptions stated: about five years for the DW-5600E's CR2016, about two for the DW-9052's. Timex publishes the battery type for both Ironmans and no operating time at all.

We are not going to invent one. A CR2016 in a simple digital watch will run for years, and reviewers report long life on Ironmans — but this site does not print figures a maker has not stated, so on the rubric metric that matters most the Ironman scores on the cell type alone while the G-Shock scores on a published number.

Indiglo against EL

Close to a draw, and this is where Timex earns its place. Indiglo lights the entire dial, and it is the feature Timex introduced in the early 1990s that every other brand then copied — including, effectively, the EL backlight on the DW-5600E and DW-9052, which also floods the whole LCD. Both are excellent. Both beat the Double LED on Casio's analog-digital models, which lights the hands and a small window separately.

If you use a watch at night — a shift, a pre-dawn walk in, a baby — any of the three full-dial options here is the right pick and the specific brand does not matter much.

Water: read the model, not the brand

The Ironman line spans a real range and the name does not tell you. The Original 30 Shock is 200 m — the same as every G-Shock we rank. The Classic 30 is 100 m. Both are fine for swimming; only the Shock is in the same class as a G-Shock for surf, jumping in, and pressure spikes. If you are buying an Ironman to compete with a G-Shock, buy the Shock.

What happens when the strap breaks

Who should buy which

Buy the DW-5600E if you want one cheap digital watch to keep. Five-year cell, 200 m, 52 grams, full-dial EL backlight, parts forever. It is also our pick in best G-Shock under $100 and best tactical watches under $100.

Buy the Ironman Original 30 Shock if you want Indiglo in a round 42 mm case, or you simply prefer how it looks. Same water rating, same crystal class, $97, and a real sports timer.

Buy neither if you want solar: the GW-M5610U at $165 adds Tough Solar and radio-set time to the DW-5600 case, so it never needs a cell or setting again. That is the best-value step in cheap watches and it is ranked in best G-Shock under $200.