Three years ago, G-SHOCK celebrated its 40th anniversary by wisely stuffing its fitness tracking tech inside its most iconic digital watch model ever, the 5600. Nearly breaking the internet, the DW-H5600 has since been known as the flagship of their MOVE collection of quasi-smartwatches. But now, in true G-SHOCK fashion, the brand has thrown metal into the mix, bringing a decidedly more lifestyle aesthetic to the once-resin-cased timepiece that can check your heart rate and blood oxygen levels.
Photo: G-SHOCK
BACK TO THE BEGINNING
The 5600 lineage is about as foundational as it gets. When Casio’s engineers dropped the DW-5000C in 1983, it aimed to prove they could make a watch to survive just about anything. The DW-5600 followed in 1987, cementing that compact square silhouette into G-SHOCK lore.
Based on this latter model, the DW-H5600 became the MOVE lineup’s centerpiece, packing Polar-powered algorithms for VO2 max, cardio load, and sleep analysis into a watch that still costs less than most competitors’ entry-level offerings. Now the GM-H5600 picks up where that left off and takes things one step further.
Photo: G-SHOCK
METAL WHERE IT COUNTS
The defining change here is the stainless steel bezel, and it wholly changes the overall aesthetic. The DW-H5600 is a stunning piece, but its easily more sporty. Whereas the GM-H5600 (note the “GM”) carries a bit more presence on the wrist, and almost doesn’t even look like a fitness tracker. It’s available in both regular steel and gold-toned colorways.
Unlike the standard GM-5600, the bezel on the GM-H5600 has actual openings at its four corner dimples, revealing the resin case within. That resin helps keep the weight down while still maintaining durability. Likewise, the case back swaps to carbon fiber-reinforced resin rather than the DW model’s Carbon Core Guard construction, which is how Casio manages to keep the whole package at just 63g despite the metal up front. That’s only about 4g more than the resin version. Boasting 200m of water resistance, the case itself measures 44mm across, 51.5mm lug-to-lug, and 16.5mm thick. For the band, Casio went with bio-based resin derived from corn.
Photo: G-SHOCK
THE FITNESS SUITE
Everything you got from the DW-H5600 is carried over here. That means optical heart rate monitoring (30-220 bpm), SpO2 blood oxygen measurement, a 3-axis accelerometer for step counting, and multi-sport activity tracking across running, walking, and gym-based workouts. Polar’s training analysis library provides you with cardio load status, sleep recovery across six stages, autonomic nervous system scoring, and guided breathing exercises. The watch logs up to 100 individual activities with up to 200 laps each, storing pace, pitch, calories, running index, and heart rate data, all synced to the Casio Watches app via Bluetooth. Distance accuracy gets a boost through phone GPS correction, which is a fair trade-off for not embedding GPS directly into the hardware.
Photo: G-SHOCK
Powered Up
Battery life is the same too, with approximately 35 hours in active tracking mode and up to 11 months in power-saving mode. Solar assist tops you off throughout the day for basic timekeeping, while wired USB charging via a dedicated cable powers the tracking. Backlight by the brand’s Super Illuminator LED, the display is a MIP, which, from our testing in the past, is sharp and highly legible just like a regular G-SHOCK.
It should be noted that, despite the suite of features, the H5600 series is admittedly more of a compromise for those who want fitness features without a full-blown smartwatch. For anyone deep into their training data or doing route mapping without a smartphone in their pocket, the GBD-H2000 with its built-in GPS might be a more desirable option.
Photo: G-SHOCK
SPEC SHEET
Model: GM-H5600-1 (silver), GM-H5600-9 (gold)
Case Size: 44mm
Lug-to-Lug: 51.5mm
Case Thickness: 16.5 mm
Case & Bezel: Resin / Stainless steel bezel / Carbon fiber-reinforced resin case
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Band: Bio-based resin
Display: Memory-in-Pixel (MIP) LCD
Battery Life: ~35 hrs (activity w/ HR) / ~1 month (watch mode) / ~11 months (power saving)
Charging: USB (Type-A dedicated cable) + solar assist
Connectivity: Bluetooth (auto time sync, notifications, app link)
Water Resistance: 200m
Health Sensors: Optical HR (30–220 bpm), SpO2, accelerometer, step counter
Fitness Features: Multi-sport tracking, Polar algorithms, VO2 max, cardio load, sleep analysis, breathing exercises
Other Features: World time (38 zones), moon data, sunrise/sunset, 4 alarms, stopwatch, countdown timer, vibration alerts
Glass: Mineral
PRICING & AVAILABILITY
A U.S. release date and final pricing have not yet been announced for the GM-H5600, but considering the ~$300 price tag of the DW-H5600, you can expect these to be higher.
G-SHOCK GW-H5600
The GM-H5600 is essentially G-SHOCK’s beloved fitness square, the DW-H5600, dressed up with a stainless steel bezel for a more lifestyle-ready look without sacrificing any of the health tracking chops underneath. Same Polar-powered fitness suite, just with a bit more wrist presence.
