Smartwatches and fitness trackers are great for keeping tabs on your fitness metrics. But they probably will not survive extreme sports, even if they have no screen. Besides, for extreme sports like surfing, you need at-a-glance information on the tide and moon. This is precisely why the G-SHOCK G-LIDE series remains relevant to this day. And G-SHOCK has made it even more relevant by giving its GBX-H5600 G-LIDE series a fitness-focused upgrade. The new GBX-H5600 is the first G-LIDE model to feature heart-rate monitoring.
Designed with extreme sports and sea activities like surfing in mind, the watch combines G-LIDE staples such as a tide graph and moon data with new workout and health-tracking functions powered by Polar. It features an optical heart-rate sensor and accelerometer, allowing it to track heart rate, distance, calories burned, and workout condition in real time. Training modes include running, walking, gym workouts, and interval training. Like a good fitness watch, it also does blood-oxygen-level measurement and monitors your sleep, too.
The collected data is analyzed using algorithms from Polar Electro and can be viewed in detail through the CASIO WATCHES smartphone app to support fitness tracking and health management. The watch kinda blurs the line between smartwatch/fitness tracker and rugged watch, giving surfers and sea-activity lovers the best of both worlds in a package that will actually survive abuse.
The watch also uses a high-visibility MIP LCD for easier viewing outdoors and in direct sunlight. Design-wise, it rocks a familiar silhouette with a semi-transparent resin bezel that delivers a fresh seaside-inspired look, while biomass plastic is used for major resin components to reduce environmental impact.
Other highlights include a shock-resistant structure, 20 ATM water resistance, Bluetooth connectivity, a built-in rechargeable battery with contact charger and solar-assisted charging, and the usual G-SHOCK G-LIDE watch functions like alarms, stopwatch, sunrise and sunset times, fully automatic calendar, and more. The watch also features Casio’s Mobile Link function that enables automatic time correction, world time for around 300 cities, and other smartwatch features like notifications for incoming calls, emails, text messages, plus calendar and reminder alerts.
The GBX-H5600 comes in blue (GBX-H5600-2) and black (GBX-H5600-1), both priced at 44,000 yen (tax included) [JP], and was launched in Japan on May 15, 2026.
Images: Casio [JP].
