Did G-Shock Accidentally Launch the Perfect Affordable Summer Sports Watch?

This might be the cheapest way to utilize a fan-favorite activity and fitness tracking app in a wearable.

Casio G Shock G Lide GBX 100 Series Sport Watch closeup case

Published June 24, 2025

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G-Shock occupies a unique corner of the watch world. The brand’s offerings aren’t what anyone might call elegant or refined, opting instead for toughness and durability. The designs are bold and brash, and thus are incredibly easy to identify. And the fandom — typically adventurous, trailblazing folks — can often be ravenous.

Yet, even with a clear identity carved out, the brand sometimes isn’t fully aware of what it’s offering. For instance, the new G-Shock G-Lide GBX-100 Series watches are positioned squarely as surf watches, but they might sneakily be the best affordable summer sport watches around.

Casio G Shock G Lide GBX 100 Series Sport Watches — Both colors of this new take on G-Shock’s G-Lide surf watches come with a semitransparent case.

Surf to safari

Like other watches in the G-Lide lineup, these GBX-100 Series watches are squarely positioned as surfing-specific. As such, they boast a boatload of onboard features that assist in those adventures, like tide and moon phase tracking.

All of this information is readily available on the watches’ unique digital display, making them an incredibly handy at-a-glance tool for surfers. However, thanks to a relatively new tech integration, these watches are also remarkably useful for non-surfers.

About nine months ago (and without much fanfare), G-Shock introduced Strava compatibility to some of its watches, including the G-Lide lineup. Strava is among the most popular fitness and activity tracking apps currently available and is especially useful for serious athletes.

These [are] sneaky-useful summer sports watches at a relatively bargain-bin price.

That means, alongside surfing, these watches can be used for tracking other activities, like running, hiking, cycling and so on. While not “true” fitness trackers — meaning they don’t have wrist sensors for keeping tabs on your heart rate and other biometrics — they can still keep records of your distance traveled, speed, pace, estimated calories burned and more.

Furthermore, G-Shock watches (these included) boast smartphone app compatibility. As such, any data collected by the watch will automatically sync with your smartphone apps, Strava included. That makes these sneaky-useful summer sports watches at a relatively bargain-bin price.

It’s also worth noting that, while there are other fitness trackers and smartwatches for around the same price, they’re nowhere near as durable and don’t boast the same pedigree as G-Shock.

Casio G Shock G Lide GBX 100 Series Sport Watch illuminated dial closeup — The built-in surf features are outstanding, but the Strava compatibility makes this watch way more versatile.

Go with the flow

While the surf- and activity-tracking features are certainly at the forefront of the watches’ capabilities, they’re still G-Shocks through and through. That means they have plenty more to offer.

Their cases are made from a combination of transparent resin and stainless steel, they boast the brand’s signature shock-resistant housing, they have reliable quartz movements (with two years of battery) and they boast 200-meter water resistance ratings.

Furthermore, they have Bluetooth compatibility for automatic time adjustments and have worldtimer functionality. They also feature bio-based resin straps, giving them a little bit of a sustainability angle.

This is all to say, even if you never touch the surf functionality, these watches are extremely useful in day-to-day life, just as all G-Shocks are.

Casio G Shock G Lide GBX 100 Series Sport Watch with bio based resin background — The watch’s bio-based resin strap gives it a measure of sustainability not found in similar timepieces.

Pricing and availability

The G-Shock GBX100S-1 and GBX100S-2 are both now available on the brand’s site for $170 apiece. However, the other G-Shock G-Lide surf watches, which are also Strava-compatible, start at $160.