Timex is launching the new Expedition WS4 this month with a planned limited availability and full release by May 2009. List price is $199. Available in black, orange, yellow, blue, and white, the WS4 is an interesting re-think of the outdoor watch, using a much larger screen with a wide aspect ratio. Here are the specs from Timex PR:
- Composite case, stainless steel bezel, rubber or ‘expandable elastic’ strap.
- Altimeter, barometer, thermometer and compass.
- Altitude alarms.
- Graphical display of altitude and barometer.
- Weather forecast with alerts.
- Digital compass.
- Dual timezones.
- 100 hour stopwatch.
- 100 hour countdown timer.
- 99 lap count.
- Daily, weekday, weekend, and weekly alarms — nice!
- Backlit with Indiglo, as well as ‘night mode.’ By that, I think they mean a system like Casios, where the correct wrist movement lights up the screen without pressing a button.
- Water resistant to 50m (150ft), which actually is pretty minimal for an outdoor watch.
The above represent an incremental improvement from many existing outdoor watches; the WS4 really shines via the addition of the wide multi-format screen, which shows lots of information at once. We’ll certainly be getting one of these in for review as soon as they’re available.
The press release has high-res stills of the orange and white, and this fuzzy shot of the six models:
I like the looks of the blue and white, and can’t wait to get my hands on one.
By Paul Hubbard
