Casual Watch For Everyday Wear
Written: Oct 13 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great styling, durable, strap is terrific
Cons: Changing time is frustrating!
The Bottom Line: A great casual watch for everyday wear
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| nikefreak's Full Review: Nike Triax Swift 31 WR0091-401 Wrist Watch |
So, the majority of Nike's watches they make have to do with making sure the everyday athlete has a timepiece that has multiple functions to go about their workouts and runs. The company has been accused more than enough times of actually loading up their watches with too features, which causes consternation among people who just want a watch to do a couple of functions and not have to pore through a manual that is 50 pages long in order to operate their timepiece correctly. This being said, I have enjoyed Nike's Swift line of watches for the very fact of them being easy to use (relatively speaking, but I will get into that) and not being overloaded with functions.
I had kept my eye on these watches for awhile now, although I can definitely say I love the function-loaded watches that Nike makes as well. The Swift Line is inspired by the Triax Running line with the signature S-shaped design and angled face that is used on all of those watches. The purpose behind it being is that it curves around your wrist for a more comfortable fit and that sure is the case when I slipped it on my wrist. The face is also angled so you can get a better reading at the angle it's at, without having to bend your wrist unnecessarily. It's not a big deal of course, to twist your wrist to a certain angle, but this functionality just serves to cut out that unnecessary step. One of the biggest reasons why this feature is used because runners always want to be on the move and a quick and easy glance at the face is something that you want to have in a watch when you are running and since this watch is inspired by those famous Triax ones, it has the same feature.
The strap itself is made of a co-molded polyurethane that is has 20 vents cut into it to promote breathability. Nobody wants to have a sweaty watch band and this does an excellent job of venting so it's not cutting into your skin and making it slip down off of your wrist. Another nice little touch that may go unnoticed is that at the end of the strap is a subtly raised rubber piece that holds the strap in place where the clasp meets it. This is very nice because it does not allow the strap to be flapping around and come undone from its position. On the strap keeper, there is a little Swoosh engraved into it for detail.
Now onto the face itself. The face has four functions on it, the standard time itself with just the 12, 3, and 9 hours being displayed with the 6 being replaced with the 12/24 hour sub-dial function, something that I, not gonna lie, did not look at in the least. That is the one function on this watch that is not necessary; Nike easily could have just put the 3 in there instead because I am not sure how many people really care about what hour of the day it is in the 12/24 standard time. The other two sub-dials on the face display the date, on the right side, and the day on the left side. The day is easily looked upon since it has the Monday, Tuesday and so on, displayed spaced far enough apart that it doesn't strain your eyes to see it. That being said, the date is a little bit harder because it's separated into 05, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 31 dates with the other dates being just the dashes so it's a bit hard to tell what the date it is without bringing the watch up to your face for closer scrutiny. Of course, that's not a huge deal, so I guess I am just being nitpicking on that account. Around the perimeter of the face are the seconds being displayed in increments of five.
The big hands that tell the time are luminescent, so you can tell time in the dark, sorry no Electrolite feature here, but they actually surprised me with how good you can see them in the dark, so no worries. I particularly like the little holes cut into the hands, it makes for a nice design, very modern-looking. And of course, the watch is up to 100 meters water-resistant, so go ahead and splash around in the pool without worry.
The top layer covering the face is made of mineral glass crystal, which is scratch-resistant and stands up to minor hits on things without being damaged. Remember, I said scratch-resistant, not proof. There is a big difference; don't just go banging the watch face against other objects to test that theory, it won't hold up to major damage. But for your everyday wear and tear, it does a nice job of staying scratch-free. The buckle and back plate are made of stainless steel, so there is a nice durability factor there. And the case itself is made of polycarbonate with the Swoosh engraved on the top.
The operation is simple, but alas, is the most frustrating part of this watch. To change the time and day of week, you pull out the stainless steel crown on the side to the furthest point (the second click) and rotate it clockwise until you get the correct time; the day of the week changes as the hour and minute hands move between 0:00 and 5:30 a.m. so it's a bit tricky to make sure you get the day correct without it switching on you say before midnight occurs. To change the date, you pull the crown to the first click and rotate counter-clockwise. If the date is set between 9:00 p.m. and 0:00 a.m., it will not change correctly, so be careful when doing this. It's frustrating because my fingers just aren't small enough to properly turn the dial (I'm convinced that no one person's fingers are!) without slipping multiple times, so it turns out to be a frustrating process to change the day and time. Oh well, at least Daylight Savings only comes twice a year!
The battery is a silver oxide 3V lithium and should last three years. I would recommend that you not change the battery yourself because you need an authorized Nike dealer to do this since there needs to be a water gasket placed in correctly and if you do-it-yourself, you might not put it back correctly and thus, voiding the warranty and messing up the watch's performance.
So, summing it up, if you want a nice casual watch to wear around without any extraneous features (save for one, in my opinion), this is the one for you. It comes in tons of different colors so you can pick one to match any outfit you want. Also, at $80 it's not too expensive to break the bank.
Recommended:
Yes
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