You Asked Us: Do GPS controlled watches automatically change time zones?
This week we’re answering a question from globetrotter Jerôme about GPS-controlled watches. Jerôme is a frequent intercontinental traveler and is looking for a watch that he doesn’t have to set when stepping out of a plane in another part of the world.
You Asked Us: Do GPS-controlled watches automatically change time zones?
Here’s Jerômes’s question in full:
From: Jerôme
Subject: GPS-controlled watches
Message Body:
I am a frequent traveler and am looking at GPS time-controlled watches. Most of the time, my phone changes to the local time automatically as soon as I receive a carrier’s signal in my destination country. It would be nice if I could have a watch which does the same. Therefore I’m looking at Seiko Astron and Citizen Satelite Wave models, which get the time from GPS satellites.
However, do these models automatically change the time when I step off the plane in a different time zone? Or do they require manual operation to do so?
An interesting question, for which we couldn’t find an answer at the mentioned companies’ websites as well. So we made some phone calls and got the answer.
Citizen Eco-Drive Satellite Wave F100 (2014). Only models after 2015 can also receive GPS position information and thus can automatically set the time to the correct time zone.
The answer is ‘no’.
Neither the Seiko Astron – like the one we reviewed here – nor a Citizen Satellite Wave watch will automatically change the time when the wearer enters a different time zone. Let’s explain it more practically. When flying from Amsterdam to London, just leaving the airplane won’t initiate these watches to change the time automatically. A wearer intervention is needed to have the watch contact the GPS signal to change the time when needed.
So with these watches, there’s no such thing as sailing at the ocean or hiking through a desert and seeing the time of the watch change because you just entered another time zone.
However, a slight manual intervention is the only thing that must be done to receive the absolute precise time. Mentioned GPS-controlled watches then ‘know’ their position on earth and are able to determine the right time zone at that location.
Detail of the Casio GPW-1000RAF, showing that it has GPS reception on board
We knew that, besides Seiko and Citizen, Casio has GPS controlled watches as well. We did a review of one of them, the GPW-1000RAF, here. Upon further investigation, it pointed out that these watches as well require manual intervention by the wearer to change the time to the actual one at the present location.
How about Daylight Saving Time?
How about Daylight Saving Time? Does the wearer have to initiate this change in time manually as well? Another ‘no,’ however, this time more positive. DST information is not sent to the watch by satellite but is included in a database inside the watch. So even if there would not be GPS reception (inside a building or a plane), DST will be initiated automatically by the watch.
Do watches exist which do change time zones automatically?
Yes and no. We found wrist devices, which could probably double as watches, able to do so. The Garmin Fenix, for instance, and some Suunto models as well. However, these are very different devices and not primarily meant as a watch. Their functions are more activity based and need GPS data for all kinds of calculations. At the same time, they will use this GPS data for location- and local time information to show in the display.
A huge difference between real GPS-controlled watches and these GPS-controlled activity devices is how they handle their energy. GPS-controlled watches often don’t need batteries, or manual charging, as they’re solar powered. So they do need charging of course; however not something the user has to take care of. GPS-controlled activity devices, however, have to be mains-charged by the user, often every few days. None of these automatic time-switching devices has physical hands as well. They all rely on little digital screens.
One of many Garmin Fenix wrist activity devices (picture found through Google)
Conclusion
So the conclusion was clear already at the beginning of this article. No real watches exist that change the time just when entering a different time zone. But are these watches helpful for travelers? Yes, of course, they are. With only the push of a button, the watch will set itself to the correct local time, which is way easier than manually changing the time on a watch. Certainly, when often traveling, like Jerôme, receiving the local time upon a push of a button will be something that becomes a natural habit soon.
More information on Seiko’s GPS-controlled watches can be found www.seikowatches.com. More information on Citizen GPS-controlled watches can be found at www.citizenwatch.com. And more information on Casio GPS-controlled watches can be found at www.casio-intl.com.
If you’re interested in activity devices, this Garmin website and www.suunto.com might be worth a visit.
