Top 10 Best EDC Watches for Every Way of Life (2021 Reviews)

best edc watches

Selecting the best EDC watches as well as choosing clothes, shoes, or perfumes. Each type will suit an individual situation. For men, the watch is simple to see the time and an accessory that emphasizes the style and expresses the wearer’s personality.

However, finding the right EDC watch is not easy. Inappropriate use of the watch may affect the wearer’s demeanor. Furthermore, if you do not know how to choose the correct product, you may buy the wrong quality fake. So, where will you look for trendy and sustainable EDC watches? The following article will share with you the essential information and honest reviews about the best EDC watches.

Top 10 Best EDC Watches 2021 Reviews

#1 Best EDC Watch Overall: Garmin Tactix Bravo Watch

Check Price on Amazon

This timepiece is designed with built-in smart instruments that can be compatible with many outdoor activities such as a hike, climb, run, Jumpmaster, or trail run. You just need to choose a specific model, and this watch will be responsible for supporting you to achieve your goals. The Garmin smart time-keeper also allows you to personalize the watch’s face by accessing the IQ store. And there are more incredible things that are helpful for your daily life. 

Pros

  • Smart notifications
  • Well-made 
  • High shock-resistant and water-proof

Cons

  • A little bit of delay when opening complicated apps

As you may know, the Garmin Tactix Bravo watch is a remarkable leading brand in the tactical watch industry. It has high durability, excellent GPS device, and high-fashion design, making it a fashionable accessory to be with you in all circumstances. 

#2 Best Affordable EDC Watch: G-Shock Men’s GD120MB Watch

Check Price on Amazon

The 7-year battery life will be the most fantastic function that this watch gives you, which makes it for free and easy use. After that, you will be satisfied with the mineral crystal lens that helps to dismiss the light. Thus, you can see the time more easily without being blinded or dazzled. There are several other advanced features delivering reliable and precise information for everyday life and outdoor activities. 

Pros

  • Comfortable to read
  • Sturdy design
  • Responsive buttons

Cons

  • Some people think that the case is pretty bulky

G-Shock GD120MB is one of the best tactical watches. It comes with an affordable price as well as offers a blacked-out and rugged look, capturing the attention of outdoor adventurers. 

#3 Best EDC Military Watch: Seiko 5 Men’s SNK809 Watch 

Check Price on Amazon

This product is exceptionally sturdy and super affordable. In terms of the design, it is manufactured with a significant military aesthetic, and the 37mm case is made of stainless steel. Plus, it has an in-house crystal so that it can resist scratches better than mineral glass does. 

Pros

  • Excellent value 
  • Easy to read
  • Scratch and water resistance

Cons

  • Lack manual winding

Seiko 5 watch has a day-date display, automatic movement, shock-resistant, and water-resistant design. These features create a styled military watch that can put up with EDC use without bank-breaking. 

#4 Best EDC Tactical Watch for Men: CASIO G-SHOCK GW-B5000GD-1JF Watch

Check Price on Amazon

The remarkable features belong to the radio wave reception and the solar charging system function. Then, the shock-proof and water-resistant characteristics enable users to stand up in all roughest conditions. You can also link your mobile with this timepiece via Bluetooth to set up reminders, clock settings, or automatic time correction. 

Pros

  • High speed respond
  • Friendly and durable supple strap
  • Modern, clean, and refreshed face

Cons

  • The strap keeper is slightly loose for some people

If you are looking for a tactical watch with a simple look, you should consider this CASIO G-SHOCK. There will be a multitude of tactical functions inside its sturdy design for you to explore. It should contain some attractive features that make it an evolution of the previous GW5000 model. 

#5 Best EDC Watch for Minimalists: Nordgreen Philosopher Scandinavian Watch

Check Price on Amazon

The first and foremost part that you will notice is the secondhand hovering over the white dial along with marked indices. It seems that simplicity is at its core, which conveys that classic designs are valuable and timeless. Regarding its mechanism, the Japanese quartz movement performs well as it has only one aperture to show the date. 

Pros

  • Well-thought-out design
  • Comfortable straps
  • Various available strap colors

Cons

  • The movement is like glaring omissions

Nordgreen is a brand from Copenhagen, Denmark, where it specializes in minimalism. That is why this simple Nordgreen Philosopher timepiece has a classic and fashionable design. 

#6 Best EDC Apple Smartwatch: Apple Watch Series 6 

Check Price on Amazon

This new Apple Watch Series 6 comes with fresh stand-out colors, including RED aluminium, blue aluminium, gold stainless steel, and graphite stainless steel. Regarding its features, there is the SpO2 tech that monitors the blood oxygen. It uses the red light sensor to check the blood color, reflecting and knowing the oxygen level inside. 

Pros

  • Faster performance
  • Brighter display
  • Excellent design

Cons

  • The battery life has no breakthrough

As you may know, the Apple Watch Series 6 can offer users stylish looks, life-saving health tools, and great fitness features. It works out the level of your real activities more precisely. 

#7 Best EDC Android Smartwatch: Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Smart Watch

Check Price on Amazon

The display’s resolution is 360 x 360 so that it is bright and comfortable enough to read in any type of light. You will not cope with seeing the screen when you are going out or exercising outdoors. Fitness seems to be the chief component of this watch as it brings a variety of fitness-focused features such as running, swimming, walking, rowing, dynamic workouts, cycling, and elliptical workouts. 

Pros

  • Premium design
  • Strong fitness features
  • Useful rotating bezel

Cons

  • The battery needs to be improved

It can be said that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 can give you the best Android smartwatch experiences. It has top-end specs, smooth operation, and a dazzling design. Plus, there are plenty of fantastic health features that support a lot of workouts well. 

#8 Best EDC Watch for Fitness: Garmin 010-02293-10 Rugged Smartwatch

Check Price on Amazon

Garmin is reputable for its high-quality GPS tracking system. That is why this model has a highly accurate GPS system, which serves as a useful tool for those who need something for their fitness purposes. More specifically, it is designed with pre-programmed fitness suggestions and a heart rate monitor. 

Pros

  • Mineral crystal face
  • Essential features for fitness purposes
  • Various unique colors

Cons

  • Battery life needs some improvements

As you can see, this smartwatch consists of many extra features that allow you to run your entire health profile. If you select this watch, you can choose from numerous colors such as Flame Red, Sunburst Yellow, Graphite, and Tactical Black. 

#9 Best EDC Watch for Survivalists: Timex Men’s Expedition Gallatin Solar-Powered Watch

Check Price on Amazon

The solar power source is a vital feature of this Timex Expedition Gallatin watch. It allows you to recharge the watch by all light sources. Interestingly, even this watch design is made for outdoor purposes. Indeed, the resin case is sufficiently tough to protect the mechanism. At the same time, its double-layer fabric strap looks rugged, which increases durability. 

Pros

  • Lightweight
  • Solar-powered source
  • Suitable for general outdoor activities

Cons

  • Hard to read in low light

With the water-resistant ability for 50 meters, this watch is great for outdoor activities except for snorkeling and diving. All the reliable and comfortable features come at an affordable price. 

#10 Best EDC Watch for Underwater Activities: Seiko SRPD53K1 Men’s Analogue Watch 

Check Price on Amazon

Mentioning this watch’s design features the deep blue dial combined with the traditional red-and-blue bezel. Moreover, it does come with luminescent hands, and each of them will brighten up in the dark area and fade back when the room is bright. Another feature is the 41 mm diameter, making it appropriate for both men and women. 

Pros

  • Excellent quality
  • Water-resistant 
  • Highly durable

Cons

  • The bezel is slightly misaligned

This watch’s quality is great, and the design is also cool. With its decent water-resistant feature, the SEIKO SPRD53K1 is such a no-brainer as well as an inexpensive daily- beater. 

Features to Consider When Choosing an EDC Watch

Water Resistance

The thinner the watch, the easier it is to enter the water. The watch’s water resistance index unit is usually printed on the dial or engraved on the watch’s back. Depending on regions, territories, manufacturers have different symbols. The symbols we most often encounter are BAR, ATM (indicating water pressure the watch can withstand), or M for underwater depth. Each BAR or ATM is equivalent to 10m at depth below the water surface.

Movement

Automatic

An automatic watch will automatically wind up, using a mechanical movement that automatically winds up when worn in your hand. When the hand moves, it will hit the watch’s rotor to wind the winding to create energy for the watch to operate. In an easier way to understand, you need to wear the watch and do not need to use the hand to twist the winding or change the battery for the watch to run.

If we consider the winding method, we can divide an automatic watch into two main groups:

  • Automatic: The movement automatically performs winding when the watch is in hand. During the process, you wear the flywheel will move and help the rope to wind up steadily.
  • Semi-automatic: You have to wind the winding by turning the crown to create power for the movement to work sequentially.

Hand-Wound

Hand-Wound watches are mechanical watches that have to be manually wound because they do not have an automatic winding mechanism to self-energize like Automatic watches. These wristwatches’ obvious advantage is that they are thinner and lighter than the Automatic watches because the Manual Winding is thinner than the Automatic ones.

Usually, Manual Winding thickness is only 2/3 of the Automatic machine’s thickness. This thinness allows the manual winding watch to have more functionality or greatly enhance its grip capacity.

Quartz-Based Electronic

With the appearance of modern wristwatches but classic and polite designs, users have more choices.

Quartz-based electronic watches, also known as quartz battery watches, are watches that work with the “quartz crystal movement mechanism.” The crystal vibrates when placed in an electric field, thus supplying the meter with energy. Quartz watches are mainly battery-operated.

Over nearly 50 years of development, today’s battery watches are more advanced, more durable, more stable, water-proof, shock-proof, and extremely accurate with very low digital deviation.

Wrist Comfort

Typically, it would be best to choose models with a dial size 1/3 the size of your wrist. It will make the watch not “oversized” in comparison to the hand and hand shape. Besides, the strap size should be proportional to the wearer’s physique.

Accordingly, customers who own a small wrist size should choose for themselves small round dial designs. Avoid wearing aggressive sports watches or large square face watches as this will cause the watch to become oversized on the wrist, causing a feeling of weight and lack of aesthetics.

Case Size & Material

Those with bone and thin wrists choose square watch designs for themselves because square faces are often large and will cover this drawback. Or if your wrist has unwanted scars or tattoos, this is also the right design to conceal.

The rest of the users with large wrist sizes should choose the large dial designs to correlate with the wrist. Avoid big wrists, wear watches with small dial sizes, and vice versa.

Watch cases are usually made of a variety of materials. Choose from gold, ceramic, titanium, or platinum plating to suit your style.

Design

The visual factor is always a big plus for customers to decide to buy or not to products. After choosing a brand, people will pay attention to the design of the watch.

Watches often possess diverse designs such as square, round, rectangular, or oval faces. Moreover, the designs bring different colors or materials for the wearer to easily choose a suitable design.

Besides, we also need to pay attention to choose the color design with the hand skin color. For example, if you have white skin, you can choose distinctive watch colors to enhance your skin.

FAQs

What watch do special forces wear?

Besides the famous G-Shock line, the special forces can choose from several other brands such as Luminox, Timex, or Seiko. These watches were trendy for the military and were used regularly.

What’s the best tactical watch?

The market has plenty of excellent and durable tactical watches. Featured on this list are the Casio Pro Trek, Panerai Submersible Marina Militare Carbotech, or Garmin Tactix Bravo.

What is the toughest luxury watch?

When it comes to the toughest luxury watch, the Sekonda Watch 1677 or the Casio SGW-450H-2BER are good choices. The vital strength and texture of these products are entirely reliable.

What is the best watch for the money?

If you are looking for the EDC watch that fits your budget and covers the basics, you should check out the Tissot range.

Final Words

The top-notch option in this list belongs to the Garmin Tactix Bravo Watch. This smart timepiece has high-performed tactical instruments with many useful features to track your path and be aware of your temperature, elevation, and direction. The other option should be G-Shock Men’s GD120MB Watch. The timekeeper has an affordable price but still offers you accurate timing and a long-life battery. 

Generally, to choose the best EDC watches, you should consider some factors such as great endurability and significant tactical functionalities. Hopefully, you find this article helpful, and you have some temporary selection in your mind now!

Leave a Comment