Casio is best known for its rugged G-Shock series of watches. While some offer smart functionality, they are more popular for their classic/analogue watches. So if you want a few more modern features, we have compiled a short list of three smartwatches with a Casio G-Shock like design.

Amazfit Active Edge

Amazfit unveiled the Active Edge in early 2024 with a bunch of smart features. Right off the bat, you can see that the Active Edge is a smartwatch with a rugged design true to its name. ‘Active’ in smartwatches usually implies outdoor or sporty and the brand’s Active Edge fits perfect with its rugged design. It sports a 1.32-inch circular LCD display with 10 ATM water resistance. This makes it perfect for diving up to 100 meters.

You also get support for over 130 sports modes, including automatic detection for seven activities, including outdoor and indoor running, walking, outdoor cycling, and elliptical training, along with auto-detection for 25 strength exercises. Thanks to the BioTracker PPG biometric sensor, users get access to heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep, and stress tracking as well. It was announced in India for Rs 12,999 while the global price is set for $140.

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	Amazfit Active Edge 46mm Smart Watch with Stylish Rugged Sport & Fitness Design, GPS, AI Health…	Check Price on Amazon

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Amazfit T-Rex 3

We have another smartwatch model from Amazfit and it is a part of its T-Rex lineup of ‘Adventure’ wearables. Back in September 2024, the company unveiled the Amazfit T-Rex 3 as the latest model in their popular series. It features military grade durability with various smart features. It sports a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with an impressive peak brightness of 2000 nits.

The T-Rex 3 brings Zepps OS 4 with OpenAI’s GPT-4o integration. You get skin temperature measurement alongside the usual heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, and sleep tracking. All of this packed in a body with 10 ATM water resistance. Furthermore, you also get Corning’s Gorilla Glass protection and a glove mode for those winter hikes. There is also support for GPS, up to 27 days of battery life on typical use and a whopping 81 days in basic watch mode. You can buy this rugged smartwatch for around $299.

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	Amazfit T-Rex 3 Smart Watch Outdoor Rugged Military 48mm Display, GPS, Offline Maps, 27 Days Battery…	Check Price on Amazon

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Garmin Instinct Crossover Solar

Over a year ago, Garmin debuted the Instinct Crossover series in India with a wide range of smartwatches built for the active users. In this lineup, the Instinct Crossover Solar is a great model to check out. For $449.99, this is a hybrid outdoor smartwatch with GPS support. As the name suggests, you can get up to 28 days of battery life or 70 days with solar charging enabled.

But that’s not all, the Garmin Instinct Crossover Solar even offers pulse OX blood oxygen, a 10ATM water resistance rating, heart rate tracking, respiration rate mapping, women’s health, sleep cycle tracking, stress monitoring, and much more. Despite being a hybrid smartwatch, you can also connect it to your smartwatch for access to smart notification, Find My Phone, Find My Watch, and various sports tracking.

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	Garmin Instinct Crossover Solar Rugged Hybrid Smartwatch, Battery Upto 28 Days, 24/7 HR, SPO2,…	Check Price on Amazon

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The Pixel 5 is very different from the Pixel 4 that was announced last year. The design is not the only area but there are also key changes under the hood. Some of which we know includes the choice of a Snapdragon 700 series processor over a Snapdragon 800 series chipset; and the return of the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. Now, it has been confirmed that the Pixel Neural Core chipset is gone and so also is Active Edge.

Starting with Active Edge, Google first removed it from the Pixel 4a which came as a surprise as the Pixel 3a from last year has it. However, we didn’t expect that it would not be present on the Pixel 5 too (the Pixel 4a 5G doesn’t have it too). Active Edge allowed users to squeeze the sides of their Pixel phones to wake up the Google Assistant and can also be used to silence alarms, timers, and calls. With all of the phones Google launched this year not having it, it is safe to say Active Edge is dead and buried.

For the Pixel Neural Core, Google confirmed to Android Police that the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 (and Pixel 4a too) do not have the chip which helped with imaging, machine learning, and also powered Face Unlock on the Pixel 4 series.

While the new phones do not have Face Unlock, the neural core chip still has other functions it can perform such as helping with imaging. However, Android Police said that the Pixel hardware team informed them during a Q&A session that they were able to get a similar camera performance with the Snapdragon 765G inside the Pixel 5, thus making the need for the chip redundant.

Which feature will you miss the most in the new Pixel phones? Let us know in the comment box.

UP NEXT: Google sets a humble target for the production of its new Pixel devices in 2020

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The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL both came with a feature that allowed users to squeeze the device and carry out certain functions such as calling up the Google Assistant. The feature which was termed Active Edge has appeared on subsequent Pixel smartphones including the budget Pixel 3a but that will be changing with the upcoming Pixel 4a.

It has been reported by XDA-Developers that the upcoming Pixel 4a will be the first Pixel phone to not have the Active Edge feature. The info was confirmed by the site’s editor via an individual that has a pre-production unit. A screenshot of the Gesture Settings menu further confirms that the feature has been removed.

We do not know why Google has decided to remove the feature. However, there are speculations it may have become redundant since there are now more ways to call up the Google Assistant or that it has realized it is not a feature frequently used. If the upcoming Pixel 5 doesn’t have it too, then we can confirm it is as good as dead.

The Pixel 4a is expected to launch next month with a single rear camera, a Snapdragon 730 processor, and a rumored $349 price tag for the 128GB version.

Do you own a Pixel 2/2 XL and up? How often do you use Active Edge? Do let us know in the comment box below.

UP NEXT: Google Pixel 5 series to reportedly ditch Motion Sense

(Source)

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One of the distinguishing features between the first-gen Pixels and the second-gen Pixels is Active Edge. Active Edge Technology lets you summon Google Assistant by giving the phone a squeeze. A new video advert released in Japan for the Pixel 3 highlights the feature.

The 40-second video doesn’t show the phone itself but shows a number of people squeezing various objects from giant mascots to balloons to other people. It’s a very colorful video but like mentioned above, it doesn’t show the phone.

On the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL you can set the squeeze sensitivity. You can also have it silence the phone if a call comes in or an alarm rings. If you have no use for it, you can turn off the feature completely. We have no info on if Google will add more functions to the feature for the Pixel 3/XL.

READ MORE: Google October 2018 security patch brings fixes for 26 security bugs

Active Edge first debuted on the HTC U11 but it is called Edge Sense. However, HTC allows you to customize the action. So you can set it as a shortcut to launch an app, take a screenshot, turn on/off the flashlight, or turn on/off Wi-Fi hotspot etc.

The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will launch on October 9 alongside some other Google products.

(Via)

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Wireless charging is one of the features you will find in high-end flagships from the big names in the industry. The last time Google released a phone with the feature was in 2013 – the Nexus 5 (first was the Nexus 4). A new report says there is a chance the Pixel 3 (and Pixel 3 XL) will bring back wireless charging.

According to meraz9000 – the XDA Developer member that leaked the first set of Pixel 3 XL live photos, he found evidence that the phone may have support for wireless charging.

While digging around in the SystemUIGoogle.apk file, he found a new set of permission – DOCK_IDLE and DOCK_ACTIVE. The code is said to link back to an app called “Dreamliner” but which isn’t on the device. It appears the feature is being tested in a secure environment.

You might be wondering how the device supports wireless charging when it has a metal back. meraz9000 says what we saw is actually glass and not metal though it still retains the two-tone finish of the previous Pixel phones. The upper part is said to be glossy and the larger bottom part has a matte finish to make it appear like metal.

Apart from wireless charging, Google will also bring Active Edge to the 3rd generation Pixel phones. This feature is known as Edge Sense on HTC’s U11+ and U12+ but is also available on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.

READ MORE: Google Is Working On A Standalone AR Headset

Active Edge allows users to launch Google Assistant and also silence calls by giving the sides of the phone a squeeze. meraz9000 said when he squeezed the Pixel 3 XL it vibrated. After some digging in the SystemUIGoogle.APK file, the words “Crosshatch” and “Blueline” were found under the Active Edge section. Crosshatch is the codename for the Pixel 3 XL which means Blueline should be the codename for the smaller Pixel 3.

(Sources: 1, 2 Via)

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