In the world of watches, almost all watches can be placed in one of two main categories – Analog Vs Digital Watch. But what do analog and digital mean, and what kind of watch is right for you? Let’s take a look.
What are the major differences between analog and digital watches?
The primary difference is in the method of display. The analog clock indicates the time using the rotating hour, minute, and second hand to point to the respective numbers on the dial. The digital watch indicates the time by the digits on the display which change with the changing time.
The clock is analog or digital so the clock is totally dependent on the way it is displayed. That said, the way each type of clock displays time also affects what other information the clock can easily display, and therefore what additional functions can be included in the clock. Let’s go into some more details about the pros and cons of analog and digital wrist watches.
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What is an analog quartz watch?
What is an analog quartz watch? The movement of the analog quartz clock (i.e., the engine) is powered by a battery. At its core, the crystal slater provides a time base and generates an electric signal through an electronic circuit (integrated circuit).
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Digital vs analog Watches
There are really many similarities between analog and digital watches, and lots of differences. Let’s compare analog and digital clocks in some key areas;
Accuracy
This is a question of trickery. The accuracy of the clock depends on the internal movement that keeps the clock running and time. Depending on the clock it can be battery operated (i.e., using quartz movement) or mechanical (i.e., using hand winding or automatic movement).
The difference between analog and digital clocks is about the way they display time (and have nothing to do with internal mechanisms), both analog and digital clocks can use quartz movements or mechanical movements to power the watch and keep time. Therefore, just as both types of clocks can use the same type of internal movements to keep time, they are both as accurate as each other.
Most modern analog and digital watches use battery-powered quartz movements to keep the clock running and time running. Quartz moving watches are very accurate, and at worst they will gain or lose no more than 20 or 30 seconds a month. So, even if you get a battery-powered analog or digital watch, you will still get quartz movement with a high degree of accuracy.
If you want a little more detail about how the clock keeps time, click on this link.
Battery Life
Therefore, we will ignore mechanical clocks (which clearly do not use batteries) and solar or motion clocks (which charge rechargeable batteries and therefore run too long before considering a new battery). We will focus here only on your standard battery-powered watches.
The simple answer here is that digital clocks run longer on one battery than analog clocks, as analog clocks include an extra battery drain to shift gears that rotates the clock, minute, and second clock. The LCD display of a digital watch has a much lower battery flow than an analog clock.
There are other things to consider, such as how often the battery drain features on a watch are used (such as a backlight on a digital clock or an alarm or a stopwatch function on an analog clock), but since everything is the same, a digital clock is longer on a single battery. Lasts for a long time.
It is difficult to say exactly how long an analog or digital clock lasts on the same battery, but speaking roughly analog clock lasts an average of 2 years on a single battery, while a digital clock can last an average of 4. 6 years depending on the watch model … or longer.
For more information on how long a watch’s battery lasts, you can click on this link.
Style / Look
This is a very subjective one. Generally speaking, analog watches are considered more of a classic style than digital watches, making them a more versatile choice. For example, the analog dress and watch industry is much healthier than the average shopper has enough choices, but digital dress and watches are harder to find.
Their classic style analog watch looks better suited to more dressing situations. Orient Bambino watches are an excellent example.
The stylistic appeal of a digital watch comes in handy when you’re looking at rugged, functional tool watches – the Casio Pro-Track or the G Shock series of watches, or more retro watches like the legendary Casio A158. Analog watches may have a classic style, but digital watches only have a cool retro appeal.
Efficiency
Go back to what I was saying earlier about digital displays that allow you to present more information than this angel display. If you rely on the hour, minute, and second hand to relay all the information to the user, then what information you provide, and therefore what functions you can include in the clock, will be very limited.
Analog clocks have a time, date, day of the week, if you have a chronological clock, maybe a stopwatch function, but that’s about it.
Digital watches with their LCD displays can provide a lot of information and so the features included on the digital watch are really limited by the manufacturer’s technology and imagination.
For example, timers, split laps, calculators, altimeters, barometers, temperature, compasses, heart rate monitors, pedometers, tides, fishing, and hunting aids for some of the features you can easily fund on digital clocks.
Popularity
The most famous watch on the planet is the humble and very cheap Casio F91W. The watch was the 90’s mark, and Casio sells millions of watches every year, this year.
If you look at the top-selling men’s watches on Amazon and the top-selling women’s watches on Amazon, there are many similar analog and digital watches in the top 100, although at the time of writing this article, there was definitely a more digital watch list.
That being said, in terms of overall sales worldwide, analog watches are still considered more popular than digital watches. It’s a question of analog-style over digital function, and it’s the next style at the moment.
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What is an automatic analog watch?
Analog watches can also be called mechanical watches. Nowadays, especially high-end analog clocks have self-winding automatic movement
Is Analog Watch or Digital Watch Right for You?
So, the big question… which is better – analog or digital watches? Well, unfortunately, that’s not the easy answer. Both analog and digital watches have their pros and cons and it will really depend on what you are doing.
As I said above, analog watches are really excellent when it comes to the classic style, and the right analog watch has the ability to match any situation or outfit you wear.
Digital watches are ahead in terms of value for money and functionality. The difference is that the functionality you get on a function 20 Casio digital watch will be higher than you would get on a 1000 Swiss analog watch. There is no competition in that regard.
So, if you’re after the classic style, analog is probably your best bet. If you’re after functionality, it’s digital all the way.
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What about analog wrist watches?
For those of you who can’t decide whether you want the classic style of an analog clock or the functionality of a digital clock, you’re in luck! Do your favor and take a look at analog-digital watches.
As the name suggests, the analog-digital clock includes both an analog display and a digital display on the dial. For example, take a look at these Tissot T-Touch watches or this elegant Certina DS Multi-8 watch.
For someone who wants the best of both worlds, they really deserve a closer look.
Related Questions That are Mostly Asked.
Are analog watches more accurate than digital watches? No. Both analog and digital clocks can be powered by the same internal movements – usually battery-powered quartz movements – and so the accuracy of an analog clock is exactly the same as that of a digital clock.
Do analog watches need batteries? If the analog clock is powered by quartz movement, yes it will need a battery to run. However, if the watch is powered by mechanical movement (i.e., hand winding or automatic), then it will not need a battery.
