Phosphor World Time Sport Watch review

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The Phosphor World Time Sport Watch is a plastic variant of the steel World Time Watch reviewed in December 2010. These watches with e-ink displays made famous by those Kindle displays have been out for a while, but I’ve never seen this colorful model. Let’s take a closer look.

At first glance, the most obvious diference between the “sport” model and the non-sport variant is the super-bright, eye-catching red color. (Black, White, Orange/Black are also available). Instead of leather or polyurethane, the matching strap is silicone. I’ve also been told by Phosphor that the crystal is plastic, not mineral crystal.

Features:

Case width: 38.0mm
Edge thickness: 5.0mm
Overall case thickness: 9.3mm
Water resistance: 3 ATM – 30m
Display: 12 hour large; 24 hour small

The watch comes in a velvety-lined black box with a pouch in the lid for the folded instructions.

The instructions fold out into a single sheet. You can also find the instructions here.

Since the buttons are “swipe” sensitive (not mechanical buttons found on the stainless World Time) setting the date/time is a little tricky at first. Be patient and read the instructions carefully!

When viewed from the side, the World Time Sport is curved, except for the flat battery compartment.

The watch is listed at an overall thickness of 9.3mm.

Closeup of the battery door. It says “Made in China” at the bottom.

I measured the strap width at 22mm.

As the name implies, the watch can display world time as well as local time. There are five display modes:

Time of Day + World Time
Time of Day + Calendar
Time of Day Large
Time of Day Small
World Time

To change display modes, simply swipe from the Mode (three dots) to Set (half moon) buttons (right to left).

phosphor world time sport 11 — Time of Day + World Time. In this example, local time is 10:40AM. London is 6:40PM.

phosphor world time sport 07 — Time of Day +Calendar. Day of the week (Friday) on top, today’s date (Oct. 26th) in large digits, and current local time (10:40AM) in the middle. The square icon to the left of the large 10 indicates the Time of Day + Calendar mode.

phosphor world time sport 08 — Time of Day Large, 10:40AM

phosphor world time sport 09 — Time of Day Small, 10:40AM

phosphor world time sport 10 — World Time (London, 6:40PM). On this screen, you can view a different time zone simply by swiping your finger from the Set > Mode button (left to right).

phosphor world time sport 12 — Do you prefer a “normal” light background? Just swipe from Set > Mode (Left to Right) to invert colors.

I found the watch very comfortable to wear, thanks to the curved case and the ultra-soft silicone strap. I did notice the silicone strap is a real dust magnet. I could never seem to keep it clean.

phosphor world time sport 13 — Red will definitely scream out for attention! Good thing it’s comfortable. My wrist measures 7 inches around.

Legibility is, as you would expect, excellent. Except in the dark, that is. No backlight. This could be a dealbreaker to some.

One of the minor quirks about e-ink displays is that they leave some faint ghosting behind. This eventually corrects itself the next time the pixels are “refreshed” but it was worth mentioning.

phosphor world time sport 16 — A little ghosting can be seen in the right numeral 4.

In all the Phosphor World Time Watch has a high geek factor with excellent readability. You’re sure to find a color you can live with if red isn’t your thing. I had some trouble with the finger swiping control method- it’s certainly not a smartphone, and it took me a few tries to get it right. But once I had it set just right, I had little need to ever use the buttons. This might be a good thing if you’re really active and you’re prone to accidentally pushing buttons.

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Product Information

Price:	$99 MSRP
Manufacturer:	Phosphor
Pros:	Easy to read, nifty e-ink display. Very comfortable to wear. Mineral crystal curved glass. Comes in four colors.
Cons:	Some ghosting artifacts present but not too obvious. Controls are hard to master at first. Silicone strap is a dust magnet.