14 DAY TRIAL // Tokyoflash is a Japanese watch maker with a signature. The company designs timepieces, but they aren't the regular type you’d expect.
Tokyoflash has long turned heads with their odd and quite unreadable designs. We already reviewed the Kisai Intoxicated watch a while ago, which is a timepiece capable of detecting the alcohol levels in your blood (which we sadly found did not work that well).
But in the following piece, we’re going to talk about the Kisai Polygon. If you like mathematics-inspired figures, this watch will certainly inspire you.
style="color: #aa3333">Look and Feel
Compared to the previous Kisai Intoxicated we had on our hands, the Polygon is a pretty sturdy timepiece. Tokyoflash has forsaken the plastic materials and is instead offering a watch made of metal.
The finish is quite stylish, but there’s a caveat. The strap is quite loose and there’s no way in customizing its size without bringing in some additional tools.
Unfortunately, Tokyoflash doesn't provide an easy and intuitive way to this, albeit the strap is made up of several removable segments.
Even if the watch is advertised to be perfect for both gents and ladies, I found it to be quite heavy for all-day wear. I wouldn't go as far as to claim I’d rather have the light plastic back on my wrist, but the Polygon was a little too much.There are two buttons located on the left side of the watch (button A and button B), which are going to help you set the time. This is a pretty complicated endeavor, to say the least. But if you’re into puzzles, you might enjoy solving this one quite a lot.
It might be comforting to know all Kisai watches come with a guide teaching you how to read the hour attached.
The watch’s LCD is made up of colored and mirrored LCD segments that show you time and date. An alarm can also be set up and there’s the possibility of adding a custom animation too.
style="color: rgb(255,102,0)">Features and Functionality
Alright, so we told you about what the watch looks like. But now comes the more intricate part. As we already reported, the display uses the “always on” technology to show the time.
The screen can be illuminated for a short time with the EL backlight by pressing button A. Now for you to be able to read the time, you’ll need to know that hours are shown by the outer ring of small triangles. The center point of the two mirrored triangles points to the hour mark (just like it is with regular clocks).
As for minutes, they are displayed in groups of 10 by large triangles that point to 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 00, in the same manner a regular clock does.
Last but not least, single minutes 1-9 are shown by a digit in the center.
Once you’ve got the hang of it with the time, you can also proceed to set up the date. Users will have to press button B to start things. You’ll notice a little icon you didn't see on the screen before. This indicates you are in date mode.
The date will be displayed in the same way as the time, with the month taking up the hour position, while the first digit of the date will be displayed in the 10 min group position. The second digit of the date goes in the single minute position.To get started and set the hour for the first time, you will need to hold button A for 3 seconds in order to access setting mode.
The hour segments will flash when you are in hour setting mode. There is PM icon in setting mode, which indicates you are setting the time in PM. Press button B to increase the hour as required and press button A to confirm and move to minutes.
Moving on will prompt the minute segments and central minute digit to flash when you are in minute setting mode. You will have to press button B to increase the minutes and press button A to confirm.
Users can also set a custom animation, which causes the polygons to spin and the digits to do a five-second countdown every fifteen minutes. This is a function that can be turned on and off at your own will.
The watch has a C2025 battery which should be able to breathe life into the watch for up to 12 months, without users having to replace it.
The watch is also water resistant, so you won't damage it if you forget to take it off while you're washing your hands in the lavatory.
Anyway, apart from the particularities we outlined above, the Polygon is a pretty usual timepiece. You wear it around your wrist, and after a while you'll also be able to tell what time it is by looking at it.
Overall Impressions The Tokoflash Polygon is a sturdy watch for people with hefty wrists. It does boast a beautiful design frame factor, but if your hand is tiny, it will look like a tracking cuff. The reading of the time takes quite some time to get used to, but this doesn't mean you can’t master it. The only thing is, you’ll probably need to carry the watch’s booklet with you for a while.
Sure, the watch looks quite fancy to behold, so if you want to draw some eyes upon yourself, it might be worthy of the $149 / €109 it costs.
Attention readers: Tokyoflash and Softpedia are giving away a free watch of your choice. Just check out Tokyoflash’s official page, pick out your favorite model and tell us in a few words why you chose that particular watch. Best comment wins, is as simple as that! The contest end in a week's time (until July 22).
Good luck!
(Note: don't forget to fill in your email address when you write your comment. The winner's address (only) will be shared with Tokyoflash to arrange prize shipment)
UPDATE: And the winner is... Random_Fella. Congratulations, you will be contacted by TokyoFlash to arrange shipment of your prize.
