Review: Nike Oregon Digital Watch
I expect quite a bit from a digital watch. I’m a regular user of features like countdown timer and stopwatch, and when I find a full-featured watch that actually looks good, I jump at the chance to buy it. Nike’s Oregon Digital has all of the features I need and a good design, and aside from a couple of minor inconveniences it’s a great watch. Read on for the full review.
Features
In the default (TIME) mode, the Nike Oregon Digital displays the time including seconds and the date, and a “T1″ or “T2″ indicator; holding the STOP button switches between T1 and T2 so you can track the time in two timezones. (I have no idea why you can set both hours and minutes for Time 2, but maybe someone out there regularly visits an alternate universe that is 4 hours and 27 minutes ahead.) Other modes include:
- CRON: A stopwatch. Like Nike’s other digitals, this is a full-featured stopwatch that tracks laps and total time, displaying both at once using the main display and the lower date display.
- DATA: Another stopwatch feature. This keeps the data from multiple uses of the stopwatch. For each run you can view the total time, lap times, best lap, and average lap.
- TIMR: Countdown timer. You can have up to five separate timer “segments†set to different amounts of time and select one to count down.
- ALRM: Alarms. The Oregon Digital has three standard alarms that can be turned on or off separately. There’s also a fourth “H2O†alarm that beeps you at a set interval to remind you to drink water.
Beyond those modes, the START button turns the keypress beeps on and off—as with other Nike watches, there’s no hourly chime option—and the STOP button switches to Time 2. A dedicated button activates the light, which lights up the digits (rather than the background) in a nice blue.
Usability
I’ve always been a fan of Nike watches, and one reason is their superior usability. They’re the only digital watches I’m aware of that have an adjustable LCD contrast so you can set your preferred viewing angle. When a button needs to be held (like the set button) it prompts you with a clear HOLD message so you don’t need to dig into the manual.
Unfortunately, this watch does have one rather puzzling flaw. The small display below the time can display the date (i.e. NOV 28) or the day of the week (i.e. SUN). Not both. You choose which to display from deep in the settings, and there’s no way to display the missing item by pressing a button. I have previously relied on my digital watch to remind me of both the day of the week and the date, so having to choose one or the other is frustrating.
The Band
Like most digital watches, this one isn’t available with a silver or gold band. The black plastic band is not bad looking, though, and contrasts nicely with the brushed metal trim.
I don’t know if I’m hard on watches, but previous Nike models with similar bands have only lasted about a year before the band began to crack, and I had to buy a new watch because the band was molded on and could not be replaced. Unfortunately, as far as I’ve been able to determine, this one is similar. The band looks like it might be removable after removing the back plate, but I have not found a source for replacement bands.
Since the Oregon Digital cost about a third of the price I paid for the earlier Nike watches, replacing the watch after a year is a less daunting prospect, but still disappointing.
Conclusion
The Nike Oregon Digital watch is available in two sizes, “Super†and “Regularâ€, clearly aimed at men and women respectively, although the “Regular†model is a bit large for a ladies’ watch. It retails for about $60.00. A cloth-banded version is also available.
Aside from two minor problems—the irreplaceable band and the missing day-of-the-week feature—this is the best digital watch I’ve seen in a long time, and it looks great for a sport watch. If you’re not happy with the lineup of $20 Timex and Casio watches, this is definitely one to consider.