We demanded that Casio take the G-Shock square and update the screen from the standard LCD to the modern MIP. That’s it. Don’t change anything else. It took them several years and many attempts, but finally they released the GWXB5600 last year. After which we in the United States had to wait until now for them to bring it to our market.

I got one! I picked up positive screen variant, the GWXB5600-1. It’s also available in a negative screen, the GWXB5600-1A1. Right after I clicked BUY it went out of stock. So they must be bringing them over one pallet at a time.

First Impressions

Right off the bat I had to look at that viewing angle! The MIP screen has exceptional legibility even at angles that would washout an LCD and make it look like the time is 88:88. The new GWBX5600 shows the time in crystal clear definition at acute angles. You can read it until the bezel physically obscures your line of sight.

This isn’t my first G-Shock MIP. In fact, the third G-Shock I bought was the GBD-H2000. So I am used to the G-Shock MIP screen and have enjoyed it for years. But all my previous MIPs have been negative. I got the G-Shock MIP square in positive so I can put it head to head against the GWM5610U.

Not only does the MIP have better viewing angles, but it has far more definition. The 5610 has a dot matrix in the upper right corner that can spell out the day of the week. For a standard LCD that’s amazing. But the MIP screen has a much bigger resolution across the entire face. Thus, it can display pretty much anything since it’s more akin to an actual computer screen.

Of course there is a limitation. While the MIP screen has a bunch of dots, it’s not like a full color AMOLED like on my wife’s Garmin. The MIP refresh rate is low, and it’s monochrome.

Since the power requirements of the MIP are low, the GWXB5600 is certified TOUGH SOLAR. That means it can run completely charged by sunlight. Previous MIP square watches by G-Shock either had a 2-year battery like on the GBD200, or a USB charger to keep it going like on the DWH5600.

Those two watches don’t count as squares according to the G-Shock OGs. Yes, they may have a similar squared off shape, but they had cumbersome interfaces and smartwatch features that nobody wanted. G-Shock purists wanted a watch that was exactly like the Square, but with an MIP screen.

Look, I’m not a Square fanatic. I can’t tell you all the subtle differences among all of its iterations. But I can tell you that they stuck so close physically to the original square that they even pre-loaded the screen with the time displayed in a faux 7 segment digits.

Holding the GWM5610 and the GWXB5600 side by side was surreal. The dimensions were so close, I’d need a machinist’s calipers to tell the difference. The only difference I could tell is that the plastic was softer on the newer one.

The strict adherence to the square design was to my chagrin, as this watch band was not long enough for me to wear comfortably. At 8 1/2″ I got it on the last notch, but the tail end of the band didn’t have enough remaining length to go through the keeper.

So my demands for an identical square with an MIP screen were met, but to spite me G-Shock meticulously kept the older, shorter band. The DWH5600 had a longer band.

The MODE Button is Back!

What makes the GWX5600 a true square and the DWH5600 a fraud is how functions of the watch are activated. The DWH5600 required a lot of menu diving that made interaction cumbersome. It looked pretty but was a pain to fire up the stopwatch for example.

With the GWXB5600, you can finally get around just by pressing the MODE button, which is the bottom left button. This is the most common paradigm in watches and it’s the most elegant and intuitive way to navigate your watch.

Speaking of the stopwatch, the GWXB5600 brings back fractions of a second, and the timer goes out to 24 hours. YES!!!

Video Summary

Watch my chaotic unboxing video of the G-Shock GWXB5600 to see the MIP square in action. To read a summary, here is one below, generated by Google Gemini AI:

Casio G-Shock GW-BX5600 Hands-On Review: The Tough Solar MIP Square We’ve Been Demanding

Casio G-Shock GW-BX5600 MIP Square. Source: CASIO

After years of vocal feedback from the G-Shock community, Casio has officially answered the call: a classic 5600 square sporting a cutting-edge Memory-in-Pixel (MIP) display without the bloated fitness sensors, bulky cases, or laggy menus of earlier hybrids. In this extensive hands-on unboxing and deep dive, Jim Kinkade inspects the Casio G-Shock GW-BX5600 (positive display variant), comparing its hardware, UI logic, viewing angles, and timing mechanics against the benchmark GW-M5610U.

The Screen Upgrade: Classic Styling Meets MIP Contrast

Previous MIP releases—such as the GBD-200 and DW-H5600—deviated from traditional square aesthetics with modern dot-matrix fonts and step counters. The GW-BX5600 takes a fundamentally different path:

• True 7-Segment Digital Font Emulation: Out of the box, the positive MIP display renders clean, bold digits that replicate the legendary retro 7-segment LCD look, preserving the timeless charm of the original 1983 square.
• Flawless Viewing Angles: Standard twisted-nematic (TN) LCDs wash out and ghost at oblique angles, showing faint outlines of inactive segments (turning numbers into clusters of eights). The GW-BX5600 maintains pin-sharp black contrast and zero ghosting right up until the edge of the bezel physically blocks your line of sight.
• Positive vs. Negative Variants: While Casio offers both positive and blacked-out negative variants, Jim highlights that the high-contrast positive display offers effortless, instant legibility across all ambient lighting conditions.

Timing Restored: True Stopwatch Fractions & A 24-Hour Timer

One of the most persistent frustrations with early MIP G-Shocks was the butchering of core digital timing tools. The GW-BX5600 rectifies both major complaints:

• Fractions of a Second are Back: Because MIP screens have slower refresh rates than segmented LCDs, earlier smart squares dropped 1/100th-second resolution entirely. On the GW-BX5600, Casio solves this elegantly: while the timer runs, live seconds tick away; the moment you hit the stop button, the module instantly renders the captured hundredths of a second (1/100s). Coaches and track runners can finally time sprints with pinpoint accuracy.
• Full 24-Hour Countdown Timer: Early MIP models artificially capped countdown intervals to a frustrating 60 minutes. Setting the GW-BX5600 timer to 0:00:00 initiates a full 24-hour countdown, bringing it up to parity with classic digital workhorses.
• Dual Time Display: During both stopwatch and timer operations, the home time remains displayed in the upper-right corner for situational awareness.

Navigation: Returning to Classic, Frictionless UI

Instead of forcing users to dive through deep confirmation menus, scroll through fitness lists, or deal with laggy button responses, the GW-BX5600 restores the instant, single-button Mode cycling G-Shock fans love:

• A single press of the mode button advances cleanly: Home Time → World Time → Alarms (with Snooze & Hourly Chime) → Stopwatch → Countdown Timer.
• Eliminates the clumsy “select, enter, back, hold” menu friction that plagued the fitness-oriented DW-H5600.
• You can configure every single parameter manually right from the watch—from 12/24-hour time to date format (Date/Month vs. Month/Date)—without ever being forced to connect to a smartphone app.

Power, Sync & Materials

• Tough Solar Power: Eliminates battery swaps and proprietary USB charging clamps. Ambient daylight and sunlight keep the internal rechargeable cell topped off indefinitely.
• Multiband 6 & Bluetooth Connectivity: Offers full radio-controlled atomic time synchronization via the Fort Collins signal, supplemented by optional Bluetooth Smartphone Link for global travelers.
• Bioresin Construction & Supple Feel: The bezel and band utilize Casio’s updated bio-based resin, which Jim notes feels noticeably softer, more supple, and smoother to the touch than the stiffer resin on older 5610 squares.
• Big-Wrist Fitment Realities: Sticking strictly to classic square proportions, the factory band measures roughly 205 mm in usable circumference. On an 8.5-inch wrist, the strap fastens on the final notch, leaving minimal tail for the keeper. Larger-wristed wearers may want to consider swapping to an aftermarket extended strap or G-Shock Cordura fabric adapters.

The Verdict

The Casio G-Shock GW-BX5600 is the exact watch enthusiast purists have been demanding since MIP technology first debuted. By fusing unmatched display readability, Tough Solar charging, and Multiband 6 reliability into an uncluttered, classic square interface, Casio has delivered an instant modern classic.

Conclusion

Gemini AI did a pretty good job summing up my video, but I do need to “push back” on a few things. First, it says you can manually configure every single parameter right out of the box. I know that the font the digits of the main time are set via the Casio Watches app. So that’s at least one thing that can be set manually and there may be more.

Stay tuned for the full review. I have to test it all out to know if this truly is the watch we’ve been waiting for!