Digital-analog Infantry Revolution REVO-AD-01-V2 is an interesting Hong Kong watch with an independent design. Maybe not the most practical, but very pleasant. And inexpensive.
New "Infantry"
The Infantry company appeared in Hong Kong in 2011. The founder, Jason Wai, is originally from Hong Kong but lived in Canada from the age of 13 to 23. He loved aviation, but after university (Canadian) he got a job at a watch company (Hong Kong).
Having gained experience, Jason launched his own brand - Infantry. Its feature is a brutal design with a military slant, and most of the watches are somehow related to aviation. In the first years, buyers scolded Infantry for being outright cheap, like alloy cases. But the watches cost between $10 and $30, and in the eyes of many buyers, that price justified the imperfections. Over the years, the company has honed its own design, and in 2019 it launched the Revolution line - in addition to quartz, it featured mechanics for the first time for the brand.
Now Infantry is much more expensive than 13 years ago. But this is not the same “Infantry” as before. What has she become and is she still cheap and angry as before? Let's look at the example of Revolution REVO-AD-01-V2 - a quartz digital-analog model.
Echoes of Aerospace
Analog-to-digital dual-bar digital displays are a well-known design. Orient, Certina, Victorinox, Bell&Ross have similar watches... And the style icon is Breitling Aerospace. In addition, the Revolution’s square case shows Bell&Ross features, the polyhedron has a hint of Jenta, and the steel and plastic “sandwich” has a Casio G-Shock. But Revolution does not copy them, but creates its own design. And very pleasant.
Case: very beautiful, a little sloppy
The watch case is interesting. The design is reminiscent of the G-Shock G-Steel series: a steel plate with a bezel is screwed to the top of the plastic case, and a voluminous steel cover is attached to the bottom. The plastic itself is reinforced with carbon fiber. The glass is mineral, as in Shocks, only here it protrudes above the bezel - that is, it is vulnerable.
But Revolution looks great - edges, volumes, color harmony! Gray plastic with gloss, black buttons, metal parts with smoky gray PVD. However, take a closer look at the two-tier top plate. At the corners, the edges of the upper and lower levels are just a little bit, but they don’t coincide... So it’s better not to look closely.
The crown is nice: grippy, with an interesting notch. Sorry, no logo on the end. The back cover is voluminous, with PVD and simple but high-quality engraving.
Dial: also beautiful, but sloppy
From an arm's length distance the dial is fine. Metal applied numbers and marks are voluminous, each with a contrasting white lume. The main part of the dial is slightly rough, but the “bridge” from “9” to “3” is smooth. The hands are simple and plastic, but this corresponds to the price and military style. The inside of the hands is solid, and the tips are skeletonized so as not to obscure the displays - smart.
Up close, however, you can see that they saved money on the dial. The logo and inscriptions are not clearly marked. It would be good only on a rough surface, as they blur slightly even on smooth surfaces. The lume is not in the center of the marks, and its boundaries are blurry (there are no questions about the numbers). Well, the ring with the seconds markings does not coincide with the hour markers.
Double gauge
This watch has two independent calibers. One is responsible for the hands, is adjusted by the CG and is powered by an SR626 battery. The second is for digital displays, controlled by buttons and powered by CR2025. At least one of them, according to Infantry, is Seiko. Battery life is unknown, and the watch's accuracy is plus or minus 20 seconds per month.
Of course, the hands are not synchronized with the displays. The implementation of the second time (numbers) is as simple as mooing: it is set separately from the home time (arrows).
The digital module has a date and day of the week (top display), which are displayed along with a second time (bottom). The next mode is a stopwatch for up to 24 hours. Next - an alarm clock and an hourly signal. In general, in terms of functionality, this is a plus or minus of the Casio F91W with controls on four convenient, large buttons.
The analog module has a hack (thank you), and the second does not hit the marks (no one expected this).
Large and comfortable
The watch is hefty (47x47 mm square), and the thickness of 16 mm feels natural. They are a little big for me, but they fit well. Partly thanks to the short lugs, partly to the unusual strap.
It is silicone, soft, thick and pleasant to the hand. The attachment to the case is classic; third-party straps are also suitable. But the native one expands at the edges, harmonizing with the body. And the wide strap wraps around your wrist as tightly and softly as a sports wristband.
Water resistance - 100 m, enough for any real situation. Readability in the light is acceptable. The inverse displays are difficult to read, but the white tips of the hands contrast with the dial. In the dark, it’s the other way around: displays with soft ELD backlighting are perfectly visible, but the lume on the thin hands is rather weak.
Summary
Infantry Revolution REVO-AD-01-V2 are very good. Its nice design, adequate functionality, acceptable quality. There are many minor flaws, but they do not affect the use of the watch.
Still, the Revolution is no champion when it comes to practicality. The G-Shock is better suited for the role of an angry budget watch for the job: for the same money there are models that are more functional and stronger (and the brand is more respected).
But in terms of attractiveness, Revolution is doing quite well. At least personally, I was pleased to see this large, noticeable, but discreet watch with a balanced independent design on my hand.
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