RumbaTime started out as a company making cheap and cheerful watches that were basically bracelets telling the time. You can still get that original RumbaTime, which comes in all kinds of fun colors and patterns. Kids love them and they’re great for when you want a watch you don’t have to worry about messing up.
Since then the company has branched out to a variety of styles and this Hudson Lights Out Collection watch gets a lot of attention when I wear it. With a price tag of $45 though, it’s an affordable accessory that tells you what time it is without you fishing in your pocket for a phone.
It’s also rugged enough for the road, with a soft silicone strap and water resistance tested to 5ATM – equating to 165 feet. The alloy casing feels solid, as does the stainless steel backing. It’s got some heft to it and comes with a one-year warranty.
Besides the look of it, what I really like about this Rumba watch is the simplicity. I was recently playing a board game with some people and the timer was lost. Three of us had timers on our watches, but none of us knew how to use them without consulting an instruction manual and we were afraid to press something and mess up another function. No fear of that with this watch. You pull out the crown and set the time. The second hand goes around on its own. Nothing else to mess with.
That’s a quaint notion in these times when watches from the likes of Suunto, Casio, and even Timex are tricked out with a 5-button series of complicated functions. They’re supposed to time your workout, check your heartbeat, keep you from getting lost, and beep when you’re supposed to do something or other.
When you’re traveling like a normal person on vacation though, it seems easier to just let your smartphone take care of the smart stuff and have the watch on your wrist do one thing well: tell you what time it is in a glance. When you change time zones, you can adjust with ease, no instructions needed. And since it can get rained on or spilled on or even worn in the pool with no issues, it’s about as worry-free as you can get.
The two hands absorb light and glow in the dark if you need to see what time it is in the middle of the night. Not super-bright, but good enough.
This Rumba Hudson watch comes with four different face colors and sizing is unisex, but in my opinion this is a guy’s watch: the square backing covers most of my wrist.
You can get the Rumbatime Hudson Lights out at Amazon with free shipping.
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