BATTLE OF THE SD43'S:
ARF V3 VS NOOB V10 (Latest editions as at January 2020)
Introduction:
I was curious at what the difference between the two models were. You can read about them... but it's not like holding both in your hand. So, I ordered both. The noob arrived today and it's time to do a review. This is my first review and comparison so I apologise if it's not very good... any suggestions/tips from older members are welcome.
Unfortunately, I've had to leave the noob in it's plastic wrapping. And my grubby fingers got onto a few photos... so apologies. I've broken each section down and I'll tell you my own personal thoughts and feelings about the watch.
So without further ado!
Obligatory wrist shot:
Side by Side shots (LEFT SIDE IS ARF ------------------------------- THE NOOB IS ON THE RIGHT Plastic wrapping too):
Sides/Flanks of the cases:
Bracelet / Clasp / Case-back: (ARF ALWAYS ON LEFT - NOOB ALWAYS ON RIGHT)
Crown / Crown-guards:
Helium Escape Valve:
Lume:
Further ARF Pictures:
Further NOOB Pictures:
Review: (This is my own personal opinion from having both in hand)
Summary: The ARF v3 is the better overall watch. If you can only buy one, buy the ARF v3.
Overall they are very very close, much closer than I had thought they would be. Overall quality on both feels excellent, the ARF wins on overall quality by a very small margin. The biggest difference is the bezel and its turning action. The ARF feels much more refined than the Noob, same with the feeling of winding the watch, and setting the time. The quality of the Asian movement in the ARF feels better. The case back on the ARF is also slightly thinner, it sits better on your wrist... again, marginal though. Don't read too much into that one.
Bracelet is hard to tell because I've kept the wrapping on, but looking at the links there is a small difference, ARF wins by a tiny margin. SEL's are slightly smaller on the ARF.
The clasp feel of the ARF is better, it feels different to the noob when you close and open it. Feels closer to Gen. This again is a very marginal difference, and I would stress to you that if you only are going to have one, it really is a flick of the coin which one is "better". As the noob does have some features that surpass the ARF.
Namely the dial, the triangle marker at 12 is slightly rounded, this is closer to Gen. The ARF is more pointy. The markers on the noob dial are better overall than ARF, both in lume colour (creamy) than white. But it's not THAT different. But the noob is better in this regard. Same with the hands, the noob hands are marginally better. Mainly due to the more creamy tone, they also look less flat, the arf hands look a bit too flat. Finally the Sea-Dweller red is better on the noob, closer to Genuine.
The crown-guards are also more accurate on the noob and I think even the crown itself feels slightly more genuine on the noob, again it is very VERY close. I must stress this throughout this review, I say one is better.... but it is tiny.
Bezel insert - it's a tie... the noob has more accurate font, but the lume pip isn't quite right. The ARF lume pip is perfect, but the font is slightly too big. But the quality of both inserts is great.
Crystal quality - tie - both are very good for reps, around 90% as good as the gen crystal.
Date wheel and dates - I was lucky on my ARF v3... all my dates are great. The noob is the same, so tie. But it's probably a win for noob in reality as ARF does seem to have bold fonts, just not on my example.
Overall you cannot go wrong. Choose either watch and just be aware of the flaws on either watch.
I'd give the ARF a 9/10 and the Noob a 8.5/10.
The overall quality and feel of the ARF outweighs the pro's of the noob in my personal opinion.
It's very close.
I have both watches... I'm going to take the noob dial and hands and put them into the ARF case. Is it worth it? No, certainly not. But I'm an idiot. I think it's also worth finding a decent watch smith who can shave down the crown guards a little.
I'll add a second post to this, when I've achieved that so you can see if it's worth doing. The answer probably is no.
Anyway thanks very much for reading this post and if you have any suggestions. Let me know!
James
ARF V3 VS NOOB V10 (Latest editions as at January 2020)
Introduction:
I was curious at what the difference between the two models were. You can read about them... but it's not like holding both in your hand. So, I ordered both. The noob arrived today and it's time to do a review. This is my first review and comparison so I apologise if it's not very good... any suggestions/tips from older members are welcome.
Unfortunately, I've had to leave the noob in it's plastic wrapping. And my grubby fingers got onto a few photos... so apologies. I've broken each section down and I'll tell you my own personal thoughts and feelings about the watch.
So without further ado!
Obligatory wrist shot:
Side by Side shots (LEFT SIDE IS ARF ------------------------------- THE NOOB IS ON THE RIGHT Plastic wrapping too):
Sides/Flanks of the cases:
Bracelet / Clasp / Case-back: (ARF ALWAYS ON LEFT - NOOB ALWAYS ON RIGHT)
Crown / Crown-guards:
Helium Escape Valve:
Lume:
Further ARF Pictures:
Further NOOB Pictures:
Review: (This is my own personal opinion from having both in hand)
Summary: The ARF v3 is the better overall watch. If you can only buy one, buy the ARF v3.
Overall they are very very close, much closer than I had thought they would be. Overall quality on both feels excellent, the ARF wins on overall quality by a very small margin. The biggest difference is the bezel and its turning action. The ARF feels much more refined than the Noob, same with the feeling of winding the watch, and setting the time. The quality of the Asian movement in the ARF feels better. The case back on the ARF is also slightly thinner, it sits better on your wrist... again, marginal though. Don't read too much into that one.
Bracelet is hard to tell because I've kept the wrapping on, but looking at the links there is a small difference, ARF wins by a tiny margin. SEL's are slightly smaller on the ARF.
The clasp feel of the ARF is better, it feels different to the noob when you close and open it. Feels closer to Gen. This again is a very marginal difference, and I would stress to you that if you only are going to have one, it really is a flick of the coin which one is "better". As the noob does have some features that surpass the ARF.
Namely the dial, the triangle marker at 12 is slightly rounded, this is closer to Gen. The ARF is more pointy. The markers on the noob dial are better overall than ARF, both in lume colour (creamy) than white. But it's not THAT different. But the noob is better in this regard. Same with the hands, the noob hands are marginally better. Mainly due to the more creamy tone, they also look less flat, the arf hands look a bit too flat. Finally the Sea-Dweller red is better on the noob, closer to Genuine.
The crown-guards are also more accurate on the noob and I think even the crown itself feels slightly more genuine on the noob, again it is very VERY close. I must stress this throughout this review, I say one is better.... but it is tiny.
Bezel insert - it's a tie... the noob has more accurate font, but the lume pip isn't quite right. The ARF lume pip is perfect, but the font is slightly too big. But the quality of both inserts is great.
Crystal quality - tie - both are very good for reps, around 90% as good as the gen crystal.
Date wheel and dates - I was lucky on my ARF v3... all my dates are great. The noob is the same, so tie. But it's probably a win for noob in reality as ARF does seem to have bold fonts, just not on my example.
Overall you cannot go wrong. Choose either watch and just be aware of the flaws on either watch.
I'd give the ARF a 9/10 and the Noob a 8.5/10.
The overall quality and feel of the ARF outweighs the pro's of the noob in my personal opinion.
It's very close.
I have both watches... I'm going to take the noob dial and hands and put them into the ARF case. Is it worth it? No, certainly not. But I'm an idiot. I think it's also worth finding a decent watch smith who can shave down the crown guards a little.
I'll add a second post to this, when I've achieved that so you can see if it's worth doing. The answer probably is no.
Anyway thanks very much for reading this post and if you have any suggestions. Let me know!
James
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