Usability reigns supreme for Women’s Adventure magazine testers. Ultra-slim design, intuitive button placement, and a reliable take-anywhere toughness earned the Casio EX-G1 best-in-show marks among the five waterproof point-and-shoots we tested.

The easy-to-pocket 20 mm body sports a 12.1 megapixel sensor and 3 x 38-114 mm equivalent lens—not as wide as some of the others in the test, but still wide enough for quality snapshots. The built-in flash and assist light produced pleasing indoor photos and candlelit snapshots, and a dedicated movie button allowed for super-quick transition between still- and moving-picture modes.

The more we used this camera, the more we liked about it, especially the adventure-ready best-shot button and the interval mode, which we used to capture an incoming rainstorm (the camera’s also waterproof up to depths of 10 feet). Despite top-tier results, none of our test cameras scored perfect marks: This one has a nail-breaking battery door and uses a less traditional microSD card, which you probably don’t already have on hand. $299; www.casio.com