The new Casio F-B100W packs Bluetooth and an accelerometer in a classic case

High-fidelity OLED touch screens. Seamless Bluetooth connectivity. Smart, intuitive user interfaces. Accurate weather tracking and all-day health tracking. Even digital payments. Features that, until just a decade ago, were transforming calling devices into all-in-one palm-sized computers are now being transcribed onto our wrists with the ever-ubiquitous smartwatch. Housing an ever-growing number of sensors and built-in LTE features, these high-tech wrist wearables may well be on their way to declaring complete independence from their smartphone companions, or perhaps even rendering them entirely redundant.

However, like all things tech pacing towards making another piece of technology obsolete, there is a split side. Recent trends have conversely seen a deliberate movement away from the sensory overload of technologies based on obsessive tracking and constant notifications towards selectively low-tech devices such as dumbphones, radios, record players and pocket cameras—both digital and analogue. In this perplexing mix, the legacy Japanese timepiece maker, Casio, has launched the Casio F-B100W, a digital wristwatch pointedly constrained to only the features you need.      

Presented by the watchmaking giant as a ‘timeless design with advanced functions’, the F-B100W builds on the classic 1980s design of the Casio F-91W, their most commercially successful and instantly recognisable watch design—purportedly also the most sold watch in the world. The minimal, water-resistant angular case is scaled to fit a larger LCD screen display, with the bezel text announcing the two main highlights, ‘Bluetooth’ and ‘Step Tracker’, instead of ‘Alarm’ and the model name marked on its ancestor. The sleek 8.8mm thick profile is made almost entirely of resin, with the glass and strap, keeping the design extremely lightweight at 26g. The recently launched Apple Watch 12 weighs upwards of 32g, for reference. The strap is made from Casio’s special bio-based resin, an ecologically conscious production material that was first featured in 2022 in the brand’s Pro-Trek PRW-61. The strap carries slits on its underside, improving airflow and comfort for the wrist even during long hours of use.

The advanced functions accompanying the watch’s distinct retro-futuristic aesthetic include an integrated accelerometer and smartphone connectivity using Bluetooth. The design is focused on facilitating active lifestyles while retaining everyday convenience for its users. The accelerometer is a low-tech step-tracking system that collects data during walking or jogging, displays it as a live step count, plots it on a graph against pre-set targets and even sends reminders if goals are not being met. Much like its predecessors, the digital watch limits the use of its Bluetooth connectivity feature to only facilitating time-sync and world-clock adjustment, deliberately refusing the constant bombardment of instant notifications.

The ability to connect to a smartphone via the Casio app, where the user can access practical functions and reconfigure watch settings, comes in tow. It also synchronises watch data onto the app, translating it into graphs and charts to assist with personalised health management. These new-age features are supplemented by the Casio staples, including a stopwatch, multiple alarms, an LED backlight and phone-finder (limited to newer Bluetooth models), while flaunting a whopping two-year battery life in a market landscape where other wearable technology boasts running for just 24 hours on a single charge.

To the casual buyer, Casio's new watch might seem odd in a marketplace flooded with large OLED touch-screens with fashionable, customisable straps. To even those familiar with Casio, its deliberately restrained, 'old-school' aesthetic and especially the iconic angled design the F-B100W is based on, the product design risks being overlooked as a slightly bigger version of the F-91W, priced manifold for two distinct features commonplace in smartphones. This fundamental, underlying tension raises speculation about the timing of this launch: is it a carefully deliberated move, or a diffident attempt at catching up with the seemingly omnipotent smartwatch? 

In its 80-year-long history, the watch-making giant has rarely struggled to keep up with the times. Time and again, the Japanese timepiece brand has instead carved its own niche in a saturated consumer market. Its very first digital wristwatch—the Casiotron QW02, launched in 1974 with an automatic calendar feature—established a stronghold for a calculator manufacturer in the global market for digital wristwatches. In 1999, the Casio Pro-Trek PRT-1GPJ became the first watch with built-in GPS, a feat that eventually paved the way for step-counting features for watches and health bands. Despite their defiance of general market trends, all of these iconic products have been confident in their positioning and consciously restrained. Perhaps this newest member of their Timeless Collection simply strives to continue this legacy. Will it live up to it? Only time can tell.