The History of Casio Watches

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

I don't know about their customer service but I have bought a few of their watches recently and they seem as good as ever. (Which is the reason I don’t know about their customer service, of course)

Still consistently better quality than 99% of the clones out there.

not true

Yes, absolutely.

As I was going down this list I was mentally checking off basically every feature of the Apple Watch, somewhere introduced by Casio a decade+ earlier.

Then they stopped snorting coke and did a sensible walk-back?

It's disappointing. It reinforces the cliché that most hardware companies don't understand software.

The GPR-B1000 was promising, as it signaled Casio might be heading towards making watches with advanced features like GPS, yet a bit different from regular smartwatches and close to their traditional models. This model was tied to a phone app, but I thought this was OK for their first iteration.

Fast forward to 2023, their expensive DW-H5600 was very disappointing. They included a Polar heart rate monitor, which are known for their reliability. Nevertheless, hear rate readouts are extremely noisy to the point of being useless. Also, setting up the watch requires pairing it with a Casio app, which is absurd for a non-smartwatch.

I would love to be able to buy a normal watch that offers heart rate monitoring and basic GPS tracking but can be operated fully offline, doesn't need updates, and will not become abandonware in 5 years time. Garmin is nearly there with some models. Some Casio, Withings, Polar, and Suunto models also have interesting features but overall still far from that ideal goal.

Besides, in many regulated environments you can't have a watch with hardware radios like Bluetooth. Only Garmin seems to understand this. Suunto had terrific models, but is slowly falling behind and has been sold to a Chinese conglomerate.

I facepalmed when I read that last entry. I had a G-Shock watch for a long time, it was a great watch, I have a lot of sentimentality towards it, but I do not see any reason why anyone would want an NFT for it.

I think they should have mentioned the ABL-100 from 2024 [0]. It is probably their most interesting recent watch. It has a step tracker, sets time via Bluetooth from a smartphone, and it is in a classic digital Casio style similar to the A168W and A158W.

0: https://www.casio.com/intl/watches/casio/standard/vintage/ab...

Another GW-6900 fan here. I think you've done pretty well to only have 1 replacement band in that time. Maybe that is because you don't take it off at night!

The only other thing I have with similar levels of toughness is the rogue leather hat I wore for at least 20 years. https://rogue.co.za/collections/headgear But I eventually sweated a hole in it and had to buy another one.

I feel the same about my GW-M5610. I've only had it for about 7 years so I'm still on my original band.

worth noting that there are many casio watches that are very similar to the g-shock series but are not g-shock.

they're probably worse but still incredibly good. I have one of these (W-735H-1AV - https://www.casio.com/intl/watches/casio/product.W-735H-1AV/)... Got it for ~20 euros off amazon in 2018 and it's still rocking.

I never had to change the battery (so far) but I had to change the straps twice.

This one too:

> Simply holding the watch’s built-in speaker up to the receiver of a push-button telephone allowed users to place calls to stored numbers

I had CMD-10 as a kid. It was fun when it worked, but it wasn't pairing well with most TV sets and video players. Though it's possible I just didn't know how to set it up properly.

The temperature sensor was an interesting idea. Wonder if smartphones will ever get that. Probably not, since it is cheaper to get this information online (but then it is often inaccurate).

The F-91W is such a fun watch. Super functional, you're not scared of damaging it, because A) You can't and B) it's like $25.

The backlight is my absolute favorit feature. It's completely pointless. It can barely light up the hours, and only the left most digit and Casio never bothered to fix it. Absolutely delightful.

There existed watches with the same digits, features and buttons before that, but they were in steel. 1989 is about when Casio transitioned from metal to resin.

The metal watches were succeeded by the A158W, which is chrome-plated resin on the outside, same electronics module as the F-91W on the inside, and likewise is still in production.

After the resin case of my A158W eventually broke, I got a vintage W-34 with a broken movement and put the A158W's module inside. (It will get a SensorWatch PCB once I am done with my firmware mods)

Steel replacement cases for a F-91W are now also available on Aliexpress, so you don't have to hunt down a vintage watch if you want real steel.

FYI Casio recently brought out a minimalist series of the F-91W (same watch - just a bit less chrome on the face) e.g. https://www.casio.com/europe/watches/casio/product.F-91WB-1A

The Yes WorldWatch has the same astronomical almanac but with a display purpose-built for it.

https://yeswatch.com/wrist-watch/worldwatch/worldwatchV7-col...

They're expensive, but beautiful.

> a complete orrery in a classic F91W “Terrorist” watch

It took me a bit of searching, but sure enough:

https://www.sensorwatch.net/docs/watchfaces/complication/#or...

Seems very tedious to actually use, but very cool to have it in the unassuming wristwatch.

The CGW-50 Cosmo Phase is impressive on that end for displaying realtime planet positions in 1989, now of course it's just another watch face to choose from on Apple.

Still I bet the Casio works offline longer :p

I'll have to revisit the sensor watch, I'd love to hit a button for sunrise and moonrise

>Casio should release one of their "game and watch" products again

Game and watch is a Nintendo product. They bring out remakes every now and then.

https://www.nintendo.no/products/game-watch

I might have missed it, but they did not include any of their "game" watches from the 1980s in the history, somehow! I spent many a happy hour on the submarine one (https://www.techrepublic.com/pictures/the-handheld-museum-a-...). The pyramid one was also popular.

Casio were decidedly not the most high tech watch company in the world in 2016. The Apple Watch had come out in 2015 and Android watches had been around for years before that.

> I still think about the way the CEO of Nokia back in 2010 describing what it would be like for them to abandon their in-house OS for Android: "Peeing yourself to stay warm"

This has intrigued me because eventually that’s what they ended up doing - although with two major caveats.

Firstly, the mobile space did not have room for 3 players - MS tried very hard and their Nokia phones were pretty good. But it was just one platform too many. They just couldn’t find a niche for itself as Android was being used everywhere due to their open source branch. Proves the point made by you though, there wasn’t space for a second Android if MS were to embrace open source. Nokia tried hard with Meego - I loved the UI but the market was moving at light speed back then.

Secondly, HMD started by branching off from the Nokia of yore and their Android devices are also very good.

I’ll always miss my old Nokias, they were the duopoly with the BlackBerry in the pre-smartphone era.

By 2016, Garmin was already building smart watches using their own proprietary OS that wasn't anchored to any smartphone platform. Casio could have done the same.

> I know people complain about car manufacturers being hostile to CarPlay and Android Auto. But I think in the long run, the executives are being smart. Looking down the history of other companies that turned over responsibility of their user experience to tech companies - there's not a good track record of long-term successes.

No car manufacturer suffered that badly from using standard-sized single-DIN/double-DIN radios for a couple of decades. CarPlay/Android Auto are just software versions of those. It's a way to let your car stay more relevant 3, 5, 10 years down the line.

But that conflicts with short-term revenue optimization, data gathering, advertising, etc.

> Looking down the history of other companies that turned over responsibility of their user experience to tech companies

Just.. mirror my phone onto the display. I don't need a car companies 10 year old ideas of "user experience." Just give me a few knobs for the climate controls and then get out of my way.

I, as the user, am happy to "take responsibility" for this.

> Looking down the history of other companies that turned over responsibility of their user experience to tech companies - there's not a good track record of long-term successes.

We’re talking about the same auto executives that would sell you a $100k+ car and then try to charge you $200/year for map updates so that the built in navigation wasn’t out of date 1 year into ownership? Those are the guys worried about the tech stack in your car being “abandoned”?

Apologies if I’m skeptical that that aren’t just hoping to use the infotainment as another source of recurring revenue. Especially when they’ve said as much in earnings calls.

>know people complain about car manufacturers being hostile to CarPlay and Android Auto. But I think in the long run, the executives are being smart. Looking down the history of other companies that turned over responsibility of their user experience to tech companies - there's not a good track record of long-term successes.

Car infotainment is full of examples of why the car manufacturers can't be trusted to have *short term* success. Garbage UI, constantly charging huge money for obsolete-before-you-get-them updates. The Google Graveyard looks like a fertility clinic compared to the car entertainment systems put out by GM/Ford/BMW/Toyota/Everyone

> "Peeing yourself to stay warm".

Which in-house OS this was about? For Symbian, "burning platform" was at least honest.

I think automakers can still find a happy medium, providing a fully functional vehicle that doesn't require CarPlay or Android Auto, but still supports them for customers, since they do exist right now and are extremely helpful.

The automakers should seek to win over customers by making the better experience, not by excluding the other options.

Lots of people still like G Shocks and digital casios. They are very popular among college students in the U.S

Check out the Armitron 7-segment LED Watch. I bought it for the retro feel of having ultra lo-fi digital time but without an LCD.

You could always put it on a bracelet

I run a 5600, I am not super familiar with the rest of the g-shock line but the straps do appear to be the weak point of the whole thing. I found an adapter that allows me to use nato style nylon webbing straps. I mainly wanted it so I could replace the straps easier, but I have not had a strap break yet. A word of caution and a recommendation. The first adapter I got was also made of resin and broke in about the same amount of time the resin straps did(~ year) I found a company called ritchie strap that sells a steel adapter which has so far lasted ~ 6 years.

On the needed adapter, webbing straps are intended to feed directly through the strap pins but g-shocks tend to have a very narrow and tight strap attach pitch(16mm), the webbing does not fit well and I wanted a wider 24mm strap. I do not want to be to damming, I think the narrow pitch is intended to be stronger than a wide pitch but it does make things inconvenient for us g-shock with webbing strap connoisseurs.

why?

looks like DW-5000C - not so good, but "yuck" is a bit too much, no?

Those ideas feels so old already

Is innovation over ? It sure felt like this reading that entry

What's the appeal of a step counter in a Casio? For me this is just highlighting their utter lack of meaning- and useful innovation.

I'm wearing a ~$4000 MR-G today and I'm really happy with my choice. IMO the best thing about Casio as a brand is that they sell $15 watches and $8000 watches that do basically do the same things but appeal to different people. The existence of the higher end models doesn't diminish the utility or value of the classics. There's really something for everyone.

Casio is leaving money on the table by not producing MR.G tier $5,000+ G-Shocks. Every other watchmaker is moving upmarket as well, most of them are far more greedy than Casio has been.

You can still get a DW*-5600 for $60 and a GW*-5600 for $120, Casio still offers value for a good price :)

I wear a Swiss three-hander that costs more than a MR.G, so my perspective on watch value might differ from the average person.

Im not sure that's the case, they've been doing MR-G watches for a long time (29 years) as a push upmarket. Just look at the latest GW-BX5600 (released in 3 days) it has a new MIP LCD panel on a new module. This retails for $150 .. no doubt the module will be put in much more expensive watches but one thing Casio continues to do is produce good value digital watches and at the lower price points. im hoping they add a model like the 5600u, with this module, with a screw in case back and higher quality resin. Also, my current favourite is the JDM yellow (original style) LCD F-91W. That was released 4 years ago and cost me $11 plus shipping. long live Casio!

What a silly comment, why would they?

- Toyota doesn't mention the Toyota war.

- Microsoft doesn't mention the millions world wide who use their OS for nefarious purposes.

- Starbucks doesn't mention that one time someone got a spiced pumpkin latte, while on the run from the FBI.

That they were used as IED timers was never confirmed. The F-91Ws connection to Al-Qaeda was purely on the basis of many Al-Qaeda members wearing it. Which is not that surprising. The watch is a favorite of conscripts and anyone else the world over, that needs a sturdy timepiece as cheap as possible.

In Casio’s context it means “molded plastic” and is used to imply good ergonomic fit.

In the larger scope, resin is plastic in an unfinished state. For wearables, it’s commonly used as a marketing term to imply it fits well.

For marketing reasons

I've a Citizen solar power watch from around '98 or '99.

It still runs, although the cell seems to have aged, and now needs longer in the sun to charge. In the winter when not being worn, I have to leave it on a window ledge to get sufficient charge.

I'm guessing they aren't widespread yet in doctors' offices due to cost. As near as I can tell, the results are acceptable for clinical settings?

> Why don't we have that yet in today's smartwatches?

Because it doesn't actually work for accurately tracking individual BP changes over time, though it may be useful for broad aggregates.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9630063

I had one of those as a kid. Great watch.

Reading the wikipedia page for it may make you rethink that thought though :(

The Garmin design is hideous in my opinion. It's the only thing keeping me away from them.

I understand where you're coming from. On the other hand, there's a lesson to learn from the teacher's point of view as well. We always need to take a step back to understand the weakest links in security. A small piece of electrical tape or maybe even a strategically placed VHS cover could solve the issue. Hopefully, this hadn't happened again.

It also comes to: should a teacher "trust" their students not to be intentionally disruptive in interesting ways? Now I wonder if I should similarly trust my users (who are co-workers who are at least getting paid to not cause disruptions)...

I had one, too, and in hindsight I regret what an ass I was to the poor substitute teachers who had one job to do for the day and couldn't because I thought it was funny to turn the TV off when they bend down to turn on the VCR.

I also had the one that could do IR messages with other watches, and that was a lot less disruptive and still pretty fun.

The Casio CMD-40

https://old.reddit.com/r/casio/comments/15n9anq/did_we_all_f...

I am wearing one right now - it has been my daily driver for literally decades

(While it has VCR controls built-in, it can "learn" infrared frequencies for "new" inventions like DVD players - copying from an existing IR remote control. Surprisingly, still compatible with modern TVs - at least for basic functions like volume control.)

It was once "futuristic"; collectors now sell them as "retro" and "vintage"

I had the calculator watch when I was in highschool. We competed who has the toughest watch by throwing it on the blackboard. It survived. When I got older I realize how stupid it was and how expensive it was compared to the digital watch on that era.

*It was the C-80 and it was the 80s, it was rubberized all over like the G-Shock of today.

100%. I got excited that Casio was doing an Evangelion collab, but then I saw the watch... definitely not for me.

by your own petard!

I feel like most gadgets I've purchased in my life were totally useless. Don't really regret buying them though. Even though I'm pretty sure they're all in landfills now.

I have the exact opposite. After wearing a few automatic watches, I came back to my happy place - digital Casio watch, similar to the one I had as a kid. I think my brain is very used to reading time in that form. I wear ABL100, which is a bit bigger than usual digital Casio and therefore highly wearable.