6 ms·

Casio FW-91 replaced with smart internals

73 points by sponno 2y ago

1-6 2y ago
Nice. I just wish they chose a watch with more pixels for the display. Perhaps they’ll consider doing another one as a successor.
- RodgerTheGreat 2y ago
  If you missed this detail, they've also designed a replacement LCD which adds a few carefully-chosen segments and symbols. The end result still looks very similar to a stock watch, but is much more flexible: https://www.crowdsupply.com/oddly-specific-objects/sensor-watch/updates/announcing-the-sensor-watch-pro-campaign-pre-launch https://www.crowdsupply.com/oddly-specific-objects/sensor-wa...
  - sponno 2y ago
    That is really cool - also over 800 days is petty awesome for a "smartest" watch.
throwaway81523 2y ago
This is sensorwatch.com and it is nice. It has been around for a while.
system2 2y ago
I respect these developers spending months and months to do something really not necessary and just for fun. I doubt they would make millions selling this so it is purely for their entertainment. I hope to find a hobby project to dedicate myself like these people one day.
- matheusmoreira 2y ago
  Well I absolutely needed this watch. It's a world class watch, it's hackable, it's cheap, it doesn't phone home, battery lasts over a year, LCD visible is always high. It's actually the only watch with all the features I want. It's got a pulsometer built in and I added a calibration feature to let the user set the scale. As far as I know it's the only watch to ever allow this. Use it every day at work.
- sponno 2y ago
  yeah sounds nuts, but it's probably not from selling the watch, but their value will be in learning about how to make lower power small electronics for someone else is my guess. But on the face of it, doesn't make sense.
snvzz 2y ago
Smart is such a buzzword. What's so smart about something that draws many times as much power? Sure we can strive to do more with less power? It's been decades since this watch was first released.
- eternityforest 2y ago
  Bluetooth could have such a tiny power draw if they would just have lower update rates. I don't see any reason things like watches and tracking tags in some couldn't have 10yr life on a coin cell, or like 30 years with an LTO you charge monthly. Deep sleep currents can be in the nanoseconds, and we only need power for a few milliseconds every minute to transmit an "I'm here" beacon. Step counts and heart rates are different, but even that can be optimized a lot if you don't need 100% perfect data
maxglute 2y ago
Man I wish Casio would make a cheap fitness band in one of their entry level watch bodies. A miband in the shape of a F91W with oled and 3 programmable buttons for $40 would be amazing.
- ibash 2y ago
  Would gladly pay $200 for that. I tried garmin, apple watch, whoop, and a couple other heart rate trackers recently… they’re very very uncomfortable when coming from a Casio!
- beojan 2y ago
  They do, albeit without a heart rate monitor. https://www.casio.com/us/watches/casio/product.ABL-100WE-1A/ https://www.casio.com/us/watches/casio/product.ABL-100WE-1A/ With a heart rate monitor it's considerably more expensive.
aucisson_masque 2y ago
I get the fun part of engineering this but can't put aside that it doesn't bring that much new feature, a thermometer, international time, more advanced chronometer. That's all thing that I don't really care about. On the downside, you loose the cheap aspect of this watch and the battery life is divided by 7. From 7 years to supposedly a full year. I buy a f91w because it cost less than 5€ and I don't care to break it or get it stolen.
- matheusmoreira 2y ago
  It's a temperature compensated quartz watch, accurate to around 10 seconds per year. This puts it right up there with the highest end quartz watches. Even if you don't care about any extra features, it's worth it just for this. It's also the only watch I've ever seen with a fully customizable and calibratable pulsometer. I know because I added that feature myself after shopping for watches and not finding a single one that had it. Use it every day at work too.
- echelon_musk 2y ago
  I agree with your points. Where are you getting a genuine F91-W for 5€? A replacement 71604002 band costs me €8!
  - lagniappe 2y ago
    Walmart, they regularly go on clearance, no clue why.
  - zolbrek 2y ago
    I would also like to know this. I got mine for 12€ a while back and it looks to be going for around 20€ now.
jacknews 2y ago
I wish they'd pick a better base watch, eg F108, W217.
cromka 2y ago
Basically the 2024 wannabe terrorist dream come true!

73 points by sponno 2y ago

1-6 2y ago

Nice. I just wish they chose a watch with more pixels for the display. Perhaps they’ll consider doing another one as a successor.

RodgerTheGreat 2y ago
If you missed this detail, they've also designed a replacement LCD which adds a few carefully-chosen segments and symbols. The end result still looks very similar to a stock watch, but is much more flexible: https://www.crowdsupply.com/oddly-specific-objects/sensor-watch/updates/announcing-the-sensor-watch-pro-campaign-pre-launch https://www.crowdsupply.com/oddly-specific-objects/sensor-wa...
- sponno 2y ago
  That is really cool - also over 800 days is petty awesome for a "smartest" watch.

throwaway81523 2y ago

This is sensorwatch.com and it is nice. It has been around for a while.

system2 2y ago

I respect these developers spending months and months to do something really not necessary and just for fun. I doubt they would make millions selling this so it is purely for their entertainment. I hope to find a hobby project to dedicate myself like these people one day.

matheusmoreira 2y ago
Well I absolutely needed this watch. It's a world class watch, it's hackable, it's cheap, it doesn't phone home, battery lasts over a year, LCD visible is always high. It's actually the only watch with all the features I want. It's got a pulsometer built in and I added a calibration feature to let the user set the scale. As far as I know it's the only watch to ever allow this. Use it every day at work.
sponno 2y ago
yeah sounds nuts, but it's probably not from selling the watch, but their value will be in learning about how to make lower power small electronics for someone else is my guess. But on the face of it, doesn't make sense.

snvzz 2y ago

Smart is such a buzzword. What's so smart about something that draws many times as much power? Sure we can strive to do more with less power? It's been decades since this watch was first released.

eternityforest 2y ago
Bluetooth could have such a tiny power draw if they would just have lower update rates. I don't see any reason things like watches and tracking tags in some couldn't have 10yr life on a coin cell, or like 30 years with an LTO you charge monthly. Deep sleep currents can be in the nanoseconds, and we only need power for a few milliseconds every minute to transmit an "I'm here" beacon. Step counts and heart rates are different, but even that can be optimized a lot if you don't need 100% perfect data

maxglute 2y ago

Man I wish Casio would make a cheap fitness band in one of their entry level watch bodies. A miband in the shape of a F91W with oled and 3 programmable buttons for $40 would be amazing.

ibash 2y ago
Would gladly pay $200 for that. I tried garmin, apple watch, whoop, and a couple other heart rate trackers recently… they’re very very uncomfortable when coming from a Casio!
beojan 2y ago
They do, albeit without a heart rate monitor. https://www.casio.com/us/watches/casio/product.ABL-100WE-1A/ https://www.casio.com/us/watches/casio/product.ABL-100WE-1A/ With a heart rate monitor it's considerably more expensive.

aucisson_masque 2y ago

I get the fun part of engineering this but can't put aside that it doesn't bring that much new feature, a thermometer, international time, more advanced chronometer. That's all thing that I don't really care about. On the downside, you loose the cheap aspect of this watch and the battery life is divided by 7. From 7 years to supposedly a full year. I buy a f91w because it cost less than 5€ and I don't care to break it or get it stolen.

matheusmoreira 2y ago
It's a temperature compensated quartz watch, accurate to around 10 seconds per year. This puts it right up there with the highest end quartz watches. Even if you don't care about any extra features, it's worth it just for this. It's also the only watch I've ever seen with a fully customizable and calibratable pulsometer. I know because I added that feature myself after shopping for watches and not finding a single one that had it. Use it every day at work too.
echelon_musk 2y ago
I agree with your points. Where are you getting a genuine F91-W for 5€? A replacement 71604002 band costs me €8!
- lagniappe 2y ago
  Walmart, they regularly go on clearance, no clue why.
- zolbrek 2y ago
  I would also like to know this. I got mine for 12€ a while back and it looks to be going for around 20€ now.

jacknews 2y ago

I wish they'd pick a better base watch, eg F108, W217.

cromka 2y ago

Basically the 2024 wannabe terrorist dream come true!