You can now upgrade a retro Casio watch with Bluetooth, step tracking, and games
For the first time since it launched 36 years ago, the iconic Casio F-91W digital watch is getting some smart upgrades — but not from Casio. The Ollee Watch One is a replacement mainboard for the Casio F-91W, A158W, and several other watch models that can be installed without the need for a soldering iron or any electronics know-how aside from being able to remove a few screws and clips. It doesn’t upgrade Casio’s timepieces to the point where they’re on-par with the Apple Watch, but it does add Bluetooth and app connectivity so the watch can set the time automatically, track step counts, play games, and be more personalized using an improved color-changing backlight.
The DIY version of the Ollee Watch one, which requires you to already have one of six different supported Casio watch models (including the F-84W, A159W, A171W, and W-59) is available now for $54.99. If you’re not confident in tackling the upgrade yourself, which appears to take around six minutes, the company also sells the Casio F-91W-1 and A158W-1 preinstalled with the upgrade for $99.99, but it’s currently sold out.
The upgraded mainboard includes an accelerometer for step counting and an upgraded audio buzzer that will alert you when you’ve reached a goal you set using an accompanying iOS and Android mobile app. The upgrade also adds a temperature sensor, an improved LED backlight that lets you adjust the color or use your watch as a flashlight, world time functionality, and the option to create five timer presets.
There’s no notifications, and while the Ollie Watch One does include alternate watch faces, it doesn’t upgrade the basic segmented screen that Casio includes. That being said, even with those screen limitations you can play a simplified version of Blackjack or a game called Ping that has you controlling a paddle to keep a bouncing ball up in the air. Battery life isn’t quite as impressive as the seven years Casio claims for an unmodified F91W-1, but thanks to its use of Bluetooth low energy the upgrade kit only reduces battery life to about 10 months on a CR2016 battery.