The Casio F-91W is almost the classic digital watch – it’s small, light, easy to use, and inexpensive – but it works. People around the world have been wearing this classic watch forever- including myself. Now, Casio has released a new special color edition of the watch, featuring pastel colors, clear and smoke grey, in translucent jelly straps – a fun new refresh of the classic with the Casio F-91WS-8.

Today, Casio America, Inc. is excited to expand its Casio F91 collection with – four timepieces in new transparent colorways including white (F91WS-7), grey (F91WS-8), blue (F91WS-2) and pink (F91WS-4). The new models are colorful additions to Casio’s F91 series which boasts the brand?s classic square shape and digital face.

Casio – First Impressions

What’s there to say here.. if you’ve ever owned an F-91W, then the Casio F-91WS-8 will feel very familiar. It’s lightweight, distinct square shape, and solid feeling. The jelly band is just a bit stiffer than my classic black resin band, although it quickly begins to take the shape of the wrist after a few wears. As always, the screen is clear and easy to read. I was sent the grey color, and love it – the jelly transparent effect is still there, but the grey color gives it a bit more of a substantial look.

Casio – On the Wrist

On the wrist, it wears just like every other F-91W – it’s small, discreet, and very easy to wear all day. It looks good, especially in the grey color. The screen is clear and easy to read. The green backlight just plain works. No wonder people around the world love these, and keep buying them – for the price (commonly found at around $10), it’s a basic digital watch that just works, and looks good.

It’s almost worth nothing that in contrast to high end “luxury watches“, wearing a Casio F-91W is almost as much of a statement, which sometimes I think of as saying “I can afford a high end watch, but this one works just fine, is reliable, and lets me focus on more important things than flashing a trendy timepiece.”. Of course it’s fun to wear all kinds of watching, including luxury – but the statement made by wearing this basic piece is almost irresistable.

Feature Review

  • Time – Yep, tells the time. It’s not the most accurate (+/- 1 second/day), but for everyday purposes, it’s just fine.
  • Water resistant – Yep, you can wash your hands while wearing. For daily use, it will do just fine.
  • LED light – Green light on the left side of the face – it doesn’t illuminate evenly, but it’s good enough to see the time.
  • 1/100-second stopwatch – Works, and goes up to 1 hour of timing. I love that it only goes to that.
  • Daily alarm – the beeping is not loud, but if you’re a light sleeper it will work
  • Hourly chime – I used to use this feature in elementary school@ Fun!

Should You Buy It?

If you don’t already own a Casio F-91W watch of some variety, then yes, you need to buy one. You’re reading a watch review blog, so you’re interested in watches – this one is a must have for your collection. Wear it on weekends. Tape it to the wall in your home gym for timing sets. Let your kids wear it. Wear it with a suit! Wear it to important meetings! It’s really hard to go wrong.

If you already have a different variety of this watch.. go with your gut. The colors are fun and up the style factor, but I’m not sure I can say it’s an upgrade that must be had.

Review Summary

  • Brand & Model: Casio F-91WS-8
  • Price: USD $26.95
  • Who we think it might be for: Pretty much everyone. On a budget and need a reliable watch – this one is for you. Want a basic watch with classic style and heritage to wear everywhere – this one is for you.
  • If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: Man, I’m not sure I’m allowed to say anything about this watch. Sure it’s missing a ton of feature.. but that’s almost the point! Don’t change it, Casio. Keep coming out with cool style variations like these fun Jelly colors, but keep the essence the same.
  • What spoke to me the most about this watch: Simple, accessible, good looks and reliability.

Specs

  • Case / bezel material: Resin
  • Resin Band
  • Resin Glass
  • Water Resistant
  • LED light
  • 1/100-second stopwatch
  • Measuring capacity: 59’59.99″
  • Measuring modes: Net time, split time, 1st-2nd place times
  • Daily alarm
  • Hourly time signal
  • Auto-calendar (set at 28 days for February)
  • 12/24-hour format
  • Regular time keeping: Hour, minute, second, pm, date, day
  • Accuracy: ?30 seconds per month
  • Approx. battery life: 7 years on CR2016
  • Size of case : 38.2?35.2?8.5mm
  • Total weight : 21g

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ByJeffrey Donenfeld

Wrist Watch Review Writer Jeffrey Donenfeld lives in Colorado and reviews products at his website. An accomplished adventure traveler, antarctic expedition director, and rescue scuba diver, Jeffrey has tested and reviewed watches in a multitude of challenging environments. Jeffrey loves exploring design, construction, materials, and utility aspects of horology, and gets a kick out of both classics as well as fresh new ideas. He typically tests extensively watches he writes about, and provides readers with a real-world, practical take on diverse timepieces. In addition to writing about time, Jeffrey also works as a venture capital investment manager at a growing startup accelerator in Boulder, Colorado. In his free time he travels (70+ countries and counting), snowboards, rock climbs, runs, sails, scuba dives, and occasionally relaxes.