Key Takeaways
- Casio Calculator Watch offers nostalgia and conversation starter, but lacks practicality in 2024.
- Small buttons, unresponsive interface, and flimsy housing make this device challenging to use.
- Despite its flaws, the Casio Calculator Watch’s low price and retro charm may appeal to some buyers.
When I was a kid, there were very few devices that were anywhere near as cool as Casio’s calculator watches. There was just something so attractive about sitting in grade school and knowing that if I needed to figure out a math problem, I could do so by simply punching a few numbers on my watch. The device was definitely one of the coolest gadgets of the 1980s.
That’s why I jumped at getting my hands on this retro watch. Just looking at its picture was a fun walk down memory lane. However, once I did get my hands on it, I realized that sometimes, these kinds of things are best left in the past. Not only isn’t there a great deal of demand for a watch that has a calculator and a stopwatch that is also unresponsive with tiny buttons in 2024. Nostalgia is nice but not very practical.
Casio calculator watch
$22 $30 Save $8
A water-resistant men’s watch with an 8-digit calculator, an auto calendar, 1/100 second stopwatch, and dual time functionality.
- Set the date and the watch will automatically display day of the week.
- Very light weight.
- Buttons are too small for adult hands
- The housing feels flimsy and easily breakable.
- Small for a men’s watch.
- Button input isn’t sensitive enough
How we test and review products at Pocket-lint
We don’t do arm-chair research. We buy and test our own products, and we only publish buyer’s guides with products we’ve actually reviewed.
Specs, pricing and availability
The good news here is that if you’re looking for something to wear out on the town and be a conversation starter, the Casio won’t take a chunk out of bank account. You can buy the Calculator Watch from retailers like Amazon and Walmart for under $30. You can even get it for less than $25 if you wait for a sale.
What you’ll be buying is a stainless steel component that is wrapped inside a black rubber covering. For a men’s watch, the Casio is small, measuring 42.0 x 33.0 x 7.0mm. At just 1.02 ounces, it’s lighter than most watches you’ll find in 2024, particularly when compared to something like an Apple Watch.
Casio calculator watch
- Brand
- Casio
- Color
- Black
- Material
- Stainless Steel
- Battery
- Lithium
- Weight
- 1.02 ounces
- Battery Type
- Lithium
- Display
- Digital
What I liked about the Casio Calculator Watch
It does have some things going for it, even if there aren’t many
Considering I wear an Apple Watch most days that frequently offers too much information, it was nice to use a watch that just told the time. Of course, the Casio doesn’t just have the ability to tell time. The calculator is fully functional and actually offers more functions than you’d probably expect, especially for a throwback that’s based on a model that first hit the market more than 40 years ago.
I take it for granted these days that I can simply Google, “What time is it in Los Angeles and New York?” and get an answer. Having the ability to program the dual time function to a time I want to track is, in fact, an easier way to know what time it is in New York when it’s 6:00 pm in Omaha using the Casio calculator watch than it is my iPhone or Apple Watch. Add in that this device is lightweight enough that I could forget it was even on, and it’s nice to wear around out and about on the town.
Apple Watch Series 9 review: Playing it safe, but playing it well
With some upgrades but not huge changes, is the Watch Series 9 worth buying? Here’s my review.
What I didn’t like about the Casio Calculator Watch
Ease of use is not something I would ever use in describing this device
Two big things stand out as big negatives for this throwback device. The first is that the numbers and symbols are all really, really small. Small enough that I’m not sure how I ever used this thing back when I was in school. The other massive strike against the watch is that when my big fingers are able to hit the right button — whether I’m trying to run a calculation or restart the stopwatch — the watch rarely acts as though I hit the right button. Or any button at all.
For being such a lightweight piece of machinery, it’s odd to have to really jam on the buttons in order to get any response at all from the watch. This is right out of the box, I can’t imagine it gets much better after weeks or months or use. It doesn’t feel like years of use is something this watch ever really approaches. When I did get the right button to actually display the right input I hit, the screen is both small and not backlit, making it incredibly hard to read in even low light.Should you buy the Casio calculator watch
Should you buy the Casion Calculator Watch?
Normally, this would be a “do not buy” product but when you take the low price into account and the nostalgia that can come along with the Casio Calculator Watch, it’s not the worst purchase. You’ll definitely start some fun conversations if you wear this watch on a night out. It’s just not something that’s ever going to replace modern time pieces, or just your phone.
Casio calculator watch
$22 $30 Save $8
Trending Products
