Casio has launched the F-B100W, a £55 digital watch that adds Bluetooth connectivity and step tracking while retaining the simplicity and battery longevity long associated with the brand's classic timepieces. The watch pairs with a smartphone app to log activity, adjust settings and keep accurate time, but deliberately stops short of becoming a smartwatch, with no touchscreen, app store or notification stream. The release matters because it charts a middle path between disposable, short-lived smartwatches and the enduringly popular basic digital watch, a niche Casio has long dominated with models such as the F-91W.

Despite its added electronics, the F-B100W is claimed to run for around two years on a single replaceable CR2016 battery, a cell costing roughly a dollar. This is not entirely new territory for Casio, whose existing ABL-100 offers similar functionality, but costs over 25 percent more and weighs more than twice as much; the F-B100W's achievement lies in shrinking, lightening and cheapening that combination. The article situates the launch within a wider fondness among reviewers and online communities, including Hacker News and Reddit, for inexpensive gadgets that do a modest job well, contrasting it with smartwatches such as the Amazfit Bip and Bip 5, which have shown shorter lifespans and reduced features in newer versions.