Đồng hồ Casio WS-B1000 giá chỉ 56 đô la này thật sự là giấc mơ theo dõi bước chân hoài niệm. Khi tôi còn học trung học, tôi chỉ muốn có một chiếc đồng hồ Casio Baby-G – một phần vì nó có nhiều màu sắc thú vị, một phần là vì tất cả những đứa trẻ cool đều có một chiếc. Khi cuối cùng tôi thuyết phục mẹ mình mua cho mình một chiếc, tôi thích nó đến phát cuồng cho đến khi pin chết vài năm sau đó. Đã hơn 20 năm từ đó, nhưng khi thời trang Y2K xâm chiếm thuật toán TikTok của tôi, tôi nghĩ nhiều về cách những chiếc đồng hồ của mình trước đây chỉ là những chiếc đồng hồ mà còn trông đẹp. Đôi khi tôi cảm thấy muốn quay lại những ngày đó … nhưng sau đó tôi nhớ ra rằng lí do chính tôi chuyển sang đồng hồ thông minh là để theo dõi bước chân. Và sau đó, tôi tìm ra về chiếc Casio WS-B1000, giá chỉ 55,95 đô la, kết nối với điện thoại của bạn để đồng hồ, và theo dõi bước chân. Hừm! Có thể rằng các chiếc đồng hồ Casio ngày nay có thể hơn so với những chiếc đồng hồ analog của tuổi thơ của tôi. Và tuy nhiên, đó chưa hề bao giờ nảy ra trong tôi để kiểm tra. Đừng bận lòng rằng tôi đã xem xét một chiếc đồng hồ Casio Wear OS mang tính năng chống sốc mạnh mẽ hơn vài năm trước – đó là một chiếc đồng hồ đa năng cồng kềnh vào thời điểm mà chiếc xe buýt đấu Wear OS luôn có một cái lốp dẹp vĩnh viễn. Nhưng sau một chút tìm hiểu, rõ ràng rằng Casio đã hiện đại hóa một số chiếc đồng hồ của mình để có thêm chút chức năng theo dõi sức khỏe trong khi vẫn giữ nguyên thiết kế Casio cổ điển đó. Tôi đánh giá cao điều đó không làm cho cổ tay của tôi trở nên thể hiện. #ThờiTrangY2K #Casio #ĐồngHồThểThao #SựKiệnNgàyHômNay
Nguồn: https://www.theverge.com/24206037/casio-ws-b1000-review-smartwatch-wearable
When I was in high school, all I wanted was a Baby-G Casio watch — partly because it came in fun colors, partly because all the cool kids had one. When I finally convinced my mom to get me one, I loved it to pieces until its battery died ages later. It’s been over 20 years since then, but as Y2K fashion invades my TikTok algorithm, I think a lot about how my watches used to just be watches that looked nice. Sometimes I feel like I want to go back to those days… then I remember that the main reason I got into smarter watches was for step tracking.
And then I found out about the Casio WS-B1000, which costs a mere $55.95, syncs with your phone for the time, and tracks steps. What!?
It’s not unfathomable that today’s Casio watches could be more than the analog watches of my youth. And yet it hadn’t occurred to me to check. Never mind that I reviewed a more rugged Casio Wear OS watch a few years ago — that was a chunky multisport watch at a time when the Wear OS struggle bus had a perpetual flat tire. But after a bit of digging, it turns out that Casio has modernized a few of its watches to have a bit more fitness tracking functionality while keeping that classic Casio design.
The WS-B1000 is one such watch, though it keeps things very simple. There’s no optical heart rate monitor, OLED display, fancy health sensors, contactless payments, or LTE connectivity. This device has Bluetooth to connect with your phone, an accelerometer to track steps, your classic stopwatch and timer functions, alarms, move reminders, and an LCD screen with a backlight button. In other words, just enough smarts to count as a fitness tracker — but barely.
A few years ago, that feature set probably wouldn’t have appealed to me. But these days, I’m at a point in my fitness journey where I’m recovering from mental and physical burnout from prolonged overtraining. It is a frustratingly long process, and to my surprise, the thing that’s kept me going are devices and apps that prioritize rest and simplicity over “going hard.” Many current smartwatches hurl active minutes, standing goals, calorie burn goals, and other targets at you — so many goals for you to hit daily that it can be overwhelming. So the fact that the WS-B1000 can only track steps or work as a stopwatch? That’s a plus.
And you know what? The three weeks I tested the WS-B1000 were delightful. I’d forgotten how nice it is to set a simple step goal and try to meet it. With this watch, I could just look down and say, “Uh-oh! It’s 4PM and I’m at 2,000 steps. Time to go for a walk.” If I wanted to check my history, I could go to the Casio app and view a rough log. There was nothing fancy, and that’s just how I wanted it. Accuracy-wise, I was generally within 500–1,000 steps of my Apple Watch Ultra — which is a fair margin of error given they were worn on different arms and I talk with my hands. But if you’re opting for something like this, the general goal is to simply move more, and this is just fine for that.
There were other little things I appreciated, too. Because the watch doesn’t need the sensors, chips, and giant battery of a smartwatch, it’s remarkably light to wear. It only weighs 36 grams, and for once, I didn’t look like I had a giant hockey puck strapped to my wrist. I also never had to worry about charging the dang thing, either — it runs on a CR2016 coin cell battery that lasts approximately two years.
The neat part about the Casio app is that it automatically syncs the time so you don’t have to sit there fiddling with buttons to reset the time or set alarms. (I’m terrible at that on older watches; I can never remember how to do it or into which drawer I stuffed the user manual.) That stuff you can program from your phone.
$56
The Casio WS-B1000 combines retro chic with step tracking, Bluetooth connectivity with your phone, and classic wristwatch functions like a stopwatch, alarms, and timers.
Obviously, this isn’t going to be the watch for folks who want the most out of their smartwatch. But if, like me, you would like an occasional break from the fitness tech grind or the ideal of chill, low-tech fitness appeals to you, this is an excellent option. And might I remind you that it’s just $56?! Most basic trackers in this range tend to be fitness bands, whereas this is a cute, retro-chic Casio watch.
Alas, I only have two wrists, and as a wearables reviewer, I have to rotate out the Casio for the next smartwatch in my testing queue. But I have a pretty good feeling that, in between products, this is the watch I’ll be reaching for.
