Casio F91 Alternative Round-Up - Which Cheap Digital Watch Is Best?
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The Casio F91 is about the only small watch that you could launch at a Nokia and expect to survive. Or is it?
You see, there are precisely a billion of these small Casio digital watches out there and while the F91W is the most popular, there are many more modern alternatives that look just like it. My question is, are any of them better?
Are you wearing the wrong watch?
Well, today we find out. I tracked down 5 of the most similar models to take a look at in this roundup, you’ll find each of them linked in this article. Thanks to Amazon for covering the cost of these for this review.
So, here we have:
Rather than taking forever and talking you through each one, we’ll go section by section. Let’s begin with size and looks, then we’ll move on to the performance differences compared to the original.
Size and Appearance Comparison
The most visually similar to the F91 is the W-59. This one has a similar shape and almost identical colour scheme with only some minor differences. It’s a fraction deeper and has more traditional style lugs, though at a glance most people would struggle to notice any difference. On-wrist, they feel virtually identical.
Next up, we have the F105; this looks very similar again, just is a little larger overall and has a primarily blue theme. In a blind test with each separate, you’d still be hard-pressed to differentiate them when it comes to size, as it’s only a couple of millimetres bigger and both are still small watches.
If the F105 took steroids, it would probably look something like this. The W-86 is the first one where you start to notice some proportional differences. The case is about 25 percent chunkier and 3 millimetres wider than the F91, but retains the concealed lug design, not present on the previous two alternatives. This colourway is perhaps the most different to the F91, with turquoise bars above and below the digital display. Despite this, I’d say it still has that traditional Casio look.
Now we move on to a couple that stray a little bit from that aesthetic. There’s the W202, which you may recognise if you’ve followed my channel for a while. It’s clearly a variant of the Casio B640, with the curved sides and different style of display. You’ll also notice that the buttons are arranged differently, indicating the presence of a different module. While those aspects are certainly different than our old faithful, the colours are very similar and the proportions are also small, just like the F91.
A piece that isn’t so small is the W-217H. Comfortably the largest in this roundup, this watch is here for those of you who have a larger wrist and are looking for a bigger alternative that still maintains some of that retro styling. By no means is this a huge watch, at 38mm wide it’s no G-Shock; however, it has a great deal more wrist presence than the F91. You have the same blue, red and yellow accents though, along with the square shape and three-button arrangement.
So that’s a brief overview of the aesthetics, but let’s talk about the upgrades. After all, there would be no incentive to switch from that cheap legend if there were no improvements on offer.
Performance Comparison
The first area is apparently water resistance. Some of these options have what Casio claims to be improved performance over the F91, which is already known to perform better than the 30m rating.
At first, I thought the best would be the F105, which on amazon had its water-resistance listed at 100m; which would have been the best rating of the bunch. Unfortunately, it looks like this is an error, as the manual that comes with the watch states that this watch is just 30m splashproof like the F91, as it features no BAR rating printed on the rear.
Fortunately, all of the other options have an improved 5BAR rating (equivalent to 50m), which should give you more reliable water performance. Unusually, they are still relying on the same 4 screw case-backs to achieve this, so I anticipate any gains must come in the form of improved gaskets.
Just be aware that using the buttons while underwater could still compromise the seal, regardless of the stated rating.
While water resistance isn’t that much of a weak point for the F91, the terrible backlight is. You will often struggle to read the time in anything other than pitch-black conditions.
Luckily several of these more modern Casio’s do have improved backlights, though they vary significantly. The W-59 has a disappointing side-light that only performs marginally better than the F91, this one really isn’t a notable improvement.
The chunky W-217H also has a side-light but it’s substantially better than those previous two, so is more than usable, as is the W-202, which features a bright dual side light setup.
The best backlights are those on the F-105 and W-86, which both house the incredibly effective blue LED system that I would usually associate with that ‘illuminator’ branding. This provides incredibly strong low light performance when activated, a giant leap from that on the F91.
All of the watches have comparable resin construction, though all of the options appear to be finished to a better standard than the original. You’ll notice when you look closely, the edges and lines are more precise and the texture of the material feels a tad nicer. Despite this, they’re all going to fundamentally perform about the same.
Watch Straps
There’s some design variety with regards to the straps.
The F105 has a strap that is identical to the F91, whilst the others all look slightly different and feel higher quality. My favourite is that on the W-86, which feels the best and looks cool with a triple vent arrangement on each side. That on the W-217 is also worth a mention, as it feels the supplest and has these strange protrusions on the rear that prevent the strap from overextending. I’m unsure what the purpose of these is, maybe it’s there to prevent your wrist hairs from slotting into that gap, who knows?
Casio W-86 Strap
Casio W-217 Strap
When it comes to functionality, they all feature alarms and stopwatches but the W-202 also features a customisable countdown timer, should you need it.
Battery Life
The W-202 model does fall short in regards to battery life though. Casio states you’ll get approximately 3 years of usage per battery with that one, versus the 7 years plus that you can expect with all the other options, including the F91W. Realistically, it’s not that much of an issue, given how easy it is to unscrew the back and replace the battery yourself; but it’s something to bear in mind, given how inexpensive these watches are.
That brings us to pricing. On Amazon these typically retail for close to double the F91, with the W-59 sitting somewhere in between. So, which watch would I recommend?
Which Watch Is Best?
Well obviously your aesthetic preferences are going to come into it, but for me, I think the best watch here is the W-86. It has a combination of the best water resistance, battery life and backlight, along with a chassis that isn’t too enormous. Surprisingly, it’s also among the lowest priced here at the time of recording.
My second choice would be F105W. While it doesn’t have the marketed water-resistance boost, it provides you with a piece that is about the same size as the original, just with a much better backlight. That alone is worth the price increase in my books.
My least favourite is the W-217H. It just feels unnecessarily big, which is evident by the large gap between the acrylic and the display. Nevertheless, it could be the only viable choice if you have a massive wrist and it could provide a cheaper alternative to a G-Shock.
If you’re interested in any of the watches please find the product links here: F91W, F105W, W-59. W-86, W-202, W-217H
Disclaimer: All watches but the F-91W had their cost covered by Amazon (by means of an affiliate reward voucher). No creative control was relinquished.