Casio’s 50th-anniversary ring-watch is a little marvel but it isn’t necessarily “smart” in the way we’ve come to understand smart tech today. If you’re in the market for a ring that can also tell time, we’d like to present the Casio hybrid smartwatch ring which was announced recently. Essentially just a ring with a digital watch face, Casio’s new device is designed to look like the geeky but suave timepieces it has been known for during its 50 years in the digital watch business.
Casio previously released a collection of rings that resembled digital watches, but those were just jewelry pieces that didn’t actually function. They looked like they had a digital display but they didn’t do much else other than elevate a boring outfit. The Casio CRW-001 ring watch is a little different.
Image: The Casio CRW-001 ring
The Casio Hybrid Smartwatch Ring Is an Innovative Device That Gives Us Something New
Celebrating Casio’s 50th anniversary marking its 50 years of producing digital watches, the company launched the CRW-001 ring to pay homage to its older devices. The stainless steel watch ring resembles the classic Casio GMW-B5000 smartwatch, taking the design aesthetic of the device and compressing it into a much smaller form.
Unlike the Timex ring, however, the Casio hybrid smartwatch ring is not adjustable and comes in only one size equivalent to a US ring size of 10.5. This doesn’t mean it cannot be worn by others with leaner fingers, because the ring comes with spacers that can help a larger variety of people fit it to at least some of their fingers.
The ring is priced at JPY 19,800 (USD 128) and offers its buyers a quirky new way to wear a watch, much like Timex’s new $180 T80 ring watch. That’s a steep price for an accessory, so what do you get in exchange for it?
Key Features of the Casio Digital Ring Watch
The new Casio CRW-001 ring watch works just as well as any digital watch but its “smart” capabilities are not what you’d think of in the traditional sense. It does not check your heartbeat or blood oxygen level or even track your steps. You cannot monitor your workout or receive notifications on it, so it isn’t the smart technology that you’re used to. It is, however, smart in the sense that it is a ring that actually tells the time.
This is impressive in its own right, but still far behind the likes of Oura or the Samsung Galaxy smart rings. It’s also true that, unlike the smart rings, this one comes with a small digital time-telling screen, so maybe it isn’t as far behind as one might suspect.
Casio’s digital ring watch has a small six-segment LED screen that tells the time in hours, minutes, and seconds, and the screen lights up, just as you’d expect in a modern digital watch. The three buttons on the side, despite appearing painfully, can help you adjust and view the date or the time in an alternate time zone you set.
The ring watch also features a stopwatch and an alarm, which is an interesting feature for the ring to have. Without any audio function or haptic feedback to emulate a “ringing” alarm, the screen flashes to alert you.
Unfortunately, it does not have a calculator to truly embrace Casio’s legacy. They’ve managed calculator watches before, so who’s to say a calculator ring won’t be launched for their next major milestone? The hybrid ring watch is waterproof and it has a battery that should keep it going for two years, after which it can be replaced easily.
If the Casio CRW-001 ring watch has sparked your interest, you’ll be disappointed to know that it will be exclusively available in Japan. The device will release in December and it may have a limited release even within the region, so those who want to get their hands on it will have to be quick to place their orders.