It seems these days, everything wants to have some form of fitness to it. And sure, things like step counters are easy to integrate (or so it seems to me). Many times, however, you’re going to be getting yourself into some sort of walled garden, when it comes to syncing that data off of the device. Then you have the approach that Casio has taken with their just-announced step trackers.
Rather than try to build in Bluetooth and then force you into yet another service to sync data to, Casio, with the WS200H and LWS200H watches, have taken a fairly standard (and robust) feature set for their digital watches, and included a step tracker. This may not be for those looking to do some serious training, but that’s not the target audience here, I don’t think.
These new Casio Step Trackers are more for those who just want to keep an eye on their daily activity, and may otherwise have clipped a pedometer on to their belt. Sort of like how companies used to do (in the days prior to Fitbits and the like) to record step counts and challenge teams, etc. This is an unobtrusive sort of addition to the watch, and frankly, is something you could easily ignore if you wanted to.
This is because the watches – both the WS200H and the LWS200H – have quite a complement of functionality. The full list is down in the block below, but this is a watch that will offer just about anything you may want in your day to day, or even in the outdoors, short of anything of the A-B-C (altimeter-barometer-compass) variety, or something that more-connected watches may offer. And, with a list price of $39.95 coming along on these watches, you understand why the connectivity wasn’t part of the mix.
For one, I’m a fan. There are definitely situations that I’ve been in where it hasn’t made sense to have my Fitbit One along (water-based stuff, usually) but still wanted to know how active I was. Something like these Casio Step Trackers would fit the bill, and at a much lower price point than what I’d otherwise use (in this case, the Polar M200). In general, I see these watches being a good fit for someone looking to casually and inexpensively get some activity tracking into their routing. casio.com
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Casio WS200H / LWS200H
- Price: $40
- Who’s it for? Someone looking to add basic activity tracking to their daily mix without breaking the bank
- Would I wear it? There are use cases for it, for sure
- What I’d change: Improving the materials on the strap (which are presumably plastic as with prior models) would be appreciated
- The best thing about it: It’s a useful complication added to an already thorough watch without jacking up the price.
Tech Specs from Casio
- Case Size
- 38.2 mm (LWS200H)
- 37.2 mm (WS200H)
- ToughSolar powered
- Step tracker to count steps
- 200 lap memory to keep pace.
- Water resistant up to 100 meters
- Full auto calendar
- Five daily alarms
- Countdown timer
- 1/100th second stopwatch.
- LED light
- Dual time
