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The quick verdict
The bottom line: eight Casios, four empty slots in the case, and zero regrets. The collection runs from a CA$26 F-91W to a Triple Sensor Rangeman, and the watch that gets the most wrist time is still the GW-M5610U square. If you want to start collecting Casios yourself, the path below is exactly how it happens: you buy one cheap one, then the bug bites.
Watch: the full collection video
I walk through all eight watches in the video above in the order I bought them, with the full story behind each one. Everything below is the written version with current pricing.
How the collection started
Before any of this, I wore an Apple Watch for a number of years. I liked it, but eventually it got to be too much. Constant notifications, notification city, it just felt overwhelming after a while. So I wanted to simplify, and that is how the very first Casio entered my life.
The other thing about collecting Casios: everyone has the intention of buying just one. Then you end up with eight and a case with four blank spaces. They are inexpensive enough that it happens fast. My case has four empty slots right now and I am absolutely going to fill them, so if you have suggestions, the video comments are open.
The cheap classics
1. Casio F-91W – the first one
This was my very first Casio and I think it is a great first Casio. It is as basic as it comes, the quintessential digital watch. It has a crazy lineage too: Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden wore it at the same time, which tells you something about how universal this little watch is.
I paid about CA$26 for it. Three buttons: one toggles 12 or 24 hour time, one is the light, one cycles modes. You get a daily alarm, an hourly chime, and a stopwatch with lap or split time. The light is terrible. Even in a pitch black room you can barely see it. But it is CA$26.
The accuracy is the wild part. I set the time a couple of months before filming and it was within about three seconds of my Multi-Band 6 watches. That is a CA$26 quartz watch keeping up with atomic-synced G-Shocks.
As of September 2026 the F-91W usually sells for around US$15 to US$20. My full review is here: Casio F-91W review. And since fakes are everywhere at this price, read this before buying: how to spot a fake F-91W.
2. Casio F-105W – fixing the light
After a while with the F-91W, the terrible light started bugging me, so I went with the next obvious choice: the F-105W. Side by side they look very similar, but the 105W is a little bigger and definitely thicker. Still an insanely small watch.
It cost me under CA$35 and it is essentially an upgraded F-91W. Same three buttons, same single alarm, same hourly chime, same stopwatch. The difference is the illuminator: a proper EL backlight that is night and day better than the F-91W. You can actually see it in a lit room.
If you love the F-91W idea but want a usable light, this is the one. I compared the two head to head here: Casio F-91W vs F-105W comparison. As of September 2026 it usually sells for around US$15 to US$25.
3. Casio W-800H – the ugly duckling
Later I went back to the inexpensive models and picked up the W-800H. It is a bit of an ugly duckling, and next to the F-91W it looks huge, but it is still a very small watch by any normal standard. Same sub-CA$35 price point.
What I love about it is the display. The time digits are enormous, bigger looking than even the GW-M5610U. It is super glanceable: you look at it and instantly see the time, no searching. You also get the day of the week, the date, and, hilariously, the year, in case you forget what year it is.
It has four buttons instead of three, with a dedicated 12/24 hour button, and a reasonably good light. Two genuinely odd features: a dual time zone mode where you have to set the full hour and minute manually (hard to match up), and an insanely granular alarm you can set for a specific month and date. There is also a known hack to add a timer by soldering inside the case, which I have never tried.
As of September 2026 it usually sells for around US$20 to US$25. If you want a cheap Casio with more function than the F-91W, this is a strong pick.
The G-Shocks
4. Casio GW-M5610U – the favourite
This was the first G-Shock I ever owned, and it is probably my overall favourite watch in the collection. When I got it, it was brand new, and the shop I bought it from was the first place in Canada to get them.
I wanted a square with Tough Solar and Multi-Band 6, and this checked every box. It syncs with the atomic clock every day (mine last synced at 12:03 AM), has an auto backlight that comes on when you tilt your wrist, and shows the time in a dot-matrix display that reads better than the old modules.
Feature-wise it is loaded: five pre-selectable world time zones with a time-swap mode for travel, four daily alarms plus a snooze, hourly signal, and a stopwatch that keeps the current time visible in the corner while it runs, which the older module did not do. The timer is a proper 24-hour timer, not the one-hour joke some Casios ship with.
My long-term take after two years of daily wear is here: 5 reasons the GW-M5610U is the best G-Shock. As of September 2026 the list price is US$165 but it regularly sells for around US$105 to US$160.
5. Casio GA-2100 (clear) – the least favourite
I bought this one when I started the channel, partly to review it. Ironically I never did a full review, just a comparison video. This is the clear “jellyfish” version with the negative display, and it is probably my least favourite in the collection. I thought the clear look would film well on video, but personally it is just not my style.
It was my first hybrid analog-digital G-Shock. Pressing the light and mode buttons together swings the hands out of the way so you can read the little digital display, and a subdial shows the day of the week. The problem is the negative display: in anything but good light it is hard to read, and I am sitting there tilting my head to see it.
Odd detail: this one has a proper 24-hour timer, while its successor below only has a one-hour timer, which makes no sense. Five alarms, no snooze. The band is a bit noisy, as expected with this style. It does have a good light and auto backlight.
As of September 2026 the GA-2100 usually sells for around US$100 to US$130 depending on the colourway. If you like the CasiOak look, get a positive display version instead of the clear one. Trust me on this.
6. Casio GA-B2100 (yellow) – the upgrade
This is the next version of the GA-2100, and it is a very nice upgrade. I ordered mine off eBay when it had just come out and it shipped from Japan. Mine is the yellow colourway, because I already owned enough black watches and wanted something loud after the negative display experiment.
Bluetooth and Tough Solar are the big additions. It syncs perfect time from your phone, and the app lets you do things the watch cannot do alone, like setting named reminders with custom text that show up on the subdial. The subdial also shows battery level, and it steps through world time, stopwatch, timer, alarm, and Bluetooth sync status.
The positive display is infinitely easier to read than the clear GA-2100. The light is super bright, honestly like a little flashlight. My one real complaint: the timer is one hour only, which is criminal on a watch like this, especially since the model it replaces has a 24-hour timer.
Full review here: Casio GA-B2100 CasiOak review. As of September 2026 it usually sells for around US$135 to US$165.
7. Casio GBD-200 – the fitness one
This is part of the G-Shock Move line, Casio’s fitness-oriented collection. It also has a negative display, but unlike the clear GA-2100, this one stays readable even with reflections everywhere. I love the look: wide strap, big holes, more holes than normal, so it fits precisely and breathes.
It has four buttons plus a dedicated light button, and an auto backlight with one weird catch: it only stays on for six hours at a time, so you have to re-enable it daily. Clearly a battery-saving move, and I do not love it.
A dedicated start button jumps straight into a workout, but note it only logs running and walking. No biking, no tennis, no weight training. You enter your gender, weight, height, and which wrist you wear it on so it can calibrate pace and steps, and Bluetooth syncing with your phone improves distance accuracy. The monthly distance screen only counts logged workouts, not total distance, which is worth knowing.
Two standout features: the stopwatch only counts in full seconds (a limitation of the MIP display, odd but fine for most timing), and this is the only watch in my collection with vibration. The vibrating alarm wakes me up in the morning, which I love. Way more pleasant than a beeping alarm. Phone notifications work over Bluetooth, but it is all notifications or none, no granularity, so it can buzz constantly.
Full review here: G-Shock GBD-200 review. As of September 2026 it usually sells for around US$135 to US$180.
8. Casio GW-9400 Rangeman – the big dog
The most recent addition and the largest watch in the collection. Six buttons, the most buttony watch I own, with dual holes in the strap for a more secure and breathable fit. It looks huge on paper but wears surprisingly well. Not nearly as awkward as the specs suggest.
This is the most functional standalone G-Shock I own. No Bluetooth needed for any of it. Tough Solar and Multi-Band 6 keep the time perfect, and then there is the Triple Sensor: altimeter, barometer, and compass, plus a thermometer.
My favourite feature is the sunrise and sunset display. It told me sunrise was 6:30 AM and sunset 7:53 PM on the day I filmed, and you can hold the buttons to check any date past or future. October 14th: 7:32 AM sunrise, 6:24 PM sunset. Depressing, but very cool.
Other highlights: a dedicated stopwatch button right on the face, a circular display that acts as a compass readout, a barometer graph for predicting weather changes, a proper 24-hour timer that shows the current time while it runs, four alarms plus a snooze, and a recall mode that saves compass bearings, temperature readings, min/max altitude, and total ascent and descent. If you hike or spend time outdoors, this is the one.
Full review here: Casio Rangeman GW-9400 review. As of September 2026 the list price is US$365 but it regularly sells for around US$285 to US$330.
What is next
Four empty slots in the case, and I am taking suggestions. The video comments have ideas, and I will revisit the collection as it grows. The journey so far went from a CA$26 digital to a Triple Sensor beast, and the GW-M5610U is still the one I would call my favourite.
FAQ
How many watches are in the collection?
Eight as of the video: three cheap classics (F-91W, F-105W, W-800H) and five G-Shocks (GW-M5610U, GA-2100, GA-B2100, GBD-200, GW-9400 Rangeman). The case has four empty slots, so more are coming.
Which Casio is the best value?
The F-91W. Around US$15 to US$20 as of September 2026, accurate within seconds over months, with an alarm, chime, and stopwatch. Nothing else in watches gives you this much for the price. The F-105W is the pick if you want a readable light.
Which one gets the most wrist time?
The GW-M5610U. It is my overall favourite: Tough Solar so the battery is never a thought, atomic time sync every night, and the square wears smaller and lighter than it looks. If the collection had to shrink to one watch, it would be this one.
Where should I start a Casio collection?
Start where I started: the F-91W. It is cheap enough to be an impulse buy and good enough to stay in the rotation. From there, most people go one of two directions: up the cheap-classic ladder (F-105W, W-800H) or into G-Shocks starting with the GW-M5610U square. Either path ends with a full watch case. You have been warned.
Are the expensive Casios worth it over the cheap ones?
It depends what you want. The cheap ones tell time brilliantly and cost less than lunch. The G-Shocks add solar charging, atomic timekeeping, and real functionality like the Rangeman’s sensors. My take: own at least one cheap classic and one solar G-Shock, and you have 95 percent of what Casio does best.