Anyone following my little side blog (which everyone should, of course – more on that here) probably already knows that I ordered an Ollee Watch Kit a while ago.

It arrived a few days ago ^[1] and after 20 minutes of screwdriving, I was already done with the project.

The modification itself was truly child's play: unscrew, take the original watch out, put the new Ollee Watch in. Done. Here is a short review review ^[2]:

The Casio F91W or the Casio A158 (the only difference is the strap material – see here) has the following functions:

• Time (duh?!)
• Alarm
• Stopwatch
• The world's worst backlight of all time.

One shouldn't expect more at a retail price of around 17 dollars ^[3].

Ollee Watch now beefs it up significantly.

Quite a lot of promises; here are my observations after about 5 days of use:

Faces and Apps

Clock: The time can sync with the included app. But even if it's a bit fiddly on a vanilla Casio, this is a task you typically do once initially and then twice a year for daylight saving time.

Alarm: I can now additionally set the alarm via the app. There, I can also choose weekdays, set ringtones ^[4], and ... there is a snooze function! Bonus points for that! Downside: I am still limited to only one alarm. Shame. Without the app, it remains just the same alarm function as before.

Stopwatch: Without the app, it's initially the same function as the vanilla stopwatch. With the app, I can log times and save them in it.

WorldTime: I can display the time of one (!) other time zone, configurable via the app. I have no use case for this function, which is why I disabled it immediately. I can imagine, however, that it might be different for others.

Timer: A standard timer. I can set one directly, the time counts down, an alarm sounds ^[5] or I can set multiple intervals in the app, save them as presets, and then switch between them on the app. Beyond a certain amount of times, it gets confusing, but for a standard Pomodoro workflow, it’s very practical since there is also an interval mode – meaning I can switch between 25m work and 5m break when the respective timer is up.

Sunrise/Sunset: Shows sunrise and sunset based on the location you set via the app. I found this quite practical at first, as it’s actually something I often quickly Google.

Step Counter: The built-in motion sensor counts steps. I am simultaneously wearing an Amazfit Helio Strap on my other arm and compared the numbers, seeing significant differences. While the Amazfit shows 6,000 steps, Ollee only shows 4,000. I’m still observing it, but for now, it seems unusable to me and will likely be disabled.

Temperature: The watch can display the temperature. This is a mix of skin and ambient temperature – as a single value. Honestly, I have no idea who this provides value to, so I disabled it immediately.

Counter: Remember those little hand-held tally counters? This is the same thing. Press a button, number goes up. Status and time can be logged in the app. I don't know what I'd want to count with it yet, but I see it as one of the more interesting features.

Heart Rate: No, the watch cannot actually measure your pulse. It works more like this: I start the measurement process on the watch, then count the pulse myself with my fingers until a certain number is reached, and then stop. A nice idea. To start and stop the measurement, you can use the integrated motion function, which I would recommend, otherwise a finger has to stay pressed on a button constantly – and I haven't found a way to do that AND measure my pulse at the same time. I also wonder how such a poor interaction made it into a final product. A simple start/stop, like a timer, would be much more logical here. I'm hoping for an update, as I actually find it quite practical.

By the way, the measurement can also be imported into Apple Health and Google Health Connect!

Flashlight: This is a function that was just there and is now being sold as a feature. I disabled it immediately. Even though the Ollee Watch has a much better LED than the vanilla Casio, it can't serve as a "flashlight" even at maximum brightness. Disabled.

Games: Pong, Blackjack, Poker – cool that they exist, but more of a gimmick or proof of concept. The Casio display simply isn't made for this, so I disabled them accordingly.

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Besides these functions, there are a few other improvements:

• Ringtones!
• Improved light!
• I can display words on the watch at the touch of a button to impress my friends... or something.

Okay, admittedly, the new backlight is great. Not only can I set it to different brightness levels, but I can also adjust the color. That’s cool and a real improvement over the rather symbolic Casio vanilla backlight. However, I can also achieve this for free with a piece of aluminum foil.

The App

Even though the Ollee Watch works without the app, it is obviously necessary to use many advanced features. Those looking to quit smartphones should therefore refrain from investing.

The app itself is functional and clear. I can configure or even turn off many features directly there. The built-in help is available offline, and without it, I never would have found some functions like the interval timer.

Only once did I have trouble connecting to the watch; according to the error message, this seemed more like a problem in the Ollee Watch backend.

What I don't understand: I can create an Ollee Watch account, but whether I have one or not seems to be quite irrelevant. Nowhere could I find out what I actually need it for.

Image Sources: https://olleewatch.com

Was the Ollee Watch a good investment?

Let's put it this way: I was curious but also had fairly low expectations. And with the knowledge I have now, I wouldn't risk buying it again at the moment.

Many functions are uninteresting or, in the worst case, simply useless. The only feature that truly adds value is the improved backlight.

In short: My Casio is now a gimmick watch. Nothing more. Even if functions like the timer, sunset, and step counter are somewhat cool, in the end, I traded 10 years of battery life for 10 months. And a better light doesn't justify a 50-euro surcharge on a 20-euro watch in my view.

At the same time, I see a lot of potential for more, and considering that there is currently only one developer behind Ollee Watch, I believe that many new things and improvements could come in the future. I'm curious.

Update 04/12/26: I also took a look at the Ollee Watch blog and indeed, there is a roadmap! And a multi-alarm also seems to be in the works!