In 1980, the year of the Summer Olympics in Moscow, the Soviet accountants saw the cutting edge B3-05M calculator for the first time. Just 6 cm shorter than the A4 sheet, it would save the users their working space, increase the speed of calculations, and handle numbers with more digits (the vacuum fluorescent display capacity was enhanced to show 16 digits as compared to the 8 digits of B3-02).

The point is fixed (like in B3-02), with its position located at the first input. Unlike its predecessor, B3-05M was capable of calculating percents and featured the /—/ key and a memory register. On top of that, one could not only feed a number into the memory, but also add or subtract the current indicator value. There were also dedicated buttons used to clear the indicator or the memory register.

All these innovations served to simplify calculations, reduce the number of interim results put down on paper, and make the lives of Soviet accountants (the calculator’s key target group) much easier. The machine featured no engineering functions, as back then the Soviet engineers used B3-18 for their work.

Weight — 1.4 kg. Size — 275✕228✕74 mm. Power intake — 10 W.