"The Citizen CZ Smart is a good smartwatch with solid performance and battery life, but the design isn't quite what we'd expect from such a remarkable watchmaker."
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High quality stainless steel case
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Comfortable strap for a good fit
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Decent battery life
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Surprisingly good performance
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Inaccurate number of steps
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Not enough "citizen" design
Citizen has been making clocks for more than 100 years, manufacturing all of its components in-house, and pioneering a wide variety of technologies that focus on the use of light output and high precision. It's the newest watch the citizen CZ Smartis the company's first touchscreen smartwatch – and based on that legacy, we should be excited about it. As a fan of the brand's watches in general, I was keen to try them out.
The more watch brands are interested in smartwatches, the better the design, convenience and technology become. So it is important for companies like Citizen to get involved. Is the Citizen CZ Smart joining Tag Heuer's Connected (2020), Montblanc's Summit 2 and Alpina's AlpinerX as another example of the traditional watch industry getting smartwatches right?
I wore it to find out.
design
The only question that really needs to be answered here is whether the CZ Smart looks and feels like a Citizen watch. Yes, but not as much as some of the brand's more well-known models, and you probably need to be familiar with the Citizen line of diving watches to see the family connection. The shape and design of the bezel are reminiscent of the Promaster Diver range, as are the guards around the crown. However, to most casual watchers, it looks like any other smartwatch and may even be confused with the Fossil Garrett HR.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Here is the problem. I really like the style of the CZ Smart, but it's just not citizen enough and a problem that persists in the software. Citizen hasn't used its selection of incredibly recognizable watch face designs for various watch faces either, offering only a handful of more commonplace watch faces to choose from. Why is there no view of the eye-catching Skyhawk or the unusual satellite wave? Tag Heuer gets this aspect right, offering a wide range of dial designs that match the brand or are part of collections designed by ambassadors. There's really no reason Citizen couldn't have done the same.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
It's unfortunate that the CZ Smart is no longer bourgeois as the watch looks great on the wrist. The bezel is thin, the blue color gives it character, the 46mm case is made of stainless steel and feels of very high quality. Gorilla glass is placed over the screen for protection. The 22 m long blue silicone strap is very comfortable and should also be very durable. It does have a plastic bottom, however, which is a little unfortunate. While very similar to the Fossil Garrett HR, it looks a lot more mature and feels better built too.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Citizen likely relied on partnering with Fossil to produce the CZ Smart. The couple announced some time ago that they would be working together on hybrid smartwatch technology. However, given the presence of the Fossil wellness app and the pre-installation of Spotify, this certainly seems to be a product of that partnership too. It's not a bad thing, Fossil is working on smartwatches with a lot of brands including Diesel, Micheal Kors, and Skagen. It knows what it is doing.
Citizen & # 39; s Dashboard Watch Face Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Citizen & # 39; s Neo dial Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Citizen & # 39; s retro dial Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The Citizen CZ Smart looks great and is very comfortable, but it doesn't quite say "I'm wearing a Citizen Smartwatch" like it should, and it feels like a missed opportunity.
Screen and performance
The CZ Smart has a 1.28-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 416 x 416 pixels so it's very sharp, which makes me even sadder that there aren't many great standard Citizen watch faces to take advantage of . Inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, not the newer Snapdragon Wear 4100 chip, which makes it technically out of date. Unfortunately, Citizen isn't the only one who is satisfied with the aging Snapdragon 3100 chip, as almost all other smartwatch manufacturers do.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Fortunately, it's not a performance disaster at all. Once you do the basics like tracking workouts, receiving notifications, and using apps, you can easily do the functions. It took a while, but the chip has been effectively optimized when it is tuned to 1GB of RAM along with the latest software and can be used perfectly every day. What it misses is the increased efficiency of the Snapdragon 4100. The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3's battery lasts at least three full days on a single charge, and the CZ Smart doesn't quite manage that.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
How does the battery compare? It's decent. With general daily use and just activity tracking with the wellness app, I got almost three work days by turning the clock off overnight. If you're following with Google Fit, streaming music, or using intense apps like Google Maps, it's just two business days. The watch charges quickly, with 80% charging in about 45 minutes and 100% charging in about 70 minutes.
While the CZ Smart isn't great, it has the power and battery life to do what I want a smartwatch to do every day.
Navigation and software
It's great to see that the CZ Smart already has the latest software update for Google Wear OS H-MR2 installed, which undoubtedly contributes to slightly better battery life and faster performance. It also introduces new features such as an adjustable time limit for the screen and a new weather tile.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
One of the most welcome features of the CZ Smart is the rotating crown, which makes it easy to navigate the Wear OS software. It should be a standard feature on all Wear OS smartwatches, but it isn't. Congratulations Citizen for adding it here. The guards around the crown make it less uncomfortable to turn your thumb as well. The buttons on either side of the crown activate Google Fit and the Citizen Watch Face app, but can be reconfigured.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The CZ Smart delivers notifications from your phone with average reliability. This is what I expect from Wear OS in general, which is nowhere near as reliable in communicating with your phone as Apple's WatchOS. The CZ Smart has a speaker and microphone for making and receiving calls. This is always welcome. However, there is no 4G LTE connection so a connection to your phone is required. It's loud enough to have a conversation at home.
Fitness tracking
Fossil's wellness app is on board and promises to track basic activities – steps, sleep, calories, and exercise, without draining your battery too much. It suits the CZ Smart because I don't see it being worn by hardcore fitness fanatics, but by people who want to know how much (or how little) they are exercising. It's easy to use as everything is shown on one screen and only offers one indoor or outdoor exercise tracking option. It's quick and easy and suits my idea of how the watch is worn. Google Fit is also available for anyone who wants more in-depth, data-intensive activity tracking.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
How is the CZ Smart when you are tracking activity? It is annoying that the software has to be optimized because the CZ Smart overestimates the number of steps many times over. After realizing that I was supposedly supposed to run a lot more than was possible when locked, I compared it to the Apple Watch Series 6. I found that the CZ Smart recorded 3,600 steps on a busy morning while the Apple Watch 2,500 steps counted.
While the heart rate monitor results have been consistent and I don't think anyone genuinely concerned about tracking fitness will look at this model, Citizen will have to fix the accuracy of the step count soon.
Price and availability
The Citizen CZ Smart costs and it is $ 395 available now from Amazon and via the Citizen online shop. There are three different models: The version shown here in blue and stainless steel, a stainless steel model with a black bracelet and a black / red bezel, and a black stainless steel version with a black metal link bracelet. All are at the same price.
Our opinion
The Citizen CZ Smart is a very good smartwatch for doing what I want every day. It's fast and the battery lasts longer than expected. It is also very well made and comfortable to wear. However, it comes to a crowded market with dozens of similar smartwatches that you can say the same about. So it's unfortunate that Citizen hasn't really used its brand name and watchmaking expertise to differentiate itself.
I wanted the CZ Smart to have the same draw as buying a Skyhawk A-T, but instead it's like buying another Wear OS smartwatch from the past few years and because of that, this is a missed opportunity. The citizen could really have taken control of the watchmaker / smartwatch area here.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes. If you want a smartwatch for your Android phone, we recommend the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3. It may not be the best looking watch you can buy, but it is the most technologically advanced Wear OS smartwatch right now. The Snapdragon 4100 chip goes well with Mobvoi's unusual dual-screen design to get the most out of the battery and provide plenty of performance.
If you own an iPhone and are looking for a smartwatch, the Apple Watch Series 6 or Apple Watch SE are for you. It's not often that an Apple product can be called a bargain, but when compared to the $ 395 Citizen CZ Smart, the $ 279 Apple Watch SE in particular offers great value. Relationship.
The other watch to consider is the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. The software is easier to use and more attractive than Google's Wear operating system. The rotating bezel simplifies navigation. Due to the citizen's high price for the CZ Smart, it directly competes with all of these smartwatches, with some being offered at much lower prices.
How long it will take?
Like all good smartwatches, the Citizen CZ Smart will last at least two years before you can replace it. The Snapdragon 3100 chip is already old, however, and when at some point more models with the Snapdragon 4100 hit the market, smartwatches that use the old platform will really feel their age. However, smartwatches do not have the same power requirements as smartphones. So, if you keep doing the same things with the watch as you always have, this makes a good companion.
Due to the stainless steel housing, the gorilla glass and the water resistance of 3ATM, the CZ Smart should be very durable. The 22mm armband is thick and sturdy and can also be easily replaced due to the 22mm size and quick release pins.
Should you buy it?
Sadly no. There are better, more up-to-date smartwatches available at lower prices. The unfortunate thing here is if the CZ Smart really looked and felt like a citizen watch, the verdict might have been different.
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