Putting Citizen CZ Smartwatches to the Test–Just in time for Gift Giving Season

If you’re familiar with Citizen watches, you know they’re a trusted and valued brand. They’ve been in the watch industry for over 100 years, and truly have become a global household name. Citizen watches are built on values of technical precision, innovative mindset, quality craftsmanship and design excellence. We’re willing to bet that you, or someone you know, has owned a Citizen watch in their lifetime (if not currently). 

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As innovators in the watch industry, it’s no surprise that Citizen has released their new line of CZ Smart watches, considering they pioneered the Eco-Drive technology that has changed the game for solar powered watches. Citizen merges their classic, traditional design with the latest and greatest technology; it’s perfect for folks who still want the features of a smart watch, but with the look and feel of a classic timepiece. Perfect to go right from the gym to the office, the CZ Smart is compatible with both iPhone and Android phones to seamlessly fit your lifestyle.

The CZ Smart Wear OS: Quality You Can Expect from Citizen

The CZ Smart Wear OS smartwatch comes preloaded with apps including: Google Fit, Google Assistant, Google Pay and Google Play or, with 8-GB of storage, you can download additional apps from the Play Store. The watch connects to your smartphone’s Bluetooth and receives notifications like emails, texts, and social media alerts to keep you connected on the go. Sensors in the CZ Smart include: heart rate, gyroscope, accelerometer, and barometer. You can even customize your watch face and dials to display what’s important to you. You could set the watch face to include: heart rate, step counter, weather, alternate time zones, calendar events and much more. Just depends on what works best for you! 

Review: The Citizen CZ Smart Hybrid Watch 

CZ Smart hybrid has the distinct Citizen style that blends well with business attire, providing the best functions of a smartwatch. With an iconic design, luminous analog hands, a unique sport bezel and functioning dials on the black and white display. 

This 44mm stainless steel watch is designed with an impressive 15-day battery to keep up with anything your week throws your way. Stay on track with the convenience of information at a glance on your hybrid smartwatch display. You can choose the dial that fits your mood or customize the information on display to meet your needs including steps, weather, heart rate and more.

Whether you’re at the gym, hitting the trails, or running into the office, the heart rate and gyroscope sensors provide continuous heart rate tracking, and monitor your workouts with auto activity detection that’s as varied as your routine. On the app you can even challenge a friend to a workout. With advanced sleep monitoring you can monitor your sleep habits and recovery, and it all syncs with Apple Health and Google Fit so you don’t lose track of your progress. 

How the Citizen CZ Smart Hybrid Compares

Overall, it’s a very well-rounded smartwatch. They definitely have done a great job at keeping the Citizen watch look and feel, with the functionality one would expect from a smart watch. Based on our research, the battery life is quite impressive. Others on the market can barely last a full day (especially if in full use). 

From what we can tell, it also integrates quite nicely for both Apple and Android users–which we know is a common concern, although not as reliably connected as Apple’s WatchOS, it is good enough to get the job done. It also has a microphone and speaker, so you can pick-up and take calls, but it doesn’t have 4G compatibility so it does rely on your phone to operate to it’s full functionality. 

That said, for the hard core fitness fiends out there, the step tracking seems to be a bit off (slightly inflated), in comparison to some of their competitors. Fair warning for anyone who is looking to use the Citizen smartwatch for fitness, this might not be the best option for tracking precise data, but for all us other everyday folks, it does the job quite nicely. 

All in all, the Citizen CZ smart watches are priced so well, and are perfect for the busy professional that wants the tracking and technology capabilities of a smart watch, with the look of a classic Citizen watch. 

So head on over to their website to see all the latest, coolest CZ smart watches available now.

Brought to you by Citizen Watch Canada