The Citizen is suspending sales of its new device

Testing Citizen’s Second-Generation CZ Smart Hybrid at the Los Alpha X-Ray Center in Los Angeles

The Gen-2 CZ Smart is a successor to the original CZ Smart from 2020, and it runs Google’s Wear OS 3 smartwatch platform. It is supposed to perform like any other wristwatch but Citizen created a custom app for the watch that lets you control music, smart home devices, and notifications.

Citizen wrote in an email to reviewers that they are investigating the issue, recalled review models, and suspending sales on touchscreen models while they figure out the best way to fix the issue.

The affected models include the MX1003-71X, MX1000-28X, MX1000-01X, MX1000-52X, MX1005-83X, MX1002-57X, MX1018-06X, MX1017-50X, MX1010-59X, MX1011-05X, and the MX1016-28X. According to Wired, this doesn’t impact the CZ Smart Hybrid.

I just began testing the second-gen Citizen CZ Smart and can confirm that I am similar to those who have done it before. In fact, I was in the middle of writing an email to troubleshoot because I thought I had a bunk unit. I failed to record an exercise because several outdoor runs couldn’t find a gps signal, froze mid- workout, and I couldn’t locate aGPS signal. I ran a two-mile run on Tuesday that took 0.1 mile and had a speed of 93 minutes per mile. (I’m not the fastest runner, but I’m not that slow, either.)

The issues got worse in the last two or three days. My watch had laggy screens initially, but at least I could pull up menus and receive notifications fairly reliably. It felt like a Wear OS experience back in the day, and I can’t do that anymore.

How Smart Should Your Watch Be? – Consumer Tests of Citizen’s Smartwatch Monitoring System on the CZ Smart Product Page (Extended Abstract)

I’ve reached out to Citizen to clarify what recourse existing customers will have, how long the suspension will last, and further details about the technical issues at hand but didn’t immediately receive a response.

I am not alone. As with me, MrMobile has also experienced many of the same bugs and introduced me to new ones, like the Pilot watch face that cannot tell the correct time. Scroll through Citizen’s CZ Smart product page and customers aren’t happy either. There are many complaints about poor battery life and laggy software, and some of these reviews were posted two or three months ago.

YouQ is a partnership with IBM and NASA. After you wear the watch for a period of time, it’s supposed to learn your physical and cognitive energy levels. Eventually, it assigns you a Power Score every day, and it can suggest “Power Fixes” to change the trajectory of your energy levels so you feel more wired than tired. It doesn’t have to be very hard, like having a cup of coffee or lifting weights for 30 minutes.

This concept isn’t new, as companies like Fitbit and Garmin have long had tools like Daily Readiness Scores and Body Battery that can be used to gauge how ready you are for physical activity. But Citizen’s approach is more focused on improving alertness and productivity throughout the day, not just for exercise.