Outlet EventEnds Jan. 19. Limited quantities. No rainchecks.Shop now

Main Content

Customer Ratings & Reviews

Your price for this item is $395.00

Customer reviews

Rating 3.9 out of 5 stars with 68 reviews

Rating Filter

Rating by feature

  • Battery Life

    Rating 3.3 out of 5 stars

  • Durability

    Rating 4.1 out of 5 stars

  • Comfort

    Rating 4.2 out of 5 stars

Pros mentioned filter

Cons mentioned filter

68%would recommend to a friend

Customers are saying

Customers often highlight the CZ Smart HR Heart Rate Smartwatch's functionality, style, and large screen. They appreciate its ability to display texts, weather alerts, news headlines, and calendar reminders. However, many customers express dissatisfaction with its battery life and limited watch face options.

This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.

The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
Page 1 Showing 1-20 of 68 reviews
  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Excellent watch at an excellent price point

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I really enjoy this watch. It has great battery life, without having to shut off a bunch of the features to get it. The case and band are of high quality and are very durable. I wear it every day at work and have yet to scratch it. With that stated I have to add a negative (the reason I only gave it 4 stars for durability) to this review. This is the second watch I received. The first watch had issues from the very beginning. the software was extremely slow to load and also slow while updating. It seemed that most of the features of the fitness app were balky to use and reset often. I never did get the pulse rate app to work. After the third day the watch shut down and went into a continuous reboot cycle until the battery went dead. It kept rebooting while it was charging. I returned the watch and told them I suspected that it had a hardware issue. They agreed and replaced the watch (it had to be ordered). Two days later I had another watch that has been trouble free. All of the apps function as they were intended to, and I am very pleased.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Stylish

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Nice watch

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Very nice looking watch it took some convincing from wife to get a smart watch manly because I like watches and not the look of most smart watches so as I own a couple of Citizen Watches already this was the perfect fit it has all the functionality of a smart watch but it’s nice look I purchased the sport band as well and it’s great for every day and the linked band for more dressy functions it taking me a little bit to get all the settings just right but I love it so far!

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Comfort, Notifications
    Cons mentioned:
    Limited watch faces
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Great smart watch with minor flaws.

    |
    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Wanted to pick up a Google Wear OS watch to see how it compared to my Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2. When Citizen came out with the CZ Smart watch I had to try it as I already had a Echo Drive watch from years ago and wore it up to where I started using smart watches. Unboxing and first impressions: The CZ came in nicely boxed and cradled in a high density foam insert. Inside is the Watch, bands, charging cable, quick start guide, and manual, “a power adapter is was not included”. The bands aren’t are just loose in the box but they are very simple to attach, you just take and insert one end of the spring bar into the hole on the frame and then press the lever on the underside of the band to retract the pin, align it with the hole and release. Just give it a tug to make sure the band is attached “it popped off my first try”, but it’s pretty much the same as my Active2. The watch itself if pretty substantial and feels very well built. It does weigh more than my Active2, and the dial is a good bit bigger than the 40mm size of the Active2. Weight wise the Active2 comes in at 47.6 g and the CZ is 77.6, that’s a 30g difference. I have to say though, I’ve been wearing the CZ for a few days now and the weight really isn’t that noticeable. There are three buttons on the right side of the watch with the Middle “Crown” button that pushing that in brings up the apps list, or returning back to the main screen, it also rotates so you can scroll through items, “really liking that feature”. The two other top/bottom buttons are configurable and is a big welcome. There’s a microphone slit on the left side and back on the right side almost unnoticeable on one of the crown ears is a microphone hole. The bottom side has three small windows for sensors. The CZ comes with 8gb of memory compared to the 1.4gb for the Active2, that’s a pretty big jump there. The display is 1.28” compared to 1.2” for the Active2, they are both bright and very clear, but that little bit extra size does seem to make a difference to me. The watch also has a barometer, accelerometer, gyroscope, and hear rate monitor. It doesn’t have the ECG sensor of the Active2 but honestly I never used it after trying it out a few times. Setting up and first use: To start the setup you just plug the charging cable in your phone charging adapter, attach the phone “the charger is held on magnetically”, “this charging adapter uses pogo pins to charge so I’m hoping this holds up compared to the Samsung wireless Qi charging. As soon as the watch started to get power the startup screen came up and I went through the setup “including installing Google Fit”. There was also an update to the watch so I had to wait for that to finish downloading and installing. Next I went to work getting the watch set up to my liking and initially I was pretty disappointed that there were only 5 watch faces available, even when checking the download option, just those 5 were available. While I did find that the included faces could be somewhat customized I really wanted more, especially for what this watch costs, “the Active2 has 100s of watch faces available for download, some paid and some free. What I did find is there’s an app in the Google Play Store called “Watchmaker” and they have a lot of faces available there that work perfectly with this CZ. I ended up using the Watchmaker app and making a watch face I wanted, so now I’m really getting to like this watch, especially designing my own watch face. I never bothered with the Samsung since they had so many available. I have paired this with my Pixel 5 phone and S21 it connected flawlessly with either one. I’m able to answer calls and they are clearer / louder than the Active 2 which is a big plus. I’ve also had some problems getting email and message notifications on my S21 in a timely manner and sometimes are 10-15 minutes late “I like being prompt”, but with the Pixel 5 and the CZ the alerts come in the instant I get them. Now for battery life, it’s not as good as the Active2 but I have it set on normal which according to the Citizen website is a 24hr mode and I am definitely getting that. The other power modes are supposed to extend the life a good bit but as long as it lasts just over a day I’m good with that as I can charge it while getting ready in the AM. I try to charge around the same time every day and it’s right around 20% when I put it on the charge, it takes about 40 minutes to get to 100%. There are a couple irritating things I don’t get, like how the watch cannot sync DND “do not disturb” with my phone, the Active2 does this and it’s an extra step to remember when needing to silence everything. Also the “what looks like a movable bezel” isn’t moveable at all, it’s pretty much just decoration “and probably a good bit of protection too”. I really am liking Wear OS, it’s quite a bit different from Tizen and I just read that Google and Samsung are merging the two creating one OS called “Wear”, hopefully that will merge the best of both systems. But accessing the play store on the CZ is simple and there are plenty of apps that I will use “most duplicating apps on my phone already” I also tried Google Maps on it and it was very accurate, equal to my phone when walking down to our mail cluster box and around the neighborhood. Was even surprised my weather radar app is on there, and it works perfectly “just small :) “. The heartrate monitoring is on par with my Active2, close enough for me not to worry about accuracy. The step counter seems very sensitive and is higher than the Active2 but I don’t count my steps personally and have no idea which one is more accurate. I did notice the CZ picks up more arm movement and counts it towards steps over the Active2 but I really don’t count that much. When I’m using my seated elliptical the calorie and distance between the two are very close, again they aren’t so far apart that I’m concerned with accuracy. Conclusion: I’ve found that I really don’t notice the extra weight that much, and the size “while larger” is ok. I don’t have large wrists and didn’t want something that was overly large. The band is every bit as comfortable as the Active2, it also feels a heavier duty that the Active 2 “will see how it holds up over time”. I’ve only been using this this new CZ Smart watch a few days and am getting used to the Wear OS and it’s growing on me. The CZ is doing everything my Active2 does “with a couple small exceptions”, it’s not perfect but I’m very impressed with it, and hopefully Citizen will upgrade the OS to the new “Wear”. Overall if you are looking for a new smart watch and want something that looks like a premium piece then this one is a good one to put at the top of your list.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Stylish and durable.

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 2 months when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Bought this watch for work, and can’t seem to pick up my outlook account. It’s definitely different from the common watch everyone wears. Easy to navigate, and options for so much more than I use it for. Pretty good overall.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Love it

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Perfect gift for Father’s Day! My husband wanted a wrist wash I got on your web page saw the citizen smart watch he absolutely love it! Thank you Bestbuy super fast delivery on store I now have your credit card can wait for his bday to get him his go pro!!

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Cons mentioned:
    Battery life
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Top Class, Top Tech

    |
    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    The Citizen’s CZ Smartwatch blends high class style with a plethora of function/features. When I received the Citizen CZ Smartwatch I put on the silicone wrist bands. The bands locked into the ends of the watch face with a small sliding metal arm (if you have ever put wrist bands on a watch, this is the same way). The Gorilla glass face provided durability and added a nice level of weight to the watch. I prefer heavier watches and the Citizen CZ Smartwatch is no lightweight. The silicone bands and 46mm face was very comfortable the moment I put the watch on. I found the Citizen CZ Smartwatch easy to read with selectable faces. Press and hold till the face gets small. Then you can choose 3 main combinations of colors for each face style. While this is not a lot of faces, I am okay with it because of the different colors available that displays all the info. This is huge for me because I have readers (which I don’t wear when working out). The screen has an AMOLED 1.28” which is vivid and really elevates the style. The size of the face with casing is 46mm that favors my eyes. I placed the watch on the special flat charger and it prompted me to setup with my cellphone. I downloaded the Wear OS by Google App. Following the instructions I was able to setup the watch and cellphone in a very short time. During the installation you can choose how to customize how the watch is used – Heart Rate, Distance, GPS, Texts, emails, face changes, Bluetooth, “Okay Google”, speaker/microphone for calls and health wellness, just to name a few! You can also add other apps to the Citizen CZ Smartwatch with its 8GB storage with Android and Apple compatibility. I downloaded a 3rd party app with fitness stats for info on how my workout went. It is all about how you customize the watch to your liking. Spotify can also be downloaded to use, as well as Google Pay! After completing the initial setup between the watch and cellphone, I charged the Citizen CZ Smartwatch on the special plate that’s included. I charged the watch for 40 mins and the battery filled up around 80% of capacity. At night I put the watch on the my dresser and lost about 15% of battery life. I think is pretty good, but not great. The real test of the battery power is the face changes, apps, Bluetooth and a number of other features you can run at once. The problem with all those features running, the battery depletes quickly. By quickly I mean less than 12 hrs, in my case. “Hey Google!” Yes, you can talk to your Citizen CZ Smartwatch enabled with Google Asst. Whether it checking on facts or just providing the weather, what a great feature. The speaker was plenty loud when Google Asst. provided the information. I did find out a way to shorten the learning curve with this feature rich Smartwatch. After swiping (any direction) I noticed the small lines at the top of the face or side edge. This really makes a difference. It shows you how to navigate around all the options you would like to customize. Once I figured that out, the task of learning how the Citizen CZ Smartwatch was clearer to me and more helpful with using features and options. Another way to really unwrap using the Citizen CZ Smartwatch is the scrolling from up, down, right and left. Each direction gives you control over your different content. Whether you are working out, receiving phone calls, Emails, selecting battery power, and useable apps, the direction you slide displays your info. Moving your finger on the dial will unlock the potential of the Citizen CZ Smartwatch and make it more user friendly. 1. Sliding your finger to the Right will open up access to info using Google Assistant, times for travel schedules and general help. 2. Sliding your finger to the Left will show you your health and wellness monitors. As well as the weather and customization of how you want to lay out your tiles (the order on the watch face of activities). 3. Sliding your finger Up allows you to go through any notifications. 4. Sliding your finger Down shows you settings/menus related to features like battery mode (which is great to customize), phone calls and other vital features. Using the Citizen CZ Smartwatch at the gym, I swiped to the Left. This opened up the steps to start a workout. I got to chose from Biking, Running and Walking. I continued to swipe Left until the watch face displayed those options. I clicked on the icon for biking and began the workout. I scrolled to see what my vitals were on the Smartwatch. It was continuing to add up the numbers with easy to read circular, numbers graphs. It was very motivational. When I was done working out, I swiped Down and pause was available. Holding the pause icon gives you the option to stop your workout or continue your workout. Pressing stop let me see how I did with distance, HR, steps, time in the “zone” and other vital stats. I also decided to use the Smartwatch on the treadmill. I set up everything the same as biking except I chose walking this time. The Citizen CZ Smartwatch didn’t let me down. When I was finished with the walk I was able to view the health stats as before. Everything was easy to read and to understand. I had a great couple of sessions and liked how well the Smartwatch worked with my vitals. As with any new tech, there is a learning curve. Using the Citizen CZ Smartwatch is no different. I decided to choose a particular option and practiced by using some of the features. For example, battery life goes rather quickly with this Smartwatch. I swiped Down and chose the Battery Icon. Numerous choices on how to save battery life and still use the features on the Smartwatch were available. I prioritized what I need the most and I was able to save battery life. The 3 main settings for battery life are Daily, Extended and Custom. The fewer features you use, the more battery life you will have. I found that the battery settings were the most important part of the Citizen CZ for me. The battery settings helped me with wearing the Smartwatch longer and providing stats on my health/wellness from Apps. The Citizen CZ Smartwatch is a great workout companion. It provides the vital features that help you stay fit and analyze your health/wellness. Overall I am impressed with the Citizen CZ Smartwatch. I would definitely recommend this watch with all of its beneficial features, but I would check the battery life so I had enough juice to make it through the day. 4 out of 5

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Super good buy

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    It’s a great watch with plenty of features..It’s made by Citizen so it’s made to be tough.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Rated 2 out of 5 stars

    Citizen watch

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Its ok, i wish i had gone with the Samsung at this point, this watch is Bluetooth, wifi only, which i could get around, but the ABSOLUTELY ANNOYING GOOGLE ASSISTANT ALWAYS TURNS ON WHEN IM NOT EVEN PUSHING THE BUTTON .

    No, I would not recommend this to a friend
  • Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    NICE WATCH, NEEDS TWEAKING

    |
    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    The Citizen CZ Smartwatch is Citizen’s first venture into the Smartwatch scene. The watch is rather heavy (heavier than other men’s watches its size), the silicone band is extremely thick (thicker than necessary for the size of the watch). The setting buttons on the side of the watch are not protected much and stick out from the watch face. Unusual for even a Citizen Smartwatch. I have to be careful taking off jackets that I don’t pull on them. It’s water resistant up to 3 ATM (30 meters) and has a storage of 8GB. Battery – the battery charges quickly with the included magnetic USB charging. It took a few days of wearing and charging to really get the benefit of the long-lasting battery when put on extended life. On the regular setting, the battery only lasted about 6 hours. On the extended setting it lasted a little over 24 hours of minimal use (minimum activity and time). Multi-Day Modes (Not Eco-Drive). Varies based on use. USB cable with magnetic charger snaps to rings on watch case back. 40 minutes to charge 80%. At 25% it only took about 30 min to charge to 100%. The CZ Smartwatch comes with the charging cable, watch, silicone watch band, quick start guide and user guide pamphlet. The user guide is very general. There more detailed tips and guides on YouTube and the Citizen watch website. The Citizen CZ Smartwatch does have interchangeable watch bands, which some other smartwatches don’t have. If you don’t like the Silicone band, you can purchase a leather band or stainless-steel band online. The bands are easy to switch as the pins are spring type. FEATUES – Wellness and Activity The features work well and are accurate. - Track steps, exercise, distance - Health – monitors Heartbeat and Breathing. - Monitors progress on all activities IE: Cycling, running, etc. Navigating the CZ Smartwatch is done by simply swiping left, right, up, or down. Each direction provides different information and settings. -UP – Scrolls through notifications - DOWN – Brings up quick settings-sounds, battery, phone, theater mode (Turns off screen), Do Not Disturb and Airplane mode. - LEFT – Health and wellness features and activities-heart rate, steps, phone calls, events, weather. - RIGHT – Accesses Google Assistant, account settings, reminders To access the CZ Smartwatch apps, simply push the large middle button in 2x and it brings up all the apps that are installed on the watch. There is a built-in speaker and microphone for incoming calls and both are clear for speaking and listening. The Citizen CZ Smartwatch also uses Google Pay and NFC Technology for convenience. There is a Google Play app on the watch that allows you to add, delete and update installed apps. The Quick Start guide is easy to follow to get the watch ready for use. To finish the setup, you have to install the Wear OS by Google app on either your Android or iOS cell phone. The Smartphone app helps to complete the connectivity and synching between the CZ Smartwatch and phone. WEAR OS BY GOOGLE APP – SMART PHONE The CZ Smartwatch is powered with Wear OS by Google App and is compatible with both iPhone and Android phones. The app connects the CZ Smartwatch via WiFi or Bluetooth which is indicated on the watch itself. To connect the watch the first time, use Bluetooth and can connect through Wi-Fi. The CZ Smartwatch can also be connected to GPS and NFC. There are several watch faces available through the Wear OS by Google app but you can get a lot more variations using the Google Play Store app on the CZ Smartwatch. EXTRA HELP – using the Wear OS by Google app. By clicking on the 3 vertical dots at the top of the app and clicking on Help & Feedback, you can access more information on features as well as tips for using the CZ Smartwatch. There is also a support/community on the Citizen Watch website where you can find specific questions and answers from other users. For Citizen’s first attempt at a Smartwatch, it’s not bad, but could be better. Both the Wear OS by Google app and watch features could be more refined including a more detailed user guide explaining all the features in more detail and how to use them. I recommend the Citizen CZ Smartwatch for those that are already familiar with using smart watches. For those that have never used one before, I can’t recommend this until Citizen and publish a much more detailed user guide explaining all the different features and the Wear OS by Google app itself.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Functionality
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Well optioned, Citizen Quality smart watch!!

    |
    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    The citizen smart watch has thrown everything they could into it, even the kitchen sink. I have previously owned Citizen watches in the past and have always loved there quality and unique looks. The CZ Smart Hr sport watch is no different. It sets itself apart from other watches with the sheer number of available options. Set up is fast via the Wear Google OS app. Once the app pairs itself with the watch you can through serious of options that allow you to setup you watch as you see fit. It allowed me to get notifications from just about every app I have on my phone. For me this was not necessary, so I shut off about 90%. I activated the answer and receive the phone calls and sms messages, emails and such. Should you need any help, Citizen’s YouTube channel is very helpful with devoted topics the are under 3 minutes each which is great for not having to sit through a 20 minute video to find out how to do one thing. I found that in the default setting the watch will eat your battery alive in less than 7 hours. This usually will not work for anybody. So, they smartly came up with a battery optimization setting you can pick. In daily mode most everything is set to on. Then Extended leaves on what most people will use like calls and texts and such and the battery is good for 1-3 days. And finally custom lets you choose what you want which is great for those who like to choose what they need the most. ALSO, you can set the watch to time only and it shuts off all other options for those who only may need it to be a plain watch for a time. As far as a sport watch it has the standard heart rate that it monitors all the time and detects work outs. Sleep tracker and step counter as well as for those that might need translation help. A google translator, I haven’t had the chance to try this out but hopefully will soon. Google pay is on the watch making purchases s snap via the NFC connection. In closing this is a very nice quality time piece that will work for anyone’s needs. I would recommend this to friends and family.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Screen, Stylish
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Very stylish, high-quality smartwatch

    |
    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I got this watch for my father so he can track his heart rate and steps. It is a great, nice-looking watch, very beginner friendly. It came with a quick-start guide, so setting up was easy and breezy. We had to charge it first, and it came with no wall charger, so you have to plug the usb on a computer if you don’t have one. It took us a while to put the metal band on. The open and close clasp was a challenge, and for a moment we thought it wasn’t secure enough… Next you have to download the app to complete the setup process. I like that I could set to Portuguese language for him. Again, pretty easy to follow the instructions on what you want or not want your watch to track. My dad said that he really doesn’t need to be answering calls or texts on his watch, but it is nice to have that option too. It has a big screen, so it is easy for him to see things. Although I think Citizen could add a few more faces. Overall, this is a very stylish, high-quality smartwatch. I would recommend it especially to everyone that is shopping for their first smartwatch.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Functionality
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    I should have tried one of these a LONG time ago!

    |
    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I've always been curious about these smart watches. I got it not knowing what I was missing - now I know I should have gotten one a long time ago! Imagine having all the most common things you would pull your phone out of your pocket/purse for and put it on your wrist! It stays in communication with your watch via bluetooth. All the most common tasks - including phone calls can now be handled from your wrist. Additionally, all notifications that come to your phone now also show up on your watch, and not only do you get the notification, you can read most messages that get delivered as well (email/sms/text). The display is beautiful, but I must admit the default brightness setting was murder on my eyes - way too dim. I had to go into settings and make an adjustment there. The band on the model I got is stainless and I had to remove a couple of links to fit my wrist properly (this is pretty common for me with any metal-banded watch). It does appear to be a pretty vanilla build of Wear OS on the watch along with Citizen's faces. I love the ability though to change the faces to any one of the thousands upon thousands available online - never get bored with you watch again! Using the extended setting I've been able to get 2 days of life out of the battery, but I'm venturing to believe that life will get long as I stop fiddling with it so much and the newness wears off :-) It was extremely easy to setup and sync with my phone using the included quick-start guide. There are Youtube videos though showing the process should you need additional help. Great watch - I definitely should have gotten one sooner , I was shocked how much I use it!

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Very Happy With This Watch!

    |
    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    The very first watch I ever owned back in the 70's was a Citizen watch given to me by my grandfather. It was an automatic watch (self-winding) that was here long before smart watches. It was a great quality watch. The Citizen CZ Smart HR Heart Rate Smartwatch (with the 46mm gray stainless band) is also a great quality watch. As I unpacked it from its box, I was immediately impressed by its weight. I know most people prefer a lighter watch, but like the first Citizen I owned, this watch actually FEELS like a quality watch...very substantial. Putting the watch together was a bit frustrating. The band is...well... complicated. Trying to figure out which way the bracelet should go ended up being a guessing game for me, and I chose the wrong direction. Because of this, to open and close the clasp is quite difficult to get used to. So why not simply switch it around? Because it is a very well-made watch, you can't just slip your fingernail in and depress the spring. It is going to take a trip to the jewelers to have this done because I am not about to scratch up a beautiful watch bracelet trying to remove it. The watch band itself is quite large, and appears as though it would fit almost any-sized wrist. Setup was quite simple and easy. I already own an android watch that uses the Wear OS, so after adjusting a few settings and giving a few permissions, the watch was ready to test out. Now, in all fairness and honesty, other than the obvious higher quality of the time piece, it is pretty much just like any other high-quality smart watch. It is GPS enabled for running purposes. Has several watch functions such as stop watch, timer, alarms, etc. It has a hand-washing timer which was a bit faddish, but there may actually be people out there who need a timer to wash their hands by. The watch also has a heart rate monitor. This requires the band to be tight against the wrist...which I don't like. I like my watches to be a bit loose. So, in order to get an accurate pulse rate, I have to actually press the watch against my wrist to ensure good contact. And as well, it has all the other boilerplate functions and apps included, and they all seemed to work quite well. There does seem to be an issue with the bluetooth connectivity. I use Spotify, but the watch just doesn't do well with the app. If, for example, I receive a notification, it stops the app from working on my watch. When I try to reconnect, I get the standard, "Something went wrong, Try again." I followed the reconnect protocol, it connects and works great, but only until another notification. Hmpf.... All in all, like I stated at the beginning, I am very happy with this watch. It is an elegant looking watch, and is quite suitable for casual and light-formal wear. I cannot say for certain whether it is a shortcoming on Citizen's part or Apple's, but it would be great to get the connectivity issues resolved. I just stopped and read several other reviews, and this doesn't seem to be an issue with any of them, so it seems apparent it must be a fluke with mine. This is truly one of those watches anyone would be proud to own. I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking for a good, solid quality smart watch.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 3 out of 5 stars

    Full of surprises

    |
    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Beyond nice, secure packaging, I was stunned by how carefully protected the watch and stainless steel band were. In addition to the stiff foam around everything, the watch itself had a watchface sticker protecing the actual face. The band was in a separate compartment in the box, and every surface of the stainless steel band, no matter how small, had a clear plastic protecive piece on it. Some might find removing all the protective film painstaking, but I found it fun and kind of exciting, as it made the whole unwrapping experience seem more "serious" than an item poorly or cheaply packaged. Per the setup guide, the first things to do were to attach the band (not sure why this wasn't already done at the factory), download the Google WearOS mobile app, and charge the watch. It had a substantial charge on it out of the box, so it didn't take very long to reach 100%. Once charged, I paired with with my iPhone. Like many Bluetooth devices, it didn’t pair the first time. It worked the second time, but then lost the connection. I got them re-paired after several tries, then a system update began, so I waited. It wasn't a terribly long wait (about ten minutes or so), but then I had to re-pair them yet again. I finally told my phone to foget the device and pair again from scratch, but then it appeared *twice* in my device list. I won't belabor the point any more other than to say that it was a problem that consumed almost an hour by itself. Customization is fairly easy and straightforward, as the menus are pretty logical. There weren't a lot of watch faces to choose from, and not a lot of customizations. I guess my Apple watch spoiled me. I downloaded the Facer app (for my phone as well as the watch - they seem to need to work together). This offers more watch faces, but was difficult to set up. Lucky for me (and you), that app is not being reviewed here. The charger is similar to that used by my ancient Apple watch, including the magnet keeping it in place. What I really like is how much like an actual, physical watch face the display appears. (picture) What's annoying is that I can't change the length of time the watch displays to a useful time. Since I work in healthcare (direct patient care), I need to be able to time things for up to a full minute. My Apple watch was perfect for that as I could set my it to (as I recall) ten seconds, 70 seconds, or "on always." 70 seconds is perfect. The CZ limits me to ten seconds or "on always." The watch hangs up quite a bit, usually when I'm going through a bunch of menus, changing settings. The most frustrating thing to date is a band that I can't take links out of. Seriously? I have fairly small wrists, so I need to take three of the links out (just like my other Citizen watch with identical band dimensions). No can do. I checked with Citizen's support, and happened to find this question and answer: Q: Where can I find instructions for adjusting the band? A: We do not include instructions for adjusting the band on a watch because we typically recommend that we, a watch specialist, or professional jeweler do the adjustment to avoid any inadvertent or accidental damage. Well, that's not insulting at all. Because the band is so huge, the entire watch flops around on my wrist. Translation: until I go to a jeweler to have the links removed, I am UNABLE TO WEAR THE WATCH. I realize that some of the issues I had may be the phone I am using (will an Android pair better?) and that I have small wrists. But other issues keep me from recommending it, and from giving more than three stars.

    No, I would not recommend this to a friend
  • Cons mentioned:
    Charging issues

    Rated 3 out of 5 stars

    Great design ok functionality

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 1.5 years when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I really liked the watch because it looked more like a standard watch than a smartwatch if that makes sense the watch started going out on me about a year and a half of owning it. The watch would randomly turn off and would not turn back on until hours or sometimes days later. Charging it also became a hassel towars the end sometimes it would charge sometimes not also the features on the watch were pretty basic

    No, I would not recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Notifications

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Love my Citizen Smartwatch

    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    The look, style and quality of my Citizen Smart watch combines the look I want with the smartwatch features I care most about. I get my texts, weather alerts, news headlines and calendar reminders. I don't have to dig for my phone while juggling on errands or commuting. It keeps me on track with all my fitness goals from heartrate monitor, step tracker and all my workouts for the week. Love the design.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Screen
    Cons mentioned:
    Battery life

    Rated 3 out of 5 stars

    Meh

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I’ve tried to write a review for this 5 times now. Best Buy doesn’t like the fact the battery life is horrid if you use it for anything besides time keeping. It’s very heavy. Screen is good.

    No, I would not recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Functionality

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Good watch for price

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 2 months when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Solid functionality and good performance. No connectivity issues or bugs. Would recommend.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Cons mentioned:
    Brand comparison

    Rated 3 out of 5 stars

    Cz suckwatch

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 1.5 years when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Had for 2 years. Upgraded to Fossil Gen 6. Wouldn't buy another smart watch from citizen

    No, I would not recommend this to a friend
  • Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Citizen smart watch

    |
    |
    Posted . Owned for 2 weeks when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Great watch overall, great value. Google wear platform doesn’t like to always play nice with iPhone, Bluetooth connectivity spotty at times.

    I would recommend this to a friend
Sponsored