CitizenCitizen CZ Smart Gen 1 Hybrid smartwatch 44mm, Continuous Heart Rate Tracking, Fitness Activity, Golf App, Displays Notifications and Messages, Bluetooth Connection, 15 Day Battery Life

So I’m writing this review about 1 year after I purchased this watch. I read reviews of people who just bought or had it for a month or two, so I decided to wait to give an opinion after much use.I bought the watch because I wanted to keep track of my sleep and activity, but I also wanted an analog watch, I was looking for the best of both worlds. And I wanted the watch to be nice looking.So, about the watch. It’s a nice watch, kinda sporty looking which was ok. It took a little bit to figure out how to do things as it did not come with a manual. But once I figured out what app I needed to download I was set to go.The app offers different faces and different setups where you can display what information you want. It also offers some other “things” like sports scores and such, but I was not able to figure that out and quite understand what to do or anything like that. That’s ok, those are not things I need.I have several other Citizen watches which I love. This watch is no different. I wear this for work, I wear it almost every day, so it gets used a lot. The battery life was quite surprising as right out of the box it was lasting 20-21 days. The charge only takes an hour or two, so I could charge it at night after work. A year later and it’s not lasting quite as long, but still a decent amount of time. I just charged it and will come back and update how long the battery is lasting now, as I forgot to check before writing this review.So far, the rubber strap is great. I would recommend taking it off a few hours a day as the rubber may affect your skin underneath over time.The last thing I would recommend is a screen protector. I tend to just go about my day, without much thought. Bumps and bruises which I have no idea where they came from are a daily occurrence. Knowing this, I purchased screen protectors and I’m glad I did as I’ve gone through quite a few already. I’m not too sure how well the screen would have held up otherwise. As of now, the watch looks almost brand new a year later.Overall I’m very happy with the style, functions and quality of this watch. If you’re in the market for an analog watch with some smart mixed in, I highly recommend this watch. Citizen always makes quality watches and this one is no different.

Update: I'll give this an extra star for the customer service that I received from Citizen USA. I really wanted the silicone band because I've been wearing the watch in more active situations so I contacted Citizen USA through their website and the response was very quick. The price for the silicone band by itself is pretty steep, but shipping was quick because I'm local and the customer service response was on point.I bought this watch because I was looking for a good watch with minimal smart features from a reputable watch brand. I don't use any other features like step counting or health features. I was literally just looking for a handful of notifications without breaking the bank and this watch fits the bill nicely.I gave up on smartwatches a few years ago, but I still wanted the ability to receive notifications on my wrist without pulling out my phone every 5 seconds and this works pretty well. I have this paired up with my Samsung Z Fold 3 and the app works fine, notifications work fine, disconnects when I move out of Bluetooth range and reconnects when I come back. The battery life is awesome. I can go more than two weeks without plugging this into the charger. Which is one less thing that I have to worry about keeping charged up at the end of the day.The screen is basically an E-Ink display, so it flashes to refresh whenever you scroll through the menus but it's responsive and not that bad once you get used to it. If you use e-readers like the Kindle or Nook then you're already used to it.It's a pretty big watch, which isn't a big deal for me. I like slightly larger watches. The photo I took compares this to my G-Shock Rangemaster and the two watches actually wear pretty similarly.Overall, this is a great watch if you're looking for an older model that you can pickup at a lower price and are only looking for the most basic smart features from a well known watch brand.

Battery life is great after having Apple Watch. Looks like a watch and functions like smartwatch. Pretty easy to use and has all the features.It would be better if I didn’t need to leave the app open on my iPhone to use the find my phone and weather features.

Where do I begin.I've been a Citizen fan for many years and own 5 traditional watches including a 2000 Stars and Stripes commerative edition that I bought new in 2001; as well as a Citizen Chronomaster 500m Chronometer.While shopping for a smartwatch I came across this one.It did not have all the features I would have liked (contact less pay, so2 monitoring) but the potential battery life was a big selling point and justified the premium over other watches with similar features.Unboxing was fine, everything looked as expected.My first disappointment was reading the warning on the first pamphlet, stating that the watch was barely even water resistant, much less waterproof!How is that a thing at all, much less from a "dive inspired" watch?That alone was a deal breaker but, I had charged it up so I thought I'd might as well give it a try.Setup and pairing was straightforward and painless.Immediately I noticed that the pedometer showed I had taken 42 steps, after walking <1m (~3').Also, even though the watch had been on the supplied charger for at least 4hrs, battery life was only at 72%.Proprietary Citizen software (mobile app) is woefully limited.The watch is absolutely useless in the dark, period.The hands don't even luminesce so it is literally unreadable if not in good lighting.There's likely more but there couldn't possibly be redeeming qualities for me at this point so I will be looking forward to returning this disappointment.