Citizen’s highly-anticipated second-generation CZ Smart smartwatch has hit a speed bump, causing the company to temporarily halt sales. This move comes after Citizen’s grand reveal at CES 2023 and a subsequent May 1st launch. Despite being on the market for nearly three months, the smartwatch has stumbled into a pit of technical issues that have negatively impacted user experiences.
A Rocky Start
The revelation of these technical glitches arrived a few weeks after Citizen sent out test units to product reviewers. One such reviewer shared a lackluster experience, cataloging a litany of bugs. These included a laggy interface, poor battery life, inaccurate health data, and even the smartwatch freezing on specific screens. Citizen’s proprietary YouQ features, which aimed to set this smartwatch apart, were also found malfunctioning. Starting at $350, expectations were high, but reality fell short.
This reviewer wasn’t alone in their discontent. Renowned YouTube tech reviewer Michael Fisher, also known as MrMobile, encountered many of the same bugs and even unearthed new ones, like a watch face that couldn’t accurately tell time. A quick scroll through Citizen’s CZ Smart product page revealed a chorus of unhappy customers echoing concerns about battery life and laggy software. Some of these complaints date back two or three months.
Citizen’s Response
Citizen swiftly responded to this crisis by acknowledging the issues and taking action. They’re actively reaching out to customers who bought the affected CZ Smart Touchscreen models to devise a solution. Citizen stated, “We are investigating the issue, recalling review models, and will be temporarily suspending sales on touchscreen models while we pinpoint the source of the issue and the best path to a solution for our customers and partners.” This temporary sales suspension is expected to take a week, if not more, to resolve.
Limited Impact
It’s important to note that this issue only affects the CZ Smart Touchscreen models, not the CZ Smart Hybrid versions. Affected models include a specific list that can be found on the right side of the CZ Smart’s box.
What’s Inside the CZ Smart?
The Gen-2 CZ Smart is a successor to the 2020 CZ Smart and runs on Google’s Wear OS 3 smartwatch platform. It promises standard smartwatch features like notifications, music control, and smart home device management. However, what set it apart was the CZ Smart YouQ app, developed in collaboration with IBM Watson and NASA researchers.
The YouQ Concept
YouQ aimed to understand your physical and cognitive energy levels. Over time, it assigned you a daily “Power Score” and suggested “Power Fixes” to optimize your energy, not just for workouts but for daily productivity. While similar concepts exist, Citizen’s approach was unique in its focus on overall alertness and productivity throughout the day.
Under the Hood
The CZ Smart’s hardware, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4100+ processor, might not be the latest in town. Newer Wear OS smartwatches use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5+ chipset, known for its speed and energy efficiency. However, some Wear OS smartwatches with the same Snapdragon 4100+ processor don’t encounter the same issues, adding to the puzzle.
Citizen has not provided a timeline for when sales will resume, leaving users wondering about the future of the Gen-2 CZ Smart. With such widespread problems, it might take some time to iron out the kinks.
Updated at 3:05 pm ET: CZ Smart Hybrid models remain unaffected. We’ve also included the model names of the smartwatches experiencing issues.