Citizen made the CZ Smart smartwatch, and they need to be ashamed of themselves.
Why? Because they’ve realized nothing.
The Web web site for the Citizen CZ Smart boasts, “Iconic Citizen design.” We have to have a chat.
When I final advised you that it was time to make Citizen Great Again, I used to be speaking about how Citizen wanted to give you a design language that may outline it, and make Citizen uniquely identifiable.
This isn’t it. Citizen failed.
Their advertising workforce wrote these phrases, with out there being something iconic, and even uniquely Citizen about it.
what’s iconic design
There are numerous design parts to a watch: the case, the crown, and noticeably, the dial.
If you took the branding off three iconic watches, you’d know who made them with no second’s thought.
(Seriously, Seiko SKX-007, Heuer Monaco (in gulf colours), and Omega Speedmaster.
What is the Citizen watch that has that type of iconic identification?
There’s actually just one. The Citizen Promaster Nighthawk. Name one other? I can’t.
what’s Citizen really good at?
Here’s the deal. Citizen is thought for:
- exact time-keeping (GPS, Radio, Solar)
- high quality assurance (you’re unlikely to get a foul one – they’re all equally well-made)
- only a few luxurious touches.
That is, Citizen makes technology-driven watches that preserve time uniquely effectively.
Google Android WearOS shouldn’t be distinctive. Anyone can license it. Garmin, Fossil, Motorola, anybody.
what does the advertising declare?
The CZ Smart is claimed to be:
- Designed for each second
- Stay related and share life’s most memorable moments
- Health and health like by no means earlier than
- Iconic Citizen Design
- Designed for all times: Easily plan your day and get solutions with Google.
- Customize your look
One by one, lets?
- Every second means health and non-fitness moments, whenever you’d need notifications and calendars. This is type of boring.
- Stay related means texts, calls, emails, and calendar occasions. Big deal.
- Health and health like by no means earlier than, but additionally, precisely the identical as each different WearOS watch. Citizen don’t make the case for why we must always purchase this as a substitute of a Suunto.
- Iconic Citizen Design. There’s nothing iconic a few Citizen watch, nothing iconic about this Citizen watch, and the state of Citizen Design is shameful.
- Designed for all times. This looks like a repeat of staying related, however they needed to work in a Google Assistant point out on the backside.
- WearOS comes with a lot of watch faces. This CZ Smart comes with a small assortment of watch faces with Citizen branding. There are just a few digital faces that mirror a number of the Nineteen Eighties Ana-Digi / Digi-Ana watches, that nearly nobody remembers.
what’s a CZ Smart, and do you have to get one
The Citizen CZ Smart is a ridiculously giant 46mm watch. It boasts humdrum design, with tapered lugs that terminate in a 22mm lug width.
There’s a bezel with chamfers that seem in incomplete groupings across the circumference of the watch.
The bezel has an insert such as you’d discover on a dive watch, with both purple and black, black, or blue colours. It isn’t in any respect obvious that the bezel rotates or works as a method of controlling the good watch OS.
Speaking of the OS, it’s Google’s WearOS, previously generally known as Android Wear. WearOS has had efficiency updates as just lately as September 2020, however it’s a reasonably low-key replace.
There’s nothing that stands out about this humdrum design. There’s nothing that stands out about WearOS on this watch, versus some other WearOS watch.
Citizen would really like $395 USD for one among three fashions, metal with black and purple bezel, DLC black with bracelet and black bezel, or metal with blue bezel. To sweeten the deal, they’ll throw in a free interchangeable strap with every order. Should you purchase one? I wouldn’t: I really feel lied to once they declare they’ve something iconic to point out for themselves.
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