The Japanese manufacturer Citizen has withdrawn its connected watch from the market after numerous software problems encountered by its consumers.
Last January, the Japanese manufacturer Citizen launched a connected watch under Wear OS offering an advanced analysis of the state of fatigue of the user, the Citizen CZ Smart. Nearly eight months later, it’s the berezina. In the face of consumer complaints, Citizen has decided to temporarily withdraw its watch from sale, as the magazine reports. Wired.
In concrete terms, Citizen indicates that it has “identified a technical issue that negatively affects the user experience“. Relatively vague terms, but which appear clearer with the feedback from rare press tests or user comments on the Internet. In its article, Wired indicates for example that the watch offers a “poor experience” with many bugs:
Concerns include a sluggish interface, poor battery life, inaccurate heart rate data, inaccurate sleep tracking, a watch that freezes on some screens, and Citizen’s proprietary YouQ feature not working.
Problems all the more significant as the YouQ function, developed in partnership with researchers from NASA and IBM, was supposed to be the strong point of this ride, in order to precisely measure the level of recovery of the user. Above all, the Citizen CZ Smart is not an entry-level watch and was displayed at a price of 330 euros excluding tax at launch.
Suspended sales and a recall to certain customers
Faced with this negative feedback, Citizen has therefore decided to take matters into its own hands and withdraw its watch from the trade, the time for its developers to work on fixes. In addition, for customers who have already purchased a model, Citizen has decided to issue a recall to certain customers of its connected watch. Note, however, that this recall only concerns watches with a screen, under Wear OS, and not the brand’s hybrid models:
We are investigating this issue, recalling test models, and temporarily suspending sales of touchscreen models to help direct us to the source of the problem and find the best solution for our customers and partners.
For the time being, no global recall has been launched for all Citizen CZ Smart buyers.
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