A community for watch & horology discussion.
I really like this angle from citizen. I've always considered them sort of 80s/90s techy, guess it's the ecodrive coming of age at that time. Not that they don't make some good looking classy/traditional stuff, but the atomic watches, really complicated chronos, bulky divers, I just think of them as high tech right before the internet. Post Tron space agey style, coupled with modern tech, just nails it. Thanks for posting, might go find me one of these.
Unfortunately things are more complicated ....
Although the official Citizen Riiiver website says you can use your watch for many things via the ioT platform (what they called "iiideas"). Click here for their website. When I open the smartphone app on my phone and navigate to "iiidea" -> "Store", it is empty. I am not a programmer and won't be writing any custom apps. Therefore I cannot access the additional features of this watch.
I guess because it is a JDM watch, I cannot find the smartphone app on Google Play (dunno about Apple, Im not iphone user), and I have to google to find and download the APK from other websites (I used APKcombo). Maybe because of this regional block, the iiidea store cannot be accessed.
Do seriously consider this before buying the watch, you may just end up with a BT time sync watch.
Citizen CS replied to my email - the watch app is region-specific and does not work outside Japan. Therefore no app is available outside Japan.
It looks good and thin as well :)
Another Eco-Drive bluetooth hybrid watch, the Citizen Riiiver BZ-7014 (JDM). This is a beefy watch with 15mm thickness and 93g weight (with OEM silicone strap). 44mm case diameter, 50mm lug-to-lug. Rather large and heavy for my liking. I bought this from a Japanese eBay seller for about CAD 225 (incl. standard Japan Post shipping, no tax (I was lucky!)), MSRP > CAD 450. Apart from activity tracking, it also supports open-source ioT (Internet of Things) platform where you can develop custom apps for the watch to control other devices via BT & smartphone - seems like a novel idea but I don't really see any development since the 2019 debut of this watch. Maybe because of the lack of software progress, plus the premium price, Citizen keeps it in the domestic market only, unlike its sister line CZ Smart smart watch (which is a more of a generic smart watch). In any case, I am really only interested in the BT automatic time sync function to maintain accurate time (I already have another Citizen BT analog watch, the BZ-4005).