Tony Hawk-Backed Citizen Gen-2 CZ Smart Watch Now Available for Pre-Order

Citizen today launched pre-orders for its Tony Hawk-backed second-generation CZ Smart PQ2 smartwatch. 

First unveiled at CES in January, the Wear OS-powered Gen-2 CZ Smart PQ2 features the YouQ wellness app, which Citizen touts as a “wearable self-care advisor” designed to help you optimize your training and recovery. Leveraging research from the NASA Ames Research Center and artificial intelligence models built with IBM Watson, the YouQ app forecasts your cognitive and physical energy levels over the next 24 hours to help you plan your day—and your physical training—around your energy peaks and dips. 

(Credit: Angela Moscaritolo)

In an interview with PCMag, Hawk said he’s been using the Gen-2 CZ Smart PQ2 along with a beta version of the YouQ app for several weeks and is “hooked.” The app offers scientifically-backed recommendations for improving your wellness, a feature Citizen calls Power Fixes. It may, for instance, offer nutritional tips or suggest techniques like acupressure or tapping. 

“I wear it when I skate and I’ve learned that my peak performance is mid-day, so that’s when I try to get the most skating in, and then I obsess on all of the wellness feedback I get afterwards,” Hawk told PCMag. “When I was younger, I just kinda skated all day—I spent every waking moment that I wasn’t at school at the skate park, or at the ramp. Nowadays I’ve got to plan ahead, I’ve got more obligations, and I’m just older, so there’s a recovery element that I have to consider.” 

The famous skateboarder, 54, who spent much of 2022 sidelined due to a broken femur(Opens in a new window), also discussed his mindset heading into next month’s X Games Japan 2023, where he will compete(Opens in a new window) in Skateboard Vert Best Trick. Hawk says he’s been “on the right recovery path” since undergoing a second surgery to reposition the broken bone in November, but acknowledged that training has been “challenging, to say the least.” 

“There are things that I used to take for granted in skating—moves or techniques that I could do easily, that do not come easily anymore,” Hawk said. Celebrating the small day-to-day wins is key to keeping up morale, he added. 

“Now I’m actually starting to explore some new tricks that have not been done before,” Hawk said. “That’s been really exciting.” 

The skateboarder credits technology like the new CZ Smart PQ2 watch for helping him stay competitive as he gets older. 

“I’m so thankful to live in this age of technology,” Hawk said. “If this were 20 years ago, and someone was my age trying to be a professional skateboarder, that was just not in the cards. That wasn’t even something that you would consider. I do think that because I have this technology at my fingertips, it’s allowing me to do this at an age when people thought it’d be time to hang it up, or definitely not be doing it in public.”

CZ Smart models, left to right: casual touch screen, sport touch screen, hybrid
(Credit: Citizen)

Priced from $350 to $435, the Gen-2 Citizen CZ Smart PQ2 smartwatch comes in three styles: sport touch screen, casual touch screen, and hybrid. Touch screen models feature a 1.28-inch AMOLED display, while the hybrid version features a 1.1-inch backlit E Ink display with analog hands for a more traditional look.

Touch screen models are available for pre-order now and slated to ship in early May. Hybrid models will be available for pre-order on May 1 for an estimated May 27 ship date. 

The watch works with the Citizen Connected mobile app, and supports phones running the latest version of Android (with the exception of Go Edition models and phones without the Google Play Store) and iOS. The hybrid version promises an impressive 18 days of battery life on a charge, while touch screen models will need to be charged daily.

All models come with Amazon Alexa preinstalled, and the touch screen versions feature several other notable third-party fitness and lifestyle apps including Spotify, Strava, and YouTube Music. Based on its advertised specs and features, the Gen-2 CZ Smart PQ2 seems like a compelling Wear OS smartwatch, so stay tuned for our full review.

(Credit: Citizen)