Photo: Atomic811
Citizen AT0200-05E Eco-Drive Review & Complete Guide
A watch doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars to be great. The fact is that there are many high-quality affordable watches on the market that offer great value for money. But for every great affordable watch, there are hundreds of low-quality affordable watches that are not well-built and are simply not worthy of buying.
There are a few brands that make exceptionally high-quality affordable watches, and Citizen is certainly worthy of being on that list.
If you are looking for an affordable military-style chronograph that has a clean and timeless design, great functions, a high quality and great reliability, the Citizen Citizen AT0200-05E Eco-Drive Eco-Drive may be the watch for you.
In this article, we are going to review and look closer at the Citizen Citizen AT0200-05E Eco-Drive Eco-Drive.
Citizen AT0200-05E Eco-Drive review
The citizen Citizen AT0200-05E Eco-Drive is priced at around 200-300 USD and offers exceptional value for money. It has most of the things you may want and need in a pilot’s chronograph watch but offers it at an irresistible price. With that said, it’s easy to understand why this watch is so immensely popular, but let’s look at this watch in detail to understand what it is about.
Citizen AT0200-05E Eco-Drive case
What first meets the eye when looking at the AT0200-05E is its sporty and tool-like case. It has a diameter of 41mm which is a good size for a pilot’s watch and generally a size most men with a normal or large wrist can wear. What does make this watch wear a bit bigger, however, is that its lugs are relatively long, with a lug-to-lug measurement of 45mm. This measurement is not uncommonly heard of for a 41mm watch, but it may mean that for smaller wrists, the lugs can point out. The case length excluding the lugs is 38mm. It has a reasonable thickness of 11 millimeters.
What adds to the sporty appeal of this watch is that It has satin-brushed lugs. At the same time, these are nicely contrasted by a polished bezel which also enhances the feeling of quality. Overall, the case feels very solid and robust – as you would expect from a tool watch like this one.
The case has surprisingly small crown guards and this can be both a positive and a negative. The positives are that it doesn’t make the watch unnecessarily clumsy and bulky, and also allows for easy access to the crown. The negative, however, is that the crown is not fully protected from external forces.
Photo: Watchbrandsshop
We love the design of the chronograph pushers of this watch which have been polished. The pushers are very similar to those used by IWC for their pilots’ watches, which is the worldwide king when it comes to pilot watches.
Placed at the standard 3 o’clock position, we have a crown that points relatively far out from the case. The crown is heavily knurled which allows for a good grip but also looks very sporty. A downside of the crown is that because it points out so far from the case, it risks digging into the hand which naturally affects the comfort of this piece, but just make sure it sits higher on the wrist and you won’t have this issue.
A common feature of watches is that when the lugs are brushed on the top, the case tends to be polished on the sides, but Citizen keeps the tool-like look by also making the sides of the case satin-finished.
The watch offers a water resistance of 100 meters. This is not insanely impressive, but it’s what we would expect from a pilot’s watch. Remember, this is not a diver’s watch.
This means that you can carefully swim with it, but it’s not suitable for diving or longer periods underwater.
Movement
The watch is powered by a quartz movement, which can scare a lot of watch enthusiasts away but don’t disregard this watch just yet.
What makes this watch (and movement) truly special is actually what is hidden inside. As the name suggests, this watch is an ”Eco-Drive”, but what does that actually mean?
Citizen invented the Eco-Drive feature in 1976 and has refined and improved the technology ever since. Eco-Drive means that the movement uses any sort of light to power it. Unlike most solar watches, it does not need direct sunlight. In fact, any ambient light is sufficient to power it. As it absorbs light and converts it to energy, it is charged and can operate even when you are wearing it in the dark. The great thing about this is that it is technically a quartz watch on which you won’t have to replace the battery. Sweet.
Another benefit of a quartz watch is of course that it is much cheaper to maintain than an automatic watch and much more accurate.
The chronograph function operates smoothly and easily by pressing the chronograph buttons which are easy to access and use.
Dial
This is a military watch, and with that said, it has a dial that offers great legibility.
The dial has large numerals from one to twelve around the dial which have been printed in white and provide a great contrast against the matte black dial.
Around the outer edge of the dial, there is a printed ”railroad track” for the seconds markings, and on each five-minute, there is a luminous dot. The railroad track resemblance definitely adds to the military-vibe and tool-like look of this watch.
The watch features a large sword-shaped minute and hour hands made of polished metal. The hands have applied luminescence to them for reading in the dark. What stands out the most about this otherwise relatively monochrome dial is the bright red chronograph hand. This adds some color to the dial and matches the text ”WR100” which is also printed in red on the dial.
The watch has a chronograph layout with sub-dials positioned at 2, 6, and 10. At 4 o’clock, we have a date window. The sub-dials display 1-second, 60 minutes, and 12/24-hour time.
Due to the large numerals, the dial has very little ”white space”. To some, it can feel a bit cluttered, but at the same time, the large numerals which take up most of the space are there for a reason and serve an important purpose for the feel of this watch.
Sitting above the dial is a mineral crystal. This is not as hard as sapphire crystal, but it is hard enough to withstand scratches from daily wear. It is if you abuse it that the crystal may acquire scratches over time.
Strap
The watch comes presented on a military green canvas band. And what better color for a military watch than a military green strap?
The strap matches very well with the look and design of the watch.
For improved comfort, it has a leather lining.
Specifications
- Diameter: 41mm
- Case length excluding lugs: 38mm:
- Thickness: 11 millimeters.
- Lug-to-lug: 45mm
- Crystal: Mineral crystal
Pros and cons
Pros
- Extremely legible
- Great value for money
- High quality
- Well finished
- Interesting Eco-Drive technology
- Accurate
- Very durable
- No need to change the battery
Cons
- Not suitable for diving
- Quartz (for everyone who satisfies with nothing less than a mechanical watch)
- Not a very universal design – works mainly as a casual watch
Conclusion
All in all, it’s safe to say that the Citizen AT0200-05E Eco-Drive is a watch that offers great value for money. It has a great design, a high build quality, and is well-finished.
It’s a very sporty military timepiece that works great as a casual everyday timepiece, and it is durable enough to take a beating. It’s definitely a watch that we recommend.
The Citizen AT0200-05E Eco-Drive is available to order on Amazon.
