CMF Watch Pro By Nothing Review: A Great Value Smartwatch, But Not Perfect
CMF Watch Pro: 1 minute review
The CMF Watch Pro is surprisingly affordable at just $69 / £69 / AU$142, but it still feels premium. When I switched from the (relatively expensive) Amazfit Balance to this watch, I was afraid that the experience would be full of frustrations and limitations, but instead I really enjoyed trying it out.
Although the design is clearly inspired by Apple, it is still attractive. It looks great on the wrist, the materials and craftsmanship are top-notch, and Nothing's signature design language comes in a full library of aesthetic and functional dials. This watch is thick but very light and comfortable to wear.
Of course, with such a low price, it lacks many of the features now available on more expensive smartwatches. There's no built-in Wi-Fi, no payment system, and most features require a smartphone connection, but I think the Watch Pro covers enough basics to satisfy most users.
The frustration comes when you realize the effort it takes to connect the watch to the phone. The connection constantly drops, meaning you won't receive any notifications and many features will be unavailable until you open the smartphone app and reconnect your phone.
I hope the software improves as it matures, and to be honest, there have been quite a few updates in the few weeks I've been using it. That said, it's still a good smartwatch at a great price, but there's definitely room for improvement.
CMF Watch Pro: specifications
CMF Watch Pro: price and availability
£69 in the UK
$69 in the US
AU$131 in Australia
The biggest advantage of the CMF Watch Pro is its low price. While it's very similar to the Apple Watch, its price puts it in closer competition with the Xiaomi Smart Band 8, Fitbit Inspire 3, and Amazfit Bip 5. All good watches have their features, but no two are the same. Similar to the Premium CMF option.
Launched in September 2023 as CMF's first product under the Nothing brand, alongside several headphones and chargers.
Now available direct from Nothing and through various authorized retailers in the UK. Available on Amazon in the US and AliExpress in Australia.
CMF Watch Pro: design and appearance
The CMF Watch Pro is a fairly large watch, and while I think it looks good on my wrist, it's worth noting that I'm a man and I'm over 6 feet tall—it would probably look busier on a taller or smaller wrist.
The watch is only a few millimeters smaller than the Apple Watch Ultra, so it's quite bulky, but it wears well. It's also very light, weighing less than 50 grams with a silicone strap, so you can barely feel it on your wrist, but you can see it.
I was sent the dark gray version to test and I think it's the better of the two versions. The Metallic Gray option has a smooth, almost mirror-like finish similar to the Google Pixel Watch 2, and while it looks great, I know I have to worry about scratches and smudges. The dark gray variant is anodized with a stronger matte finish and paired with a gray or dark gray sport strap, with the bright orange strap only available on the metallic version.
The right side has buttons and a speaker, while the other side is blank and minimalist. At the bottom you'll find a set of four optical sensors for fitness tracking and two Pogo Pin pads that connect to a magnetic charging pad.
The screen is large, sharp and bright and responds very quickly to touch input. There are big jars everywhere, but for the most part you would never know it. The user interface has a black background and most of the dials are dark in color. This means you will rarely see these oversized glasses unless you are really looking for them.
My biggest complaint with the screen isn't the fault of the screen itself, but simply the lack of an ambient light sensor on the watch. This means that, in most cases, the screen is too bright or too dark. Fortunately, it only takes a few clicks to adjust the brightness, but this is a problem not found on the more expensive watches on the market.
CMF Watch Pro: features
As you would expect from a watch at this price point, its functionality is rather limited compared to a Wear OS device or Apple Watch. There is no app store, everything you can use is pre-installed and ready to use. However, the most commonly used smartwatch features are available here and are enough to meet most people's needs.
Since there is no WiFi on board, you must use the Internet for all functions: B. Weather information must be connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth. The CMF Watch app is available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, making it easy to get started.
Most features of the CMF Watch Pro can be accessed by clicking the button on the right. In the resulting menu you'll find everything from timers and alarms to music control, phone calls, and fitness tracking. When you open the workout app, you'll find a comprehensive list of 110 different activities to choose from. I was pleasantly surprised to see some of my more unusual hobbies, like skating and snowboarding, represented here, so chances are your favorite sport is on the list.
Most trackers work the same way, measuring heart rate, exercise time, and location data (if applicable). For casual users, this information is sufficient, but for serious fitness enthusiasts it may be a little lacking. For example, you can't use a watch to track your reps during strength training.
The CMF Watch Pro can also check your stress levels and blood oxygen levels and monitor them 24/7 if you want, although this comes at the expense of battery life. I personally prefer to leave the default 24/7 heart rate monitoring setting enabled and manually enable the other sensors.
As long as you connect it to your phone and the feature works well enough, you can make and receive calls directly from the watch. My friends told me that my voice was clear and crisp, and thanks to the very powerful built-in speaker, I could hear it well too. The only annoyance is that you have to manually add contacts to the watch. This is not displayed by default. So, before you call people out of the blue, you need to make some arrangements.
One feature that I think is really cool is the camera remote, which allows you to take photos or start a timer using the watch. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to work with the Vivo X100 Pro, and the documentation says it won't work with the iPhone either. However, I've seen it demonstrated on other Android devices and it might be useful if yours does it too.
CMF Watch Pro: performance
Battery life up to 13 days
Heart rate, sleep, stress and SpO2 monitoring
Integrated multi-system GPS
The CMF Watch Pro is advertised as having up to 13 days of battery life per charge, but of course it all depends on how you use it. Personally I use it with an always-on display, 24/7 heart rate monitoring and notifications enabled for all the most used apps. With this setup you can charge the device approximately every five days.
When it's time to charge, do it with the unique magnetic charging puck. The connectors are a little flimsy and I think they could benefit from magnets or stronger edges to hold them in place as it's very easy to accidentally remove them. However, it does its job quite well and can recharge the battery in less than 2 hours.
There's no information about the processor powering the watch and not much information about the operating system. I can tell you that this watch felt fast and responsive while I was wearing it and I never experienced any freezing or stuttering while using the watch. When it comes to fitness tracking, it's hard to judge how accurate the measurements are, but step counts were always close to what I'm used to on other devices, and my average and maximum heart rates were very similar. I took the measurements with my Amazfit Balance. The only oddity is that sometimes I think I fell asleep while relaxing and watching TV, so the sleep data may not be the most reliable.
Other than that, the only real performance issue I encountered was the connection between the CMF Watch Pro and my phone. If I haven't used the CMF Watch app recently, the Bluetooth connection will randomly drop, meaning there will be no notification until the app reopens, at which point it will appear to restart the connection.
This happens every day, without exception, and no matter how many times I authorize the CMF Watch app, nothing seems to change. I tried pairing the watch with several phones and the results were always the same, so this isn't an isolated case. On the bright side, there has been at least one firmware update per week since testing, so there's nothing actively working to improve the experience. I noticed that one of these updates offers better Bluetooth connection stability.
CMF Watch Pro: dashboard
CMF Watch Pro: should I buy it?
Buy if...
Don't buy if...
CMF Watch Pro: Consider this too
CMF Watch Pro: here's how I tested it
Our reviewer wore the CMF Watch Pro as his primary smartwatch for more than two weeks, accompanying him on commutes, trips, and during regular workouts. For most of the testing period, the device was paired with the Vivo X100 Pro, but for comparison it was also tested with Honor and Google Pixel smartphones.
The tracking results were compared with historical results from Amazfit Balance and TicWatch Pro 5, as well as with the smartphone's built-in pedometer and the Strava app for GPS accuracy.
