CMF Watch 3 Pro Review: Subtle changes, big value

Best Prices Today: CMF Watch 3 Pro

Nothing’s line-up of budget wearables returns with the CMF Watch 3 Pro, adding some new features whilst taking a crucial one away.

For a smartwatch brand that hasn’t been around all that long (two years by my count), it’s surprising to see just how much reinvention the CMF Watch Pro line has undergone.

The original square-shaped CMF Watch Pro felt like a more wallet-friendly alternative to the Apple Watch, while the CMF Watch Pro 2 went in a completely different direction, adopting a circular chassis and a modular build that would let you swap in new bezels depending on your tastes.

With the Watch 3 Pro however, CMF has gone down yet another different route, looking to improve the device’s smart capabilities whilst doing away with that aforementioned modularity.

As someone who loved the idea of being creative with your smartwatch’s design, I was sceptical about how much enjoyment I could get out of the Watch 3 Pro, but after having used the device for over a week, I’m glad to say that CMF still knows what it’s doing. 

Design & Build

• Swappable bezels are no more
• Still not suitable for pools and other water
• CMF has a good eye for style

On the surface, it might seem as though not that much has changed between the CMF Watch Pro 2 and its successor, and from a stylistic point of view, I’m inclined to agree.

The colourways are mostly the same, although you do get a rather fetching near-white Light Grey option this time around, and CMF has decided to stick with the circular chassis. What has been done away with, however, is the modularity that came before.

Being able to swap bezels to match different moods or outfits was a big highlight of the Watch Pro 2, and it showed – at least to me – that CMF understood that one of the biggest features of a timepiece should be its style.

I’ve always loved being able to change to a different watch band on my Apple Watch SE 2, depending on what the day has in store, and I’m constantly swapping between watch faces throughout the year, so the ability to take that freedom of expression one step further was a huge win, and it’s a shame to see it taken away.

At the very least, the CMF Watch 3 Pro is far from an ugly device. In fact, I honestly think that it’s the nicest-looking wearable that you can find for under £100/$100. The brushed stainless steel-look of the bezels (especially on the Dark Grey option I have in for review) makes the watch look far more expensive than it actually is.

There’s also just a single input in the form of a small rotating crown that can also be pushed to take you back to the homescreen. It adheres to a strictly minimalist vibe that you’d expect to see from a Scandinavian watchmaker, and having used the more expensive and far less eye-catching TicWatch range for many years, it’s impressive to see CMF’s design philosophy come together in this way.

I do wish that the rotating crown was just slightly bigger, though, as I found it a tad difficult to get a hold of at times, which made using the touchscreen to scroll through menus a more preferable option.

What is sure to put some buyers off immediately is that, in spite of an official IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, meaning it can be dunked in up to 1.1m of fresh water for up to 30 minutes, the watch is still not suitable for swimming in a pool or various other watery situations.

“The watch should not be worn in swimming pools, shallow water, hot showers, hot springs, saunas (steam rooms), scuba diving, deep diving, platform diving, high-pressure rinsing or during activities with high water pressure, high temperatures or high water levels,” warns the firm.

If lane swimming is your workout of choice, then you may want to give the Fitbit Charge 6 a look instead, but if you’re more of a runner or cyclist, then it’s not the end of the world.

Screen & Audio

• A slightly larger 1.43-inch display
• Can be tricky to read against direct sunlight
• Audio via the onboard speaker is clear

Offering something in return for the lack of modularity, CMF has seen fit to bestow the Watch 3 Pro with a slightly larger 1.43-inch display (up from 1.32-inch).

Having that extra real estate gives all aspects of the UI, whether that be the included watch faces or post-workout data, room to spread out, making it all easy to read.

Just like before, the watch uses an AMOLED panel, which pairs really well with the mostly monochrome but highly stylised watch faces that CMF has put together. In fact, I was slightly taken aback by how much I liked the watch faces on offer – this is an area that companies tend to overlook, so to see CMF create an exciting range of options is greatly appreciated.

The Digits Time face, with its bold numbers and quick display of the date, ended up becoming an instant favourite over the course of this review.

Even though the screen’s brightness has also seen an increase from 620 nits to 650 nits, it could do with a lot more. I was disappointed to find that the display is quite tricky to read in direct sunlight.

When going for a lunchtime walk on a particularly sunny day, I had to hold the watch up closer to my eyes than usual, just to make out what the time was. As you might imagine, this was never an issue when looking at the watch indoors, but it did have me longing for another watch when I was out and about.

There’s a built-in speaker on the watch, which can be used to listen to Essential News (more on that later) and take calls. The speaker itself doesn’t get quite as loud as other smartwatches, but the quality is clear for what it is, and you won’t have a hard time understanding what’s being said.

Software & Features

• No access to third-party apps
• Plenty of core smartwatch features such as calendar access and notifications
• Essential News is an interesting idea but needs work

Before detailing what this watch can do, I think it’s worth ripping off the plaster right away with regard to the smart features it lacks.

There’s no NFC, so you won’t be using the watch to pay for anything, and because this uses Nothing’s proprietary operating system and not Wear OS, you won’t be getting access to third-party apps. It’s definitely a scaled-back experience compared to what you’ll find on something like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8, but when you’re reminded of the fact that it’s only £99/$99, I think that you still get quite a lot for the price.

For example, the watch can be used to summon your voice assistant of choice on your phone, such as Siri or Google Gemini (it’s compatible with iPhone and Android), and you can wirelessly activate your phone’s shutter button, which can help you to take group pictures from a distance.

This all sits on top of the standard smartwatch fare, such as notifications, alarms, calendar access and more, but there are a few features that are unique to the watch, chief among them being ‘Essential News’.

Setting this up requires you to go into the Nothing X app, choose the topics that interest you the most and then, through the power of AI, Essential News will read you the latest headlines pertaining to your chosen topics, all with the voice of Nothing CFO Tim Holbrow. It’s bizarre and very futuristic, but I do like it – to a degree.

On the one hand, I can see the appeal in a feature like this – using the speaker on your smartwatch to quickly run through the top headlines of the day as you’re getting ready for work. The problem is that with AI involved, I can’t say for certain whether or not some of the information is the result of a hallucination or human error.

For example, the first story that was suggested to me was about poor Tom Holland receiving a concussion on the set of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The report noted that the film was to be Holland’s fourth appearance as the famed web-slinger, but anyone who’s seen the last two Avengers movies (or even Captain America: Civil War) will know that that’s not the case.

Either way, because I can’t say for sure where the error came from, it’s not a feature that I can rely on for accurate news. Having a link to a written version of the story would help.

Still, the software experience that CMF has put together is nice overall, especially compared to some other cheap wearables. Everything is clearly labelled and I didn’t pick up on any major stuttering as I scrolled from one menu to the next, although it would be nice if the main app drawer did have a bit more colour as it currently leans a bit too hard into CMF’s signature palette.

On a side note, the haptic feedback on the watch could do with being just a bit more powerful. You can crank it up in the settings menu, but the default mode is fairly subdued, and it’s easy to miss as an alarm, especially if you’re a deep sleeper.

Fitness & Health Tracking

• Plenty of workouts to be tracked
• Running coach included
• Can’t track swimming and water sports

Aside from the lack of swimming options, the CMF Watch 3 Pro does have a lot going for it when it comes to running and other activities. In fact, I was a little shocked to see just how many workouts can be tracked from the near-endless list that CMF lets you choose from in the accompanying Nothing X app.

There are all sorts, from football to karate, javelin and even ballet, so if you have a niche activity that you like to partake in then there’s a good chance that the Watch 3 Pro can track it.

If you’re more into running, or you’re looking to make it part of your regular routine, then there are even more features to make use of.

There’s a built-in running coach to help you meet whichever goal you have in mind, giving you practical advice when you’re out on the track, and thanks to dual-band GPS (normally found on expensive watches), you don’t even have to bring your phone with you to track your route.

In my testing, it only took six seconds to establish a GPS connection on my usual route, so you won’t be waiting around long.

The watch also comes with sleep tracking, which, similar to what Apple now provides thanks to its most recent update, provides a sleep score to let you know at a glance whether or not you’ve had a decent amount of rest.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any written explanation or advice that might help to break down the sleep data that’s captured – something that you do get with the Huawei Watch GT 6 Pro and the cheaper GT 6.

When it comes to heart rate tracking, the CMF Watch 3 Pro did surprise me a little, but it’s far from being bang on the money. When used alongside the chest-worn Garmin HRM 600, the Watch 3 Pro was typically within 1-2 beats per minute of the peak captured by Garmin’s band, which is decent, but on average BPM, the difference was sometimes off the mark by 5BPM, which is more of an issue.

As a result, I’d recommend using the heart rate data from the Watch 3 Pro as a reasonable estimate as opposed to an objective metric.

One gripe I do have with CMF’s software, and I’m surprised that it’s been overlooked, is that you can’t access your workout records and the data therein on your smartphone. In order to go back and check on your performance, you’ll need to do it all on the watch, which is far from ideal.

Whether it be a Garmin device, Apple Watch or one of the many Wear OS watches I’ve tested, I’ve always used the accompanying smartphone app to check my performance after a workout, so for that to be unavailable here feels strange.

Battery life & charging

• Longer battery life of up to 13-days
• Roughly four days of use with always-on display plus workouts
• Charging to full takes roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes

Because of its slightly larger display, the CMF Watch 3 Pro now packs a bigger battery capacity as well, with a claimed endurance of up to 13-days on a single charge.

I always find that stats like that are captured when a smartwatch is used for almost nothing other than notifications and sleep tracking, so I wanted to see what the longevity would really be like with the always-on display toggled and several workouts tracked.

With this usage, I was able to get through just over four days of use (including five-nights of sleep tracking) before the battery died. While that’s quite a difference compared to CMF’s 13-day claim, I’m sure that you can stretch the battery life for quite a bit longer by disabling the always-on display and opting against using the dual-band GPS tracking.

Plus, even activating those features, you’ll still be able to get through a weekend without worry, which is more than can be said for most big-brand smartwatches, which can struggle to last 24 hours in some cases.

Charging isn’t the speediest experience, as it took about one hour and 28 minutes to fully top up the battery from 0%, but I did claw back 47% after a 30-minute stint, which should be more than enough to get you through a day or two.

Word of warning, though, you may want to double check that the charging cable is firmly secured before leaving it to get on with its business. The proprietary magnetic connector is a bit on the flimsy side and can come loose if you’re not careful. 

Price & Availability

All four colourways of the CMF Watch 3 Pro (Dark Grey, Light Grey, Light Green and Orange) are priced at £99/$99/€99, and are now available to purchase in the UK, US and the EU.

You can buy it from Nothing’s official store as well as Amazon UK and Amazon US.

At this end of the market, there aren’t too many smartwatches that can compete with the Watch 3 Pro, with the closest alternative from big brands being the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE, which retails at £199/$249.99 and the Huawei Watch Fit 4 at £149.

Check out our rundown of the best budget smartwatches to see what the wearable is up against. You might also want to consider a fitness tracker, although there is a trade-off with the smart functionality on offer.

For instance, the Fitbit Charge 6 can provide Google Pay and YouTube Music controls, but it doesn’t have quick access to Siri and Google Gemini.

Should you buy the CMF Watch 3 Pro?

Even though it has lost one of the defining features that allowed its predecessor to stand out in the market, I still find myself very impressed with the CMF Watch 3 Pro.

With a price tag that massively undercuts most other smartwatches, and a style that also shows them up, it’s very easy to recommend to folks who don’t want to spend too much money but don’t want a basic fitness tracker either.

You can track plenty of workouts on this thing, and access key aspects of your smartphone on a large display that’s a joy to look at, most of the time. It’s only really held back by its lack of true waterproofing, NFC and screen brightness.

Other than that, CMF has once again shown why it’s a force to be reckoned with on the budget market.

Specs

• 1.43-inch display
• AMOLED panel
• 650 nits peak brightness
• 350mAh battery
• Up to 13-day battery life
• Dual-band GPS
• Bluetooth 5.3
• IP68 dust and water resistant
• Android & iPhone compatible

Best Prices Today: CMF Watch 3 Pro