CMF Watch Pro Review
I have been using the Watch Pro for a couple of weeks now, and I want to share my experience with this bargain budget smartwatch compared to the Garmin Fenix 3.
Design and Comfort
The Watch Pro has a sleek and shiny appearance, with a large screen that is easily visible at wrist length. I have seen comments that the watch seems large, but honestly I would not ask for it any smaller. I have the orange version, and I like how the colour scheme works well with the watch itself. It really stands out (in a good way).
The watch is surprisingly light for its size, and it does not feel bulky or uncomfortable on my wrist. The strap is also comfortable, and it has a clever mechanism of poking the excess strap through to the underneath of the rest of the strap to keep it fastened securely. This is something that annoys me on my Garmin, where the loose bit often flaps around. The strap also feels like good quality material that will last a while. It’s also a standard 22 mm strap, so can be swapped out for another strap really easily.
The screen options are nice as the layout is customisable from a list of set templates. The obvious next step would be to allow for more custom watch faces though e.g. being able to edit what data are shown – maybe I don’t care about calories and want to show my battery life instead, or maybe I don’t want heart rate and want a date field instead. That sort of thing. At the moment it is a little limited, even though the designs are nice.
For the cons for this section, I do prefer the screen on the Garmin. There’s no getting around it; a MIP screen is just the superior option for a watch in my opinion. It is based on reflective LEDs, so they are always visible when it’s light without a need for AOD and there is a backlight for when it’s dark, and it just makes sense. It’s also massively more power efficient and doesn’t mean the brightness level needs adjusting constantly based on how bright it is outside. But I digress, it’s very uncommon for watches to adopt that approach and is not a specific gripe for the Watch Pro.
Battery Life
One of the most impressive features of the Watch Pro is its battery life. It is comparable to the Garmin Fenix 3, which is known for its long-lasting battery. I am getting about a week from my battery life, and that includes having the health monitoring features active constantly, notifications and regular sports tracking. This is very impressive for any smartwatch, let alone a budget watch, and it means I do not have to worry about charging it every day or so. This is even without using a power-efficient screen like a MIP screen, imagine how good it would be with one!
Notifications and Apps
The Watch Pro can receive notifications from various apps on my phone, and I can choose which ones I want to see on my watch. This is very useful for staying updated on important messages or events without having to check my phone all the time. However, not all apps are available for notifications, and some of them that are available quite obscure or irrelevant. For example, I could not get calendar notifications on my watch, even though other Google apps and even some apps that do not send notifications were options. This is something that I would like to see addressed in future updates.
The watch also has some built-in apps that are very useful, such as media controls, camera remote and torch. These are features that I do not have on my Garmin, and they are definitely nice to have. They work well and are easy to access from the watch menu.
The watch also has speakers and a mic, which my Garmin also does not have. I have not used them for calling yet, but I have used them for talking to the Google Assistant. The Google Assistant works nicely on the watch, and it can perform various tasks such as setting reminders, checking the weather or searching for information. The speakers are not great quality, but they are definitely sufficient for a budget smartwatch.
Health Tracking
The Watch Pro has various health tracking features, such as heart rate monitor, stress monitor, blood oxygen monitor and sleep monitor. These features seem accurate, as long as the watch is worn securely on the wrist. If I wear it loosely, it often reads my heart rate as higher than what it actually is, but that is a common problem with any wrist-based heart rate monitor. Other than that, it all seems good on the health tracking front!
Sports Tracking
The Watch Pro has many sports modes to choose from, ranging from common ones like running or cycling to more obscure ones like kite flying. However, this is where the Watch Pro lets me down unfortunately. The sports modes are not very well designed or customisable, and they do not offer much information or feedback on your performance.
First of all, some sports modes are missing or unavailable due to insufficient waterproofing of the watch. For example, there is no swimming or kayaking mode, which are two activities that would like to be able to track. This means that I cannot use the Watch Pro for tracking these sports at all.
Secondly, many of the sports modes seem redundant or unnecessary. For example, there are three different modes for walking/hiking: outdoor walk, hiking and mountain hike. I do not think it needs all of these modes, just one overarching one to cover any form of walking/hiking would be enough. In general, most of the modes do not differ much from each other in terms of data displayed or recorded. They sometimes change units or omit certain fields depending on the mode, and change the label on the activity at the end. A lot of them just boil down to the time spent doing the activity honestly. I would also like to see options to get cadence for running or on a rowing machine (or anything involving reps).
Thirdly, the sports modes are not very customisable or flexible. I cannot change the units, the fields or the layout of the data displayed on the watch screen. I also cannot create my own custom modes or profiles for different activities. This means that I have to stick with the default settings, which may not suit my preferences or needs. For example, when I use the cycling mode I might want to delete the HR monitor field if I mount the watch on my handelbars, and use that field for something else. Or maybe I want to change my running pace from min/km to miles per hour, or even just switch from metric to imperial units.
The sports modes also do not give me much feedback or analysis on my performance after the activity. They only show me basic stats like duration, distance, calories and average heart rate. They do not show me any graphs, splits, zones or trends. They also do not sync with any third-party apps or platforms like Strava or Google Fit, where I could get more insights and share my activities with others, nor can I load in GPS tracks to follow.
Finally, this is another area where a MIP screen is just by far the better choice – a MIP screen is always on and always visible, but with the Watch Pro I have to move my wrist and wait for it to wake up before I can see the data I want. It just seems to take too long compared to a quick glance at my wrist, especially if I’m cycling and don’t even have it on my wrist and thus have to press the button to wake it up manually.
This means that I do have to use my Garmin Fenix 3 for any serious sports tracking, and the Watch Pro only for casual or occasional activities. This is a shame, because I would like to use the Watch Pro as my main sports watch, but it does not offer me enough features or functionality for that. That said, it is a lot more affordable compared to my Garmin while offering the basics required for sports tracking! And I did splurge on the Garmin specifically for how good the sports tracking is, so it is defitely an unfair comparison 😅
Conclusion
The Watch Pro is a good budget smartwatch that offers a lot of features and a long battery life. It is comfortable to wear, easy to use and has a nice design. It can receive notifications from various apps, has some useful built-in apps and can talk to the Google Assistant. It also has various health tracking features that seem accurate and reliable. I don’t think there’s anything out there that can match the features, user-friendliness and result of the Watch Pro within an even remotely similar price range.
However, a caveat is that the Watch Pro is not very good for sports tracking. It lacks some sports modes, has too many redundant ones and does not allow much customisation or feedback. It also does not sync with any third-party apps or platforms for more analysis or sharing.
Therefore, I would recommend the Watch Pro to anyone who is looking for a budget smartwatch that can do a lot of things, but if you are serious about sports tracking or want more advanced features then you may want to consider upping your price range to get more premium sports trackers.
