I’ve owned every CMF watch, from the first CMF Watch Pro 1 to this new Watch 3 Pro, so I was really excited to see how they’ve improved. I’m not a pro athlete; I just want something that looks good, handles my daily notifications, and doesn’t need charging every single night. Here are my thoughts after using it for almost a month!
(Thanks @Deepanshu_Saini_ for the invite to the Community Review Program!)
The Look & Feel:
Right out of the box, you can really feel and see how they’ve improved over time. It genuinely looks and feels way more expensive than it is. The aluminum alloy case feels solid and the whole design is just so sleek and unique in that signature CMF / Nothing style. It’s also super lightweight and comfortable. They even improved the little details, like the wristband. The little gummy thing that holds the strap in place is way better now and actually stays put which it didn’t on the Watch Pro 2/1. Honestly, I’ve had it on 24/7 and it hasn’t bothered me one bit. The rotating crown is another nice touch with a satisfying little vibration that makes it feel premium. The screen size is perfect, and it gets super bright, making it easy to read in all conditions, both inside and outside. I’m a bit disappointed that they removed the interchangeable bezels from the last model. These were a cool feature because they let you personalise the watch even further. I’m hoping they’ll bring those options back for the next Watch, since CMF Phone 2 Pro + Headphone Pro still give you plenty of options in that regard.
The Daily Grind:
For my everyday needs, the watch gets the core job done. Notifications from my phone come through reliably. A pitty is still that you can only reply with a few pre-set messages. There’s no way to type out a quick response or use your voice, which feels like a missed opportunity. A little annoyance for me is that when I read a notification on the watch, it stays unread on my phone, so I end up having to clear things in two places.
In terms of battery life, it lasts around a week and a half, and I only needed to charge it twice during the review period. I had enabled most functions, except for the always-on display. I also enabled sleep mode to prevent the watch from waking up when I turn my wrist around in the middle of the night or when I receive notifications.
The Software Experience:
Overall the software felt pretty smooth and the new integration into the Nothing X App makes the whole expierience even better. The connection to the Nothing X app has been perfect. I’ve had no disconnections or log outs like I’d experienced when I used the old CMF Watch app, which is a huge improvement 🙌 The ChatGPT integration is neat, but I never found a real use for it. On top of that, it’s missing some key features, like NFC for payments. It feels like there’s a bit missed potential here. Although the watch doesn’t use Wear OS so I’m not even sure if NFC would be an option at all. As we all know, you need to charge a Wear OS watch every day. So there’s a trade-off either way.
Health Tracking:
As I said during the introduction bit, I’m no athlete or sporty person at all. So I can’t speak I in that regard and gonna skip that bit. Tho I used the sleep tracking with advanced tracking enabled and it sometimes still said I was asleep when I know for a fact I was awake. The heart rate seems to be steady and correct (I don’t have professional equipment to test it), but I used a heart rate sensor that you can clip on your finger, and it was always pretty much the same.
Final Thoughts: So, who should actually buy this?
The CMF Watch 3 Pro is a “style-first” smartwatch.
You should buy it if you care more about aesthetics than anything else. If you’re looking for a beautiful watch with a fluid screen, and you can overlook some software bugs, such as those I experienced with sleep tracking, then the design and build quality make it a compelling choice at this price. They have consistently improved their watches with each generation and rolled out regular firmware updates to refine their existing products even further.
However, if you’re someone for example who can’t live without NFC for payments, you might find it’s not the right fit for you.
