CMF Watch Pro Review: Definitive Debutante Designed To Impress

Colour, Material, and Finish - that's what Nothing's new sub-brand CMF stands for. The company recently released its first batch of products, including the CMF Watch Pro that promises great features at a fraction of the price of high-end smartwatches. Have you been planning to buy this smartwatch by CMF? Keep reading this review to find out if it's the right choice for you.

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Design, Display, and Performance

The CMF Watch Pro sports a square 1.96-inch AMOLED display with 600 nits of peak brightness and 410 x 502 resolution. In outdoor situations, the visibility is excellent. We need to better understand Nothing and CMF's philosophy to perceive their products through the right lens. Minimalist innovation is at the heart of all-things-Nothing and using the watch made me feel that way.

Usually, smartwatches these days try too hard to act like a smartphone - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes it can get in the way of what you're trying to achieve on a smartwatch. For instance, a crowded menu screen means you'll have to work extra to find the feature you're looking for - especially in this price range. With CMF Watch Pro's OS, the company has succeeded in keeping it straightforward - with an understated design and straightforward features that users seek out.

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I would have liked to use the orange colour strap but got my hands on the dark grey variant instead. The strap is made out of silicon. The strap goes under a crevice, instead of being tucked on the outside, which is a slight annoyance, but I don't mind it much, and neither will you; unless you keep taking your watch on and off all day.

Also read: Nothing Phone (2) Review: An Indie Darling With A Unique Android Experience

On the watch itself, you'll see the speaker and a single button. This button is your primary way to navigate through the watch. To set up the watch and to customise it, you need to use the CMF Watch App that is available on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Among basic features are staples of smartwatches - sleep tracking (which can be inaccurate by 30 minutes), heart rate and blood oxygen (mostly accurate), stress measurement (a personal favourite on smartwatches), activity tracking, notifications - all supported by an always-on display.

Also read: Boult Crown R Pro Review: Stylish And Feature-Packed Smartwatch At Affordable Price

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With GPS support, the watch truly packs a punch at the price tag of Rs. 4,999. In terms of features and functionality, you can expect the best features in this price range.

For the CMF Watch Pro, Nothing has chosen to stick with its own minimalist monochrome aesthetic (with shades of red here and there) - some colours can definitely feel missing - but on a personal level, I enjoyed the dialed down colour-agnostic watch experience - it is as unique as it is effective. For adrenaline junkies, there are 110 sport modes on the watch as well.

In terms of watch faces, there's a lot more to desire. Perhaps this will change in the near-future. There was a problem with the watch not displaying contact names during a call, but that was fixed in an update (V11.0.0.40) on October 12, 2023.

Battery and Audio

Smartwatches in this price range usually struggle to keep up with their own promises - in terms of accuracy, display quality, and most importantly, battery performance. This is where CMF Watch Pro triumphs, for the battery can last you up to six days if you have continuous heart monitoring (and other always-on features) enabled. Nothing says that the watch has a 340mAh battery.

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With these ongoing juice suckers turned off, the watch should last for at least 10 days, which is quite fantastic. This prolonged battery life is partly a result of the wrist detection feature that senses when the watch is off your wrist and halts ongoing operations.

Also read: Nothing Ear (2) Review: Light As Air, Heavy On Sound

If you like to answer calls on your smartwatch (I don't), the CMF Watch Pro struggles in noisy environments, although the watch is equipped with AI noise reduction. The watch comes with one speaker and one microphone. Using a watch to answer calls is my personal nightmare so I will not be using that feature - if that's your primary usage on a smartwatch, perhaps you should skip this one.

Verdict

A definitive debutant, the CMF Watch Pro marks Nothing's first watch addition to its ecosystem. I would recommend the CMF Watch Pro to users who are looking for a minimalist smartwatch with a good set of features and excellent battery life. For users on a budget, the CMF Watch Pro is an ideal choice - costing between Rs. 4,999 and Rs. 4,499, based on your colour preference.

Are you planning to buy the CMF Watch Pro? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.