CMF Watch 3 Pro: A Detailed Review

Nothing’s sub-brand, CMF, continues its expansion in the wearables market with the Watch 3 Pro, the successor to last year’s Watch Pro 2. This new model introduces several key enhancements, including a larger display, an improved battery, dual-band GPS, and a refreshed color palette. This review offers a comprehensive assessment of the CMF Watch 3 Pro, evaluating its design, features, and performance.

Specifications

• Display: 1.43” AMOLED touchscreen, 466 x 466 pixel resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, 670 nits maximum brightness, Always-On Display (AOD)
• Straps: Detachable 22mm straps, adjustable length (140-220mm)
• Features: IP68 water resistance rating, real-time heart rate monitor, 24/7 blood oxygen level monitoring, sleep tracking, stress monitoring, sports tracking, step counter, meditation function, notifications, idle alert, phone finder, weather forecast, music and camera control, alarm, stopwatch, linear vibration motor, flashlight.
• Sports Modes: Outdoor Run, Indoor Run, Outdoor Walk, Cycling, Hiking, Pool Swimming, Jump rope, Freestyle (130+ additional modes available via the Nothing X app)
• Sensors: Optical heart rate sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, compatible with Android 6.0 and iOS 13+, dual-band L1+L5 GNSS, microphone and speakers
• Battery: 350mAh
• Colors: Light Gray, Light Green, Orange, Dark Gray
• Dimensions: 47 x 47 x 14.4 mm
• Weight (without strap): 51 grams

The CMF Watch 3 Pro is available for under $100/€100, and it offers Nothing’s refined software and over 120 minimalist watch faces, along with standard health and fitness tracking capabilities. This review is based on over two weeks of continuous use.

Design

The CMF Watch 3 Pro maintains the same fundamental design as its predecessor, featuring a metal body and a silicone watch strap. Notably, the interchangeable bezel feature present in the Watch Pro 2 has been removed.

The display has been enlarged to 1.43 inches, up from 1.32 inches on the Watch Pro 2. The AMOLED technology allows for an Always-On Display. The screen brightness peaks at 670 nits. The watch maintains a 47mm size and a thickness of 14.4 mm.

The review unit features a Light Green color, which includes a metallic finish on the bezel’s top side. The mid-frame and rotating crown button have a darker gray finish, while the sensor-housing base is made from plastic. The design ethos is consistent with Nothing’s clean aesthetic.

The included silicone watch strap can be replaced with any 22mm strap. The watch weighs 52 grams.

The retail package is compact and contains the watch, straps, and a proprietary two-pin magnetic charging cable.

Software and Features

The Watch 3 Pro utilizes a custom real-time operating system (RTOS), similar to the previous model. The UI adheres to Nothing’s minimalist aesthetic and provides standard wrist-worn functions. It’s important to note the absence of third-party app support, NFC for contactless payments, and cellular connectivity.

The user interface navigation is primarily gesture-based, with the crown button for launching applications and sports activity tracking. The crown button offers haptic feedback and a programmable double-press action.

The customizable double-press action is limited to 13 possible functions. The device offers wrist-rotate and arm-shake gestures for launching apps, managing calls, and controlling music playback.

The Watch 3 Pro provides standard features like an Always-On Display and over 120 watch face options.

The watch face selection presents a diverse range, including minimalist and feature-rich designs. Most watch faces offer dedicated AOD modes.

Up to seven watch faces can be stored on the watch. Nothing also provides custom watch face tools, including an album dial, a video dial, and a studio dial. The album dial cycles through preselected photos from the user’s phone.

The video dial allows for choosing a 5-second video snippet from the phone’s gallery. The studio dial utilizes AI to generate watch faces, which are transferred to the watch.

The built-in speaker and microphone enable voice calls and the “Essential News” feature, which reads out news based on user-selected topics.

The Nothing X app allows users to select news topics. News headlines are read aloud by a pre-recorded voice.

The Watch 3 Pro provides access to the phone’s digital assistant and ChatGPT, with a native voice note recorder, notifications, and preset text replies.

Connectivity was found to be stable, consistently connecting to an iPhone 17 Pro and providing timely notifications.

Health and Activity Tracking

Health Tracking

The Watch 3 Pro features an optical heart rate sensor, blood oxygen saturation tracking, and sleep and stress monitoring, mirroring the previous model’s general health insights. Results were comparable to the Huawei Watch Fit 3 for heart rate, SpO2, and stress measurements.

The heart rate monitoring frequency can be adjusted, and alerts can be set for low and high resting heart rate levels. Blood oxygen level alerts are also available.

The device provides sleep tracking metrics, including sleep stage breakdown, total sleep duration, and a sleep quality score. Sleep tracking showed accurate wake-up times.

Key sleep metrics are accessible on the watch, with additional data points available through the Nothing X app.

Activity Tracking

The Watch 3 Pro offers 131 sports modes and a 6-axis accelerometer, and dual-band GNSS positioning.

The GPS performance has been significantly improved, with a faster lock-on time. GPS accuracy is reliable.

The device provides running metrics, including VO2 Max, training load, and recovery. Workout data can be synced with Strava, Apple Health, and Google Fit. Warm-up and stretching guides with 3D animations are available.

A Running Coach uses AI to develop personalized workout plans, adjusting training sessions based on progress.

The lack of swim tracking and other water sports tracking is a notable omission.

Battery Life

Nothing claims the Watch 3 Pro provides up to 13 days of battery life with moderate use, and 10 days with heavy use, from the 350mAh battery.

In testing, the watch achieved 7 days with auto-brightness, AOD disabled, over 100 daily notifications, 24/7 health tracking, and three workout sessions.

A full charge with the included charger takes 90 minutes. A 10-minute charge reaches 20% capacity, and 30 minutes reaches 50%.

Verdict

The CMF Watch 3 Pro refines the experience of its predecessor with a larger AMOLED display, significantly improved dual-band GPS, and a refined software experience, all while remaining under the $100/€100 price point. Essential features, like notifications, calls, and voice assistant access, work reliably across both Android and iOS.

The design maintains Nothing’s minimalist aesthetic, and it proved comfortable for all-day wear. The expanded watch face selection and the “Essential News” and voice note features enhance the user experience.

The health and activity tracking is dependable for daily use. The upgraded GPS performance is a notable improvement, and the AI-powered running coach is beneficial for runners. However, the lack of swim tracking is a drawback.

Battery life is respectable, at around a week of mixed use. Charging is relatively fast.

Overall, the CMF Watch 3 Pro provides a comprehensive smartwatch experience with an appealing design, reliable tracking, and useful software features. While it may not be the most feature-rich smartwatch, the price point makes it an appealing option.