You might not have heard of CMF, but you have probably heard of smartphone maker Nothing, which recently released the Nothing Phone (2a) and has started to make a name for itself in the midrange phone space. CMF is a sub-brand of Nothing that focuses on design-forward consumer products. One of its first products is the CMF Watch Pro, a slick-looking smartwatch that really embraces Nothing’s design aesthetic in all the right delightful ways. Of course, the best part about this watch is its price. It’s currently less than $70 on Amazon.
What’s really great about this watch is there are very few compromises. This watch works great on Android and iOS. It runs on RTOS, which is a sort of generic fitness band operating system. But CMF has redesigned every part of the experience and you can find Nothing DNA everywhere. I’ve been wearing a CMF Watch Pro review sample provided by Nothing off and on for several months and these are my thoughts about the device.
The CMF Watch Pro is a ridiculously inexpensive smartwatch that embodies Nothing's design aesthetic. It looks great and has a smooth and easy-to-understand interface. It works with iPhone and Android, tracks your exercise and serves up notifications for less than $70.
What I liked about it
Attractive price, attractive looks
The best thing about the CMF Watch Pro isn’t the price — it’s what you can get for the price. This is one of just a few fitness bands that actually looks like one of the best smartwatches. In fact, not coincidentally, it looks a lot like an Apple Watch Series 9, but it costs one-sixth the price. That similarity is only skin deep, though. The side button on the CMF Watch Pro, for example, is only a button and not a digital crown.
The display is large at 1.96 inches, so those with dainty wrists may want to try to find something smaller. Its touchscreen behaves like most other smartwatches. Swipe up to see notifications, swipe down to access quick settings and swipe left and right to see your “cards” for things like weather and sleep.
The watch comes equipped with heart rate and pulse oxygen sensors and tracks your steps, sleep, stress levels and exercise. Overall, this is a pretty packed array of sensors for an inexpensive watch that also has style.
Universal connectivity and software
The watch itself is heavily customized with Nothing’s design DNA. Most of the fonts are in Nothing’s dot-matrix style of font, which is fun and playful while still remaining easy to read. Even the weather and sleep-tracking cards have graphics in that same style.
That trend continues in the phone app that comes in Apple and Android flavors. Plus, as a nice bonus for those of you who switch phones often, switching from phone to phone doesn’t even require a watch reset. Your data moves from one platform to the other seamlessly. In the phone app, you can view your statistics for the day or over time, pick your watch face, configure which apps will send you notifications and more. Much of the app interface reflects Nothing’s design scheme as well, and you can tell the developers paid a lot of attention to getting things right.
Phone calls
Another bonus that you don’t often see on watches in this price range are a speaker and a microphone that lets you make and receive calls. The speaker is small and not very loud, but you can dial out without having to grab your phone. The watch does not support separate LTE connectivity on its own, but making and receiving calls from your wrist is a great bonus.
What I didn’t like about it
Lack of customization
The operating system on the watch is highly customized, but there is little you can do in the way of your own customization. The most noticeable area comes in the watch faces. Many smartwatches will not only let you choose a watch face but also customize the complications (extra dials) on the face. That’s not the case here. If you pick a watch face with four complications, those are the only complications you’ll be able to choose from.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; there’s a wide variety of watch faces to choose from. On other smartwatches, when you have the option to change complications, the user interface isn’t great (looking at you, Garmin). By locking in the complications, CMF can ensure that everyone has the same experience.
Notifications — but that’s it
The other major issue that some users may not like is the utter lack of actionable notifications. Put simply, when you get an email, the watch will politely notify you that an email arrived and let you read the first hundred characters or so. That’s it. Plus, notifications are limited to selected communications apps like Messages, WhatsApp and the like. You won’t get Royal Match notifications, though that might actually be a good thing.
If you’re someone who likes to read notifications on your watch or even triage emails as they come in on your wrist, this watch is definitely not for you. But if you only want to see that someone is contacting you so you can deal with it later, it will do the job.
Charging troubles
While the battery life on the CMF Watch Pro is respectable — five days with five complications and an always-on display — the watch charges using a magnetic connector on the back of the watch. The magnet on the charger isn’t terribly strong, so it’s easy for the cable to come disconnected if you’re not paying attention. Even something as innocent as a twisted cable can cause the connector to come undone.
The easiest way to correct this is to connect the charger, then lay the watch down and pin the connector under it. That’s not ideal, but it gets the job done.
Bottom line
I’m going to say this again because it bears repeating: This watch costs less than $70. There are a few smartwatches and fitness bands that come close to that price, but none are quite as refined or frankly enjoyable to wear. Nothing is a company that has always put an emphasis on design; the Nothing Phone (2) and Nothing Ear (2) have transparent backplates, for crying out loud. Putting that same thought and intention into a watch with a price tag that is that low is what makes this smartwatch a no-brainer.
