Last summer, CMF, a sub-brand of Nothing, released its third generation of smartwatches. The new CMF Watch 3 Pro was slightly renamed, with the number repositioned, and the design, system, and hardware were improved. However, many users place these affordable smartwatches at the bottom of their personal rankings, and that’s quite unfair. They’re darn good in many ways and functionally certainly no worse than Xiaomi gadgets. And in some areas, even better than the Apple Watch.
Let’s figure out whether the CMF Watch 3 Pro are worth buying and who they’re suited for
How the CMF Watch 3 Pro Looks
The CMF Watch 3 Pro comes in three variants: dark gray, light gray, and bright orange. I’d call the first two “civilian” — for everyday wear as a simple accessory that complements your look. They have a neat design without unnecessary elements.
The watch has a pleasant-to-the-touch bezel
The last one, however, is a kind of Ultra version. It has a cool textured bezel and a crown with notches and orange dots. It looks rugged, sporty, and recognizable, especially with the orange strap.
The screen is very bright, with a customizable Always On feature
There are two main differences from the CMF Watch Pro 2: the absence of a swappable bezel and a smaller display. The first was supposedly a killer feature, while the second helped with comfortable use. But personally, I don’t consider these changes a downgrade. Swapping bezels isn’t that practical (it’s not a strap, after all), and the display is still huge even on a man’s wrist. Overall, the new CMF watch looks stunning and is a pleasure to look at, but it still doesn’t fit under a jacket sleeve.
CMF Watch 3 Pro Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Display | 1.43 inches, AMOLED, 466×466, 670 nits |
| Battery | 350 mAh |
| Battery Life | 13 days |
| Navigation | Dual-band GPS (L1 + L5), GLONASS |
| Storage | — |
| Protection | IP68 |
| Weight | 52.4 g |
The CMF Watch 3 Pro has a very bright, high-quality screen with Always On Display. The bezel protrudes above it, protecting against impacts, but at the same time sometimes interferes with menu navigation. And sometimes you can’t turn off the screen by covering it with your palm. By the way, special kudos to the Nothing team for the watch faces: they’re genuinely stylishly designed, have a minimalist aesthetic, and are customizable. There’s even a constructor to create your own!
The watch comes with dozens of stylish watch faces built in
The CMF watch supports Bluetooth calls: you can answer calls and make them by entering a number or using a saved contact. They also correctly display notifications from all apps, are easily set up without a smartphone, and even have a proper menu translation. It’s hard to get lost in the settings.
You can make or answer calls from the watch thanks to the built-in speaker and microphone. There’s even audio-to-text recognition!
Pairing with a smartphone is done through the Nothing X app. I was very surprised to learn how well thought-out the “Health” section is — no worse, and perhaps even better, than Mi Fitness. You can easily view all workout data, study activity history, activate continuous health monitoring, and even set up a running coach.
Which Smartwatch to Buy for Workouts
I’ve recently been actively running, so I pay attention to how comfortable watches are during workouts. I have several notes about the CMF Watch 3 Pro — both good and not so good. First of all, I’ll note that the screen space in workout mode is thoughtfully designed. There are two screens with metrics, switchable by swiping. Double-pressing the crown activates pause.
CMF Watch 3 Pro are great when it comes to sports modes. But GPS calibration takes some time
- GPS works fairly well, although it requires 10-20 seconds to determine location before starting a workout.
- Afterward, you can view a summary with a map and other metrics down to stride length.
- For each workout, you can set a goal for steps, calories, and distance, right from your wrist.
But there are some unpleasant nuances: I wouldn’t say I’m ready to get rid of the watch because of them, but after the Mi Band 10, it feels a bit off.
- You can’t access the menu during a workout.
- Always On Display during running switches to time-only mode, requiring a double tap on the screen. With the Mi Band, you could simply turn your wrist.
- Auto-brightness doesn’t always respond quickly, and the display stays dimmed.
Also, the GPS in the CMF Watch 3 Pro slightly “lies” when displaying distance — it underestimates it by about 50-100 meters. After your usual 10-kilometer run, you might be unpleasantly surprised by your “results.” But all of this is resolved through calibration: on the Nothing forum, people say the watch needs about 10 workouts for distance to start being determined correctly.
Disadvantages of the CMF Watch 3 Pro
It’s generally hard to complain about a watch that costs 4,500 rubles. But I’ll go ahead and list the disadvantages of the CMF Watch 3 Pro so you’re prepared for them before purchasing. Be ready for the fact that text on watch faces isn’t translated into Russian: everywhere there are English abbreviations (days of the week, distance, calories, and other elements). Compared to Apple Watch, this is a bit disappointing, but if you’ve had a Mi Band, it seems fine.
Workout information isn’t displayed on screen permanently — you need to activate it
- Unpleasantly strong vibration. Even if you set the minimum level, the watch still buzzes and is distracting.
- In some scenarios, the crown remains useless. For example, you can’t always scroll through lists with it in the menu. Double-press is customizable, but you’re unlikely to find anything useful in the available list.
- Nothing OS doesn’t have a separate home screen widget with activity statistics. Only battery level.
- If you enable quick gestures in settings, they may trigger accidentally.
- No built-in storage for app installation, and a proprietary shell instead of Wear OS.
However, all of this is offset by the stylish Nothing-style firmware — smooth, intuitive, with an authentic design. There’s nothing like it on the market, as manufacturers usually just copy watchOS, and quite poorly at that.
