Review: The CMF Watch Pro is the best smartwatch you can buy under £70/$70

Nothing has been making a great title for itself during the last couple of years due to its glyph-loaded telephones and design-conscious earbuds. Now, its in-house finances model CMF is popping its focus to the smartwatch.

Do you have to get excited in regards to the outcomes, and the way a lot can the corporate actually pack into a tool that’s effectively south of £100/$100?

Additionally learn our CMF Watch Professional 2 overview.

Design & Construct

• Aluminium alloy case
• Unique design
• IP68 water and mud resistance

Price range smartwatches can get slightly boring after some time, as most supply an analogous variation on theme in relation to design – usually emulating the Apple Watch however with plastic components.

Fortunately, the CMF Watch Professional ploughs its personal furrow with a chunky aluminium body that immediately stands out from the group. The 46.9 x 39.87 x 12.89mm dimensions imply that it sits prominently on the wrist, so if you happen to’re a fan of extra petite smartwatches then this in all probability isn’t for you.

Weighing in at a fraction over 30g does imply that you simply hardly discover it, so it’s not some galumphing atrocity, relatively a definite, industrial design that I occur to assume seems very fashionable certainly.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

My overview pattern has the silver livery, however you can even get darkish gray and metallic finishes, with completely different color straps to accompany them. The sunshine gray silicon strap on mine is snug to put on and the clasp is a standard kind that’s simple to regulate and placed on, even with one hand. If you wish to swap it for one more, that’s not an issue because it makes use of commonplace 22mm quick-release straps.

On the correct flank, there’s a round steel button that clicks in a stable and satisfying method, whereas beneath this there are six drilled holes for the inner speaker.

Turning the CMF Watch Professional over reveals the usual raised round module for the sensors like its optical coronary heart price monitor, plus the dual pins for the bespoke magnetic charger that comes within the field.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Most stunning of all, is that the watch options an IP68 water and mud resistance ranking, which is about nearly as good because it will get. It’s not one thing that’s a given on a tool on this value bracket by any means.

Display & Audio

• 1.96-inch AMOLED show
• Most brightness round 600nits
• No auto-brightness
• Constructed-in speaker and microphone for calls

CMF has executed effectively with the show on the Watch Professional, because the 1.96-inch AMOLED show is a handsome panel. True, there a noticeable bezel across the edge, however that feels prefer it’s been rolled into the design sufficient that you simply don’t discover an excessive amount of, particularly with a black background watch face like under.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

The retro-style pixelated textual content for lots of the watch faces suits effectively with the aesthetics, however the 410 x 502 decision implies that regular textual content and pictures are all pin-sharp, and a 58fps refresh price retains issues very easy when scrolling or switching apps. Contact response can also be good, with faucets normally being registered precisely.

You get an honest collection of watch faces to select from, though I’ve to say that many appear a bit on the arty aspect, which makes them seems good however there’s not a lot in the way in which of further helpful info. You do get an always-on show choice, albeit at a slight value to battery life.

The panel is fairly brilliant, getting as much as round 600 nits on the utmost setting. There’s no auto-brightness although, so that you’ll have to nip into the fast setting part to regulate this manually.  Additionally, the raise-to-wake function could be unresponsive at instances, requiring a extra purposeful transfer of the wrist to mild up the display screen.  

As talked about above, there’s a speaker constructed into the Watch Professional. With this and the accompanying microphone you possibly can work together with the digital assistant in your cellphone and take Bluetooth calls on the gadget (once more, streamed out of your cellphone). The voices all sound respectable, and CMF’s AI noise discount function does assist to make clear your voice in noisy areas.

Clearly, you wouldn’t actually need to be that one that takes calls in public on a watch, however at dwelling and even within the automotive, it may be a helpful solution to chat while not having to achieve in your cellphone.

Specs & Efficiency

• Dependable efficiency
• GPS
• No NFC

CMF doesn’t state a lot in regards to the internals of the Watch Professional, so we don’t know what processor or RAM allocation it has on board. From the efficiency although, all of it appears as much as the job. The pre-loaded apps all opened snappily throughout my testing, and responses to instructions had been simply as spry.

At this value level, it’s spectacular to see onboard GPS, and whereas it usually may take a short while to find my place, this may very well be extra to do with the agricultural Cornish setting by which I examined the gadget.

After that, it appeared fairly correct in its monitoring, so I may measure my walks and runs with some confidence. In case you want ultra-precise measurements although, I’d counsel investing in a severe working watch as a substitute.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

One draw back to the value is that NFC has been ignored of the Watch Professional, which suggests you possibly can’t use it to make funds with Google Pay, Apple Pay or in any other case. Whether or not this issues to you or not is a private choice, and you may in fact all the time whip out your cellphone on the checkout.

Bluetooth 5.3 ought to imply that connections to your cellphone are sturdy, however I did discover that my overview unit disconnected itself fairly frequently, requiring me to open the app and get issues again on observe.

I puzzled if it was simply me, however after checking with a number of different reviewers evidently that is one thing of a development. Hopefully, it’s not hardware-related and could be mounted with a software program patch sooner or later.

Software program & Options

• Customized software program
• Suitable with iOS & Android
• No app retailer

CMF has constructed its personal working system for the Watch Professional, which has the benefit of creating it simply as practical whether or not you join it to an Android cellphone or iPhone.

The interface is sort of effectively laid out. From the house display screen you swipe left or proper to cycle by way of a collection of apps (there doesn’t appear to be any solution to change these, sadly).  

Swiping down opens the fast setting menu the place you possibly can management issues like brightness, Do Not Disturb, and switch the torch on or off (nonetheless one in all my favorite smartwatch options). Swiping up takes you to the notifications you’ve acquired.

These could be learn, however there’s no solution to reply, which is a disgrace. I’d prefer to see a collection of fast replies, even simply “Okay”, added right here to make the gadget that little extra practical.

Urgent the bodily aspect button opens the app menu, the place you possibly can cycle by way of the primary options on the watch. These embrace the varied health and well being apps, music controls, climate, in addition to a remote-control shutter in your Android cellphone.

That is all you’ve received although, as there isn’t any app retailer out there. It must be high-quality for most individuals, however if you happen to had been hoping for explicit favourites out of your cellphone then you definitely’ll be out of luck.  

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

For probably the most half, the interface is clear and simple to grasp. There’s not a variety of depth to a lot of the apps so that you received’t get misplaced. You’ll be able to see a good quantity of health info (extra on that under), and navigation is especially swiping backwards and forwards, so it’s commonplace fare.

I did encounter some peculiarities although. For example, I set a timer whereas I used to be cooking, then seemed on the watch a minute or two later solely to search out that it had stopped. I’m guessing the display screen stayed on and I will need to have brushed the pause button. If CMF may add some sort of haptic or sound to indicate {that a} timer had been paused, this might need saved me from almost overcooking the fish that I used to be getting ready for dinner.

Stranger nonetheless, when the timer began once more I wished to verify the time and see a message that had are available, so I pressed the aspect button (as I couldn’t get again to the house display screen by swiping). The watch didn’t inform me, however this meant that I’d shut down the timer, which now not labored.

Little issues like this appear trivial, however I haven’t seen them on different cheaper wearables I’ve examined, at the very least not with out being warned that I used to be about to shut an app. It does really feel just like the OS wants extra work earlier than it will probably ship the expertise it guarantees.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

There’s an accompanying app in your iOS or Android gadget. Right here you’ll have the ability to see the information of your train periods, change a number of the settings in your Watch, in addition to peruse the collection of watch faces out there to customize the look of the Watch Professional.

It’s a bare-bones app in comparison with a few of its rivals, however there are a number of good options and settings out there.

Health & Monitoring

• Coronary heart price, SpO2, stress and sleep monitoring
• Sleep monitoring is a bit wayward
• No auto-detect for train modes

At £69/$69 you shouldn’t count on too many bells or whistles with the Watch Professional, but it surely nonetheless has sufficient health monitoring options to make it a high-quality companion while you’re making an attempt to enhance your total well being.  

CMF packs in an optical coronary heart price monitor, plus monitoring for blood oxygen (SpO2) ranges, stress, in addition to sleep monitoring. The accuracy of the monitoring was one thing of a blended bag, however all nonetheless inside the boundaries that may make it useful when measuring your progress or present state.

The center price monitor frequently returned figures that had been in step with a number of different (dearer) smartwatches I’ve examined, even throughout workouts.

With over 100 sports activities modes you possibly can make sure you discover one thing acceptable to your regime, though one factor I wasn’t too pleased with is that the Watch Professional doesn’t have any sort of autosensing of while you’ve began a session. So, if you happen to overlook to press go at first of your run, swim or hike, the Watch Professional received’t immediate you at any level or report it as train.

There’s onboard GPS, as talked about earlier, which may observe your routes, however connection instances may very well be fairly lengthy, that means I usually deserted the function and began my session with out it.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

SpO2 monitoring matched up with a devoted blood oxygen monitor I personal, so that implies it’s fairly correct.

The primary draw back was sleep monitoring. The Watch Professional does a good job of noting after I went to mattress and received up however wasn’t so sizzling on noticing after I had sleepless nights.

There have been a pair through the testing interval, but it surely registered each nearly as good, which they weren’t. As a tough information, it’s in all probability simply sufficient, but when sleep monitoring is a crucial issue, you’ll have to spend money on a extra premium gadget.

Battery Life & Charging

• 340mAh battery
• Round 10 days from one cost
• Proprietary charging cable included

Battery life is an space the place the Watch Professional actually shines. In case you’re used to the Apple Watch expertise, the place you should recharge the gadget every day, then a Watch that may final effectively right into a second week may very well be an enormous reduction.

CMF does state which you can rise up to 13 days of life out of a single cost, however that may presumably come from disabling a variety of the real-time monitoring and always-on show.

I didn’t take that route, however nonetheless received round 9 days with most options switched on. That’s a refreshing change from lots of the power-hungry smartwatches I’ve used over time.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Recharging is a bit on the sluggish aspect although, with a full recharge with the offered cable taking one of the best of two hours to get from 0-100%, whereas half an hour solely will get you 25%.

Value & Availability

The CMF Watch Professional prices solely £69/$69 which is an excellent value for a tool with this design and construct high quality, to not point out a good collection of well being and health options. It’s not out there instantly from CMF, however you possibly can choose it up on Amazon UK and Amazon US.

In order for you an alternative choice to the Watch Professional, then the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 4 has lots of the similar options and even longer battery life for £89.99 though not out there within the US.

Another choice is the Amazfit Band 7, which is a wider tracker than regular in order that it seems extra like a smartwatch. At £49.99/$49.99 it’s an actual steal, as long as you’re pleased with plastic development.

Take a look at our charts for one of the best smartwatches and greatest health trackers.

Do you have to purchase the CMF Watch Professional by Nothing?

At this value level, the CMF Watch Professional actually does stand out.

The design is exclusive, with its industrial, minimalist strategy and retro software program theme. However, it isn’t all seems, because the IP68 waterproofing and built-in GPS make it a really helpful gadget.

The well being and health monitoring options are stable, except for sleep monitoring which is usually a bit wayward at instances. Plus, there’s loads of different performance that make it really feel like a smartwatch from a dearer bracket.

Sure, the software program could be patchy, with a number of limitations and glitches making the expertise not as premium as its aesthetics, and no means to ship preset responses to messages is a disgrace. However, for underneath £70/$70, it’s a uncommon beast – a cool-looking gadget that doesn’t attempt to copy anything.

I’m undecided it earns the ‘Professional’ moniker, but it surely’s nonetheless a superb finances smartwatch that defies its low value.

Specs

• 1.96-inch AMOLED show (410 x 502 decision, 58fps)
• Most brightness round 600nits
• Constructed-in speaker and microphone for calls
• Aluminium alloy case
• IP68 water and mud resistance
• Coronary heart price, SpO2, stress and sleep monitoring
• Customized software program (Suitable with iOS & Android)
• GPS
• Bluetooth 5.3
• 340mAh battery
• Proprietary charging cable included
• 22mm quick-release straps
• 46.9 x 39.87 x 12.89 mm
• 30g