At a look
Professional’s Score
Professionals
- Nice battery life
- Good vary of well being/health monitoring
- Cool design
- Tremendous low-cost
Cons
- No NFC
- Patchy sleep monitoring
- Some software program glitches
Our Verdict
Cool design, nice show, a wide selection of well being/health options and lengthy battery life make the Watch Professional a powerful machine at this value level. The software program simply wants enchancment if it desires to succeed in its full potential.
Worth When Reviewed
$69
Greatest Costs Immediately: CMF Watch Professional by Nothing
$69.99
Nothing has been making identify for itself over the past couple of years because of its glyph-loaded telephones and design-conscious earbuds. Now, its in-house funds model CMF is popping its focus to the smartwatch.
Do you have to get excited concerning the outcomes, and the way a lot can the corporate actually pack into a tool that’s properly south of £100/$100?
Design & Construct
- Aluminium alloy case
- Authentic design
- IP68 water and mud resistance
a definite, industrial design that I occur to assume appears to be like very fashionable certainly
Price range smartwatches can get a little bit boring after some time, as most provide an analogous variation on theme in relation to design – typically emulating the Apple Watch however with plastic elements.
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 just hardly discover it, so it’s not some galumphing atrocity, fairly a definite, industrial design that I occur to assume appears to be like very fashionable certainly.
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
My evaluate pattern has the silver livery, however you too can get darkish gray and metallic finishes, with completely different color straps to accompany them. The sunshine gray silicon strap on mine is comfy to put on and the clasp is a standard sort that’s straightforward 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 customary 22mm quick-release straps.
On the suitable flank, there’s a round steel button that clicks in a strong and satisfying method, whereas beneath this there are six drilled holes for the interior speaker.
Turning the CMF Watch Professional over reveals the usual raised round module for the sensors like its optical coronary heart charge monitor, plus the dual pins for the bespoke magnetic charger that comes within the field.
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
Most shocking 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 screen & Audio
- 1.96-inch AMOLED show
- Most brightness round 600nits
- No auto-brightness
- Constructed-in speaker and microphone for calls
CMF has accomplished properly 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 just don’t discover an excessive amount of, particularly with a black background watch face like beneath.
textual content and pictures are all pin-sharp
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
The retro-style pixelated textual content for most of the watch faces suits properly with the aesthetics, however the 410 x 502 decision signifies that regular textual content and pictures are all pin-sharp, and a 58fps refresh charge retains issues very easy when scrolling or switching apps. Contact response can be good, with faucets often 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 facet, which makes them appears to be like good however there’s not a lot in the best way of extra helpful info. You do get an always-on show choice, albeit at a slight value to battery life.
The panel is fairly vibrant, getting as much as round 600 nits on the utmost setting. There’s no auto-brightness although, so that you’ll must nip into the short setting part to regulate this manually. Additionally, the raise-to-wake characteristic might be unresponsive at occasions, requiring a extra purposeful transfer of the wrist to gentle 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 machine (once more, streamed out of your cellphone). The voices all sound respectable, and CMF’s AI noise discount characteristic does assist to make clear your voice in noisy areas.
Clearly, you wouldn’t actually wish to be that one who takes calls in public on a watch, however at residence and even within the automotive, it may be a helpful option to chat without having to succeed in on your cellphone.
Specs & Efficiency
- Dependable efficiency
- GPS
- No NFC
At this value level, it’s spectacular to see onboard GPS
CMF doesn’t state a lot concerning 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 have been simply as spry.
At this value level, it’s spectacular to see onboard GPS, and whereas it typically might take a short time to find my place, this could possibly be extra to do with the agricultural Cornish setting during which I examined the machine.
After that, it appeared fairly correct in its monitoring, so I might measure my walks and runs with some confidence. In case you want ultra-precise measurements although, I’d counsel investing in a severe operating watch as an alternative.
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
One draw back to the worth is that NFC has been unnoticed of the Watch Professional, which implies 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 robust, however I did discover that my evaluate unit disconnected itself fairly often, requiring me to open the app and get issues again on observe.
I questioned if it was simply me, however after checking with a number of different reviewers plainly that is one thing of a development. Hopefully, it’s not hardware-related and might be mounted with a software program patch sooner or later.
Software program & Options
- Customized software program
- Appropriate 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 useful whether or not you join it to an Android cellphone or iPhone.
The interface is sort of properly laid out. From the house display screen you swipe left or proper to cycle via a collection of apps (there doesn’t appear to be any option to change these, sadly).
Swiping down opens the short setting menu the place you possibly can management issues like brightness, Do Not Disturb, and switch the torch on or off (nonetheless considered one of my favorite smartwatch options). Swiping up takes you to the notifications you’ve acquired.
These might be learn, however there’s no option to reply, which is a disgrace. I’d wish to see a collection of fast replies, even simply “Okay”, added right here to make the machine that little extra useful.
Urgent the bodily facet button opens the app menu, the place you possibly can cycle via the principle options on the watch. These embrace the assorted health and well being apps, music controls, climate, in addition to a remote-control shutter on your Android cellphone.
That is all you’ve received although, as there is no such thing as a app retailer obtainable. It ought to be high-quality for most individuals, however if you happen to have been hoping for specific favourites out of your cellphone then you definitely’ll be out of luck.
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
For essentially the most half, the interface is clear and straightforward to grasp. There’s not plenty of depth to many 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 beneath), and navigation is principally swiping forwards and backwards, so it’s customary fare.
I did encounter some peculiarities although. As an 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 might add some type of haptic or sound to suggest {that a} timer had been paused, this may need saved me from practically overcooking the fish that I used to be getting ready for dinner.
Stranger nonetheless, when the timer began once more I needed to verify the time and see a message that had are available, so I pressed the facet 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 not labored.
Little issues like this appear trivial, however I haven’t seen them on different cheaper wearables I’ve examined, no less than 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 might ship the expertise it guarantees.
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
There’s an accompanying app on your iOS or Android machine. Right here you’ll be capable to see the information of your train periods, change among the settings in your Watch, in addition to peruse the collection of watch faces obtainable 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 obtainable.
Health & Monitoring
- Coronary heart charge, 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 once you’re making an attempt to enhance your total well being.
CMF packs in an optical coronary heart charge 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 charge monitor often returned figures that have been in step with a number of different (dearer) smartwatches I’ve examined, even throughout workout routines.
With over 100 sports activities modes you possibly can you’ll want to discover one thing applicable to your regime, though one factor I wasn’t too proud of is that the Watch Professional doesn’t have any type of autosensing of once you’ve began a session. So, if you happen to overlook to press go initially of your run, swim or hike, the Watch Professional received’t immediate you at any level or file it as train.
There may be onboard GPS, as talked about earlier, which might observe your routes, however connection occasions could possibly be fairly lengthy, that means I typically deserted the characteristic 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 in the course of 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 vital issue, you’ll must put money into a extra premium machine.
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’ll want to recharge the machine every day, then a Watch that may final properly right into a second week could possibly be an enormous aid.
CMF does state which you can stand up to 13 days of life out of a single cost, however that may presumably come from disabling plenty 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 most of the power-hungry smartwatches I’ve used over time.
Battery life is an space the place the Watch Professional actually shines
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
Martyn Casserly
Recharging is a bit on the gradual facet although, with a full recharge with the supplied cable taking one of the best of two hours to get from 0-100%, whereas half an hour solely will get you 25%.
Worth & 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 obtainable immediately 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 most of the similar options and even longer battery life for £89.99 though not obtainable within the US.
An alternative choice is the Amazfit Band 7, which is a wider tracker than regular in order that it appears to be like extra like a smartwatch. At £49.99/$49.99 it’s an actual steal, as long as you’re proud of plastic building.
Try 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 appears to be like, because the IP68 waterproofing and built-in GPS make it a really helpful machine.
The well being and health monitoring options are strong, aside from sleep monitoring which is usually a bit wayward at occasions. Plus, there’s loads of different performance that make it really feel like a smartwatch from a dearer bracket.
Sure, the software program might be patchy, with a number of limitations and glitches making the expertise not as premium as its aesthetics, and no skill to ship preset responses to messages is a disgrace. However, for underneath £70/$70, it’s a uncommon beast – a cool-looking machine that doesn’t attempt to copy the rest.
I’m undecided it earns the ‘Professional’ moniker, but it surely’s nonetheless a wonderful funds 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 charge, SpO2, stress and sleep monitoring
- Customized software program (Appropriate 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