The CMF Watch Pro 2 is a groundbreaking addition to the smartwatch market, blending style, functionality, and affordability. This versatile device is designed to cater to the needs of both tech enthusiasts and fitness lovers, making it a must-have accessory for an active lifestyle.
For the hilarious sum of less than $100, you can bag yourself the CMF Watch Pro 2, which boasts an alluring and customizable design, a bright and poppy AMOLED display, all kinds of clever fitness and health tracking features, and supposedly up to 11 days of battery life. But is the CMF Watch Pro 2 cracking value? In this in-depth review, let’s find out what else the CMF Watch Pro 2 brings to the smartwatch market. Check out the latest price here: CMF Watch Pro 2>>
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Unboxing
CMF is, of course, the budget side of Nothing, who brought you the Nothing Phone 1, the Nothing Phone 2, and for some reason, a weird serial killer lab coat. I’m a big fan of all the CMF stuff I’ve tested so far. Wait a minute, what the… Anyway, let’s crack it open and see what you get with the Watch Pro 2. So, you’ve got the watch, of course, the magnetic charging dock, and a brief user guide so you know exactly how to get the watch all set up and ready for action. And that’s your lot. See you in a week!
Design and Build
Alright, so I’ve had the CMF Watch Pro 2 slapped on my pill-spindly Northern wrist for the best part of a week now, and so far, I’m rather liking that design. Although, I can see it being rather divisive as well. The case is constructed from an aluminum alloy, giving you a reasonably premium vibe despite the bargain price. The lightweight design may give the impression that it’s just constructed from plastic, but so far, it seems pretty hardy.
Certainly, it’s quite a distinctive design with the big CMF branding right there on the bezel, but this can actually be swapped out if you’ve got one of the CMF Watch Pro 2 bezel and strap sets. It’s not the smoothest of operations—you just twist the bezel and then kind of yank it off, which is a bit stiff. Then, you can slap on a fresh bezel in its place. You’ve got a total of four straps to choose from right now: dark and light gray (both silicone efforts), and blue and orange leathery-style bands if you want something a bit brighter. They’re standard 22mm bands, so they just snap on and off easily enough with these little catches.
The simple, straightforward digital crown design features a single button on the edge, which is actually a digital crown. Push it in to wake up the watch and get straight into your apps menu, or twist it to skim through some of the various menus. It’s a little bit stiff, so I did struggle when I was just trying to use it with just my thumb. Certainly not a satisfying smooth action like you get with more premium watches. You definitely have to grip and use it like so.
Durability and Water Resistance
CMF has tested the durability on this thing to the extremes. It’s put up with all kinds of ridiculous temperatures, it’s been dropped tons, blasted with salt spray—I mean, after all that, it should be looking like John McClane at the end of Die Hard. It’s been abused more than the average cheer boy. The CMF Watch Pro 2 is also IP68 water and dust resistant, so you can go swimming with it or simply leave it on in the shower.
Connecting to Your Smartphone
To connect the CMF Watch Pro 2 to your smartphone, you’ll want to use the CMF Watch app—pretty logical name there, so it’s easy to find in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Once you’re connected, it will sync up all of your health data, and of course, you can tweak the watch settings as well, including the watch face. There’s a small selection to choose from by clicking “more.” You can change your health stats, add contacts to the smartwatch (more on that in a bit), change up the widgets, and specify which notifications are allowed to give you a quick buzz on the wrist.
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Screen and Display
As for that screen, we’ve got a 1.32-inch round display this time rather than a square one. It’s an AMOLED panel, so you’ve got reasonably poppy colors there, but the UI itself is mostly monochrome, so it doesn’t really matter. With 326 pixels per inch, even the tiniest of text is still pin sharp. The screen brightness maxes out at over 600 nits, which is very impressive for a budget-friendly smartwatch like this. There are several levels of brightness, and thank God, you finally have auto-brightness on here as well, so you’re not constantly having to manually tweak it whenever you go indoors or out. It won’t bloody blind you unexpectedly when you’re just checking the time or whatever at 2 a.m.
In my testing so far, that auto-brightness feature has been working well. You’ve also got an always-on display, as usual, with a few varieties to choose from. It doesn’t sync up with whatever watch face you’ve selected automatically, which is slightly annoying, but hey. The always-on display is too weak to see outdoors, even on an inclement day, but if you wake the watch up, the main watch face is easily bright enough, even on a sunny day, to clearly see what is going on. Nice sharp contrast, of course, as you would expect from an AMOLED display. And you’ve got a 60Hz refresh rate as well, so reasonably smooth for a smartwatch of this caliber.
User Interface and Usability
The CMF Watch Pro 2’s UI is relatively streamlined and straightforward. Wake the watch, and you’re into your main watch face, of course. If you swipe left and right, you go skimming through your various widget pages. These are fully customizable via the app; you can’t actually customize them here on the watch for some reason. You can set up each element individually. For instance, on my first widget, I’ve got media controls so I can pause and play any music that’s playing on my smartphone. As you can see, it’s occasionally a wee bit shonky. You can skip tracks as well and tweak the volume too.
I’ve got a quick one-minute timer that I can set whenever I just want to go and scream into a pillow for 60 seconds, a battery widget, various health stats, activity rings, and a weather widget. If you swipe down from the main watch face, you’ve got a small selection of toggles, including good old auto-brightness. Otherwise, you can just manually tweak the brightness, turn on the torch, or activate power-saving mode. You also have the good old “Do Not Disturb” mode. There’s quite a lot you can tweak in the actual settings, including various screen settings and quick gestures.
Notifications
If you swipe up from the main watch face, you’re into your notifications, and they’re basic at best. You can see who sent you a message and sort of read the first bit of the message, but then that’s basically all you can do apart from ignore it. It’s good so you’re not constantly pulling out your phone to see what the new notification is, if it’s actually worth responding to, but very basic compared with what you’ll find on the likes of Wear OS.
No complaints with the haptics, though. You get a pleasurable little buzz whenever something happens. Also, the buzz was strong enough when I set an alarm to get me up in the morning. And as I mentioned, it’s completely customizable via the app. You can get rid of any individual element and swap them for quite a decent variety of other bits instead. There are plenty of health stats and other bits like timers and breathing exercises.
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Watch Faces and Customization
For the watch faces, we’ve got a small selection pre-installed here on the CMF Watch Pro 2—seven in total. That’s all you can fit on at any given moment. You can erase old ones and swap in new ones, with a selection of digital and analog options. They are slightly customizable; usually, you can just change up the color ever so slightly, but sometimes you’ve got a little bit of extra customization with little elements that you can tweak.
There’s not a huge amount more in the actual CMF Watch app either. You’ve got a small selection you can play around with, including some animated efforts. Here’s hoping this selection rapidly expands. Otherwise, you can set your own custom dial using your very own wallpaper.
Apps and Features
A quick poke of the button, and you’ve got all the usual efforts you would expect, quite a lot of them health-based. Starting at the top, you can record an exercise, check your heart rate, and measure blood oxygen levels with 24-hour tracking for the likes of the heart rate. You can check your activity, see how you’re doing on your steps, and track the number of hours you’ve actually not been just sat on your ass, etc.
The cycles feature might be new, just for keeping track of that. You’ve got the usual stuff: world clock, reminders, music controls (a remote control for any music playing on your actual phone), and you can use the CMF Watch Pro 2 as a camera remote as well, although I believe this only works on Android.
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Assistant Feature
There’s also a voice assistant feature, but again, this is not built into the CMF Watch Pro 2. All this does is wake up your smartphone’s voice assistant, so you can basically say things like “Hey Google” or “Hey Siri” directly into the watch, and it will relay the command to your phone. It’s handy for quick commands if you don’t want to pull your phone out of your pocket.
Health and Fitness Tracking
On the fitness side, the CMF Watch Pro 2 offers a solid suite of features for a budget-friendly device. You’ve got 24-hour heart rate monitoring, SpO2 tracking, sleep tracking, and even stress monitoring. The watch can automatically detect and track a variety of exercises, including running, walking, cycling, and swimming, thanks to its water resistance.
During my week with the watch, I found the heart rate tracking to be fairly accurate compared to my usual fitness tracker. The SpO2 readings were also consistent, though I wouldn’t rely on them for medical purposes. Sleep tracking was decent, providing a breakdown of deep, light, and REM sleep stages, along with an overall sleep score. It’s useful for getting a general idea of your sleep patterns, though not as detailed as some higher-end devices.
Battery Life
Now, let’s talk battery life, which CMF claims can last up to 11 days on a single charge. In my experience, this is somewhat optimistic if you’re using all of the features regularly, including the always-on display and continuous health monitoring. With moderate use, I managed to get around a week out of it, which is still pretty impressive. If you’re more conservative with your usage, 10-11 days seems achievable.
Charging is straightforward with the included magnetic dock. It snaps onto the back of the watch easily and charges relatively quickly. From empty to full, it took about 2 hours, which isn’t bad considering the long battery life.
Performance
Performance-wise, the CMF Watch Pro 2 runs smoothly for the most part. Navigation through the menus is mostly responsive, though there were occasional hiccups when loading certain features or switching between apps. It’s nothing too frustrating, especially considering the price point.
The UI is simple and easy to navigate, which is a plus for anyone who wants a straightforward smartwatch experience without a steep learning curve. The touch responsiveness is good, and the digital crown adds a nice tactile element to the navigation, even if it’s a bit stiff.
Connectivity and Compatibility
The CMF Watch Pro 2 supports Bluetooth 5.0, ensuring a stable connection to your smartphone. During my testing, I didn’t experience any connectivity issues or dropped connections. The watch is compatible with both Android and iOS, though you do get a slightly better experience on Android with features like the camera remote.
Notifications work well, though as mentioned earlier, they are quite basic. You can see who’s messaging you and read the first part of the message, but you can’t interact with them beyond that. It’s still useful for getting quick glances at incoming notifications without pulling out your phone. Check out the latest price here: CMF Watch Pro 2>>
Value for Money
At $69, the CMF Watch Pro 2 offers tremendous value for money. It’s packed with features you’d expect to find in more expensive smartwatches, including an AMOLED display, fitness tracking, and decent battery life. While it has some limitations, such as basic notification handling and occasional performance hiccups, these are minor considering the price point.
The ability to customize the watch’s appearance with different bezels and straps adds an extra layer of personalization that’s not often found in budget smartwatches. The overall build quality and design are impressive, making it a stylish and functional accessory.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Affordable price
- Customizable design with interchangeable bezels and straps
- Bright and sharp AMOLED display with auto-brightness
- Good battery life (up to 11 days with moderate use)
- Comprehensive health and fitness tracking features
- Simple and intuitive UI
- IP68 water and dust resistance
Cons:
- Basic notification handling
- Occasional performance hiccups
- Limited selection of watch faces
- Voice assistant relies on smartphone
Conclusion
In conclusion, the CMF Watch Pro 2 is a fantastic budget-friendly smartwatch that offers a lot of bang for your buck. It’s perfect for anyone looking for a stylish, customizable, and functional smartwatch without breaking the bank. While it has a few minor drawbacks, they’re easily overlooked given the overall value and performance.
If you’re in the market for an affordable smartwatch that doesn’t skimp on features, the CMF Watch Pro 2 is definitely worth considering. It’s a great example of how budget tech has come a long way, providing a solid alternative to more expensive options on the market.
Check out the latest price here: CMF Watch Pro 2>>