It's no secret how much I enjoyed it. CMF Phone 1 We love that it delivers a level of performance and fun not typically found at the lower price point. The mission statement for the CMF Watch Pro 2 remains the same: offer an ambitious feature set and a beautiful display for the price of a PS5 game. And it comes in the same fun style as the CMF Phone 1, with interchangeable bands and bezels to pair with all CMF products.
It's not without its flaws — no corners were cut to keep the Watch Pro 2 at a low price — but it's hard to argue with the results. If you're looking for fitness tracking on a budget and don't mind a few drawbacks, the CMF Watch Pro 2 offers a lot for just $70.
CMF Watch Pro 2
The $70 CMF Watch Pro 2 comes with great features like heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen sensor, and sleep tracking. It can also automatically detect common workouts like walking and running, and track 120 different workouts. Featuring a bright and vibrant 1.32″ AMOLED display, the Watch Pro 2 comes in multiple colors and bezels to choose from.
- Bright display
- Great battery life
- Fun design
- Connection issues
- Weak construction
Price and availability
The CMF Watch Pro 2 is available to purchase on Amazon and CMF Global for $70. It comes in four strap colors: blue, orange, ash gray, and dark gray. There are two bezel options to match the ash gray or dark gray, depending on your color choice. Additional straps can be purchased starting at $19, but any 22mm watch strap will fit the Watch Pro 2.
What I like about the CMF Watch Pro 2
Great display and great features
I was blown away by the display quality of the Watch Pro 2. It has a fantastic 1.32″ OLED panel that's crisp and easy to read, even outdoors. It's also highly responsive, reducing the poorly lit and laggy screens that often plague cheaper smartwatches. The Watch Pro 2 isn't about looks, and a high-quality display is an important part of the package. It's one of the main reasons I'd consider buying one, so I'm pleased that Nothing has opted for a premium panel.
I've mentioned the Watch Pro 2's ambitious feature set, and that's no exaggeration. The Watch Pro 2 packs in an impressive array of health sensors. In addition to heart rate and blood oxygen sensors, the Watch Pro 2 also measures sleep quality. It performs well overall, but I was particularly impressed with its sleep tracking capabilities. Cheap sleep tracking devices are lucky if they can tell me if I'm asleep or not, but the Watch Pro 2 accurately classified my sleep cycles.
I'm happy with the accuracy of the sensor and the way the information is displayed in the CMF Watch app. With cheaper smartwatch apps I often pray for Google Fit or Strava integration because the native apps are too poor, but that's not the case with the Watch Pro 2.
The information is clearly laid out, with separate sections for heart rate, sleep, exercise, stress levels, and more. Tapping on individual widgets within the app will reveal more detailed data on your sleep cycles and training load. The app is fun and a definite plus for the Watch Pro 2. If you still prefer Strava or Apple Health, the Watch Pro 2 integrates with these, allowing you to aggregate health data from multiple trackers. Google Health Connect is also due to be added in a future software update.
The CMF Watch Pro 2 has 120 built-in sports modes that can be entered manually. Five modes, such as running and outdoor walking, feature auto-detection. I managed to trigger outdoor walking a few times and was able to track my progress around the block without having to manually record workouts. On-board GPS is another handy premium feature that allows you to accurately measure the distance of your running or cycling session. Overall, with warm-up exercises and breathing training, the Watch Pro 2 is a very well-rounded fitness companion that's well worth the price.
Of course, these features don't mean much if the Watch Pro 2 weighs like a paperweight on your wrist by dinnertime. Thankfully, Nothing has equipped the device with a 305mAh battery that should last you more than a week on a single charge. The company claims the Watch Pro 2 will last up to 11 days with normal use, but acknowledges that heavy use of the GPS and Bluetooth calling features will limit its effectiveness. 24/7 heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring did drain the battery further, but I didn't need to charge it more than once a week. Charging speeds were adequate, with the watch fully charged in just under 90 minutes using the proprietary magnetic charging cable.
As expected, the CMF Watch Pro 2 doesn't come with Wear OS 5 at this price point, but the company's homegrown OS works very well — in fact, the Watch Pro 2 offers some better features than a Fitbit Charge 6 at half the price.
The Watch Pro 2's on-device software is snappy and adopts Nothing's design language with its orange and black panel and dot-matrix lettering. It's also well-equipped with a calendar app, voice assistant, and music controls. The gesture controls are intuitive and the menu system is easy to follow, allowing you to scroll through the various watch functions. Nothing will ship with 80 watch faces at launch, giving you plenty of options for customization.
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What I don't like about the CMF Watch Pro 2
Cheaply made and poorly connected
While I like the Watch Pro 2's playful design, I'm critical of its build quality. You wouldn't expect titanium with sapphire crystal for $70, but the Watch Pro 2 feels cheap. It's light as a feather on the wrist, and the replaceable aluminum alloy bezel felt like plastic until you removed it and heard it bang on the desk. I have more serious concerns about the rotating crown: it protrudes a little from the bezel and is prone to breaking. Every time I use it, I hold my breath, wondering when it'll break.
Early on in my testing, I ran into an issue where the crown became unresponsive, forcing me to hard-reset the watch. Subsequent software updates seem to have mitigated this issue, but I'm still wary. The Watch Pro 2 also has poor tactile feel, making a half-hearted, annoying sound when it hits your wrist.
The Bluetooth connection is especially spotty, with the Watch Pro 2 disconnecting if it moves more than a few feet away from my phone. I found myself having to manually open the app to force a reconnect multiple times throughout the day, only to be disappointed again and again by the watch's inability to recognize that I was back in range of my phone. It's hard to ask for everything to work well on a watch at this price, but the basics are important, and the Nothing leaves no room for improvement.
Should I buy it?
We rate the CMF Watch Pro 2 higher than usual because of the potential of this device. This is a very dangerous thing to do in tech reviews – the tip of the sword. When buying a device you should base it on what it can do now, not what it might do in the future. However, with minimal software support the CMF Watch Pro 2 is excellent value for money.
Even if the flaws aren't fixed, you get a lot of utility for $70, especially when compared to other smartwatches twice the price that offer half the features of the Watch Pro 2. With a great display, incredible battery life, and a wealth of health sensors, it's hard to beat.
CMF Watch Pro 2
The CMF Watch Pro 2 may not be perfect, and I'd expect some software upgrades along the way, but it's well worth the $70 price tag. Considering all the features it offers, including health tracking, sleep tracking, built-in GPS, and a well-layed app, it's hard to beat the CMF Watch Pro 2 if you're looking for health tracking capabilities on a budget.
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