CMF has been steadily refining its smartwatch lineup rather than reinventing it with every generation. The new Watch 3 Pro follows the same philosophy. At first glance, it looks familiar, retaining the circular design language and Bluetooth calling functionality seen on earlier models. Spend some time with it, however, and the upgrades become more apparent.
The Watch 3 Pro arrives with a larger AMOLED display, dual-band GPS, upgraded health sensors, a custom running coach, recording transcription, and integration with the Nothing X app. On paper, these additions make it a notable upgrade over the Watch Pro 2.
I used the CMF Watch 3 Pro as my primary smartwatch for several days, wearing it throughout the day, during workouts, outdoor runs, sleep-tracking sessions, and while handling calls directly from my wrist. The goal was simple: to find out whether these upgrades genuinely improve the experience or merely look impressive on a specification sheet.
Design and build
The CMF Watch 3 Pro sticks with the circular design that has become a familiar part of CMF’s smartwatch lineup. The design feels clean and understated, making it suitable for both casual and professional settings.
The precision-milled aluminium alloy case gives the watch a premium appearance. It does not feel like an entry-level smartwatch when worn, while the metal finish around the body adds a degree of sophistication.
One notable change compared to the Watch Pro 2 is the removal of interchangeable bezels. Depending on how much you used that feature on the previous model, this may or may not matter. Personally, it had little impact on my day-to-day experience, but users who enjoyed changing the appearance of their watch may miss the extra customisation options.
The bundled silicone strap is comfortable and feels well made. During testing, I wore the watch for extended periods, including overnight sleep tracking and outdoor workouts. The strap remained flexible and comfortable, although I did notice some sweat accumulation underneath regardless of how tightly or loosely it was adjusted.
On my wrist, the Watch 3 Pro had a distinctly sporty appearance. The circular dial, metallic frame and chunky profile give it more presence than many budget smartwatches. In fact, the first thing that came to mind when I strapped it on was Ben 10’s Omnitrix. While it is nowhere near as bulky, the overall silhouette carries a similar vibe. It manages to feel playful and sporty while still looking premium.
On the right side sits a single metallic crown that handles most navigation. A press wakes the display, opens the app menu or takes you back, while it can also be used to pause workouts. I found myself using the crown frequently, particularly when scrolling through longer menus, as it felt quicker and more precise than repeatedly swiping the touchscreen.
The Watch 3 Pro carries an IP68 rating, providing protection against dust and water exposure during everyday use.
Display and user experience
CMF has equipped the Watch 3 Pro with a 1.43-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 466×466 pixels.
The panel looks sharp, colours are vibrant, and text remains crisp throughout the interface. Whether I was checking workout statistics, browsing menus or reading notifications, the display remained easy to read.
The larger screen also makes a noticeable difference in daily use. Menus and widgets feel less cramped, while notifications are easier to read at a glance. In fact, the text is large enough that someone nearby can often read incoming notifications as well. While that improves visibility, privacy-conscious users may view it differently.
Outdoor visibility is good. Whether walking outdoors or checking notifications in bright sunlight, the screen remained legible. The ambient light sensor also works well, automatically adjusting brightness without requiring manual intervention.
Raise-to-wake worked adequately, though not perfectly. There were occasional instances where the display failed to wake on the first wrist movement, requiring either a second gesture or a tap on the screen. It is a minor annoyance rather than a major issue.
Navigation is straightforward. Swiping down opens quick settings, swiping up reveals notifications, and horizontal swipes move between widgets. These widgets can be customised through the Nothing X app.
The rotating crown deserves special mention. A single press opens the app menu, while a double press triggers the voice assistant on the connected smartphone. Combined with smooth scrolling, it became my preferred navigation method over touch gestures.
Overall, the display and software experience feel polished and intuitive.
Bluetooth calling
Bluetooth calling turned out to be one of my favourite features on the Watch 3 Pro.
Many smartwatches support calling, but the experience is often compromised by weak speakers or poor microphone performance. That was not the case here.
During my testing, call quality was consistently good. Indoors, conversations were clear, while outdoors, calls remained perfectly usable without needing to raise my voice or immediately switch back to my smartphone.
The watch also provides access to contacts, call logs and a dial pad, allowing calls to be managed directly from the wrist.
More importantly, this is one of the few smartwatches where I found myself using Bluetooth calling regularly rather than treating it as a novelty.
Software and companion app
The Watch 3 Pro pairs with the Nothing X app, which now acts as the central hub for setup and management. The dashboard presents daily activity information, including steps, calories burned, activity minutes, sleep data, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, stress tracking, active score and training load. The layout is clean and easy to navigate.
CMF also offers more than 120 watch faces. Many can be customised further, allowing users to adjust colours and information layouts. The app also handles notifications, Bluetooth calling contacts, health tracking settings and general watch controls.
One of the new additions is recording transcription.
The feature allows users to record a short voice note directly from the watch and send it to the Nothing X app, where it is automatically converted into text. During testing, the feature handled clear speech reasonably well and proved useful for quickly capturing reminders and article ideas while on the move.
At present, transcription works only in English.
Overall, the software experience feels functional, organised and easy to use.
Fitness tracking and GPS performance
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Fitness tracking is clearly an area where CMF has invested considerable effort. -
The Watch 3 Pro supports 131 sports modes and records a broad range of workout data, including duration, heart rate, pace, calories burned, distance, recovery time, training load and activity scores. -
The new Custom Running Coach is a welcome addition. The feature creates structured training plans aimed at helping users prepare for a 10K run. While useful, it currently feels like the beginning of a broader fitness ecosystem rather than a fully developed coaching platform.
The standout upgrade is dual-band GPS.
The watch supports multiple satellite systems and acquired GPS signals quickly during testing. Tracking remained stable throughout outdoor walks and runs, while recorded routes appeared consistent and accurate.
Sleep, heart rate, SpO2 and stress tracking
Health tracking remains one of the strengths of the Watch 3 Pro.
Sleep tracking proved reliable during my testing. The watch automatically detected sleep and wake times accurately and provided breakdowns of sleep stages along with overall sleep scores.
The upgraded sensors also appear to improve overall accuracy. Heart-rate monitoring remained consistent throughout daily use and workouts, while occasional comparisons with other devices revealed no major discrepancies.
Blood oxygen monitoring is available as well. Like most smartwatches, these readings should not be treated as medical-grade measurements, but they offer a useful snapshot of overall wellness.
Stress monitoring is included too, although some related options need to be enabled manually through the settings.
Users can also customise monitoring intervals and receive alerts for unusually high or low heart-rate readings, as well as low blood oxygen levels.
Naturally, enabling continuous monitoring across all health metrics has an impact on battery life, but that trade-off is expected.
Battery life
Battery life is easily one of the strongest reasons to consider the Watch 3 Pro. One of the reasons I continue to appreciate analogue watches is that they do not need regular charging. Many smartwatches become another device demanding attention every few days. The Watch 3 Pro largely avoids that problem.
During testing, I enabled continuous heart-rate monitoring, SpO2 tracking, stress monitoring, notifications and regular GPS-based walks. I also took several Bluetooth calls directly from the watch.
Even with all those features active, the battery comfortably lasted more than a week on a single charge.
More importantly, I rarely found myself thinking about battery life at all. The watch quietly did its job without demanding constant attention.
When charging is eventually required, the included magnetic charger completes a full charge in roughly 90 minutes.
Verdict
The CMF Watch 3 Pro turned out to be better than I expected. Going into this review, I expected another budget smartwatch packed with features but weighed down by compromises. Instead, I found a smartwatch that gets most of the important things right.
The display is bright, GPS performance is reliable, Bluetooth calling is genuinely useful, and the health-tracking features are accurate enough for everyday use. But the standout feature is battery life.
One of the reasons I still wear analogue watches more often than smartwatches is that I dislike worrying about charging another device. The moment a smartwatch starts asking for power every couple of days, it becomes something I need to manage rather than something that quietly fits into my routine.
The Watch 3 Pro avoids that problem.
It is not perfect. The running coach still feels like a work in progress, raise-to-wake occasionally misses a gesture, and some users may miss the interchangeable bezels from the previous generation.
None of those shortcomings, however, significantly affected my overall experience.
The Watch 3 Pro feels less like a budget smartwatch trying to do everything and more like one that understands its priorities. It focuses on the features people actually use every day and executes most of them well.
If you are looking for a smartwatch that balances fitness tracking, health monitoring, Bluetooth calling and excellent battery life without becoming a chore to live with, the CMF Watch 3 Pro is easy to recommend.
More importantly, it is a watch I would happily continue wearing even after the review period ended.
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Price: Rs 7,999 -
Colour tested: Light Green
