Nothing’s CMF sub-brand has seen a steady expansion across earbuds, smartphones and smartwatches. Watch 3 Pro is the latest wrist wearable from the brand as it succeeds the Watch Pro 2 from last year with some key upgrades. Namely, a larger display, bigger battery and dual-band GPS alongside a new color palette.
CMF Watch 3 Pro specifications
- Display: 1.43” AMOLED touchscreen, 466 x 466 px resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, 670 nits max brightness, Always-On Display (AOD)
- Straps: Detachable 22mm straps, 140-220mm adjustable length
- Features: IP68 rated, Real-time heart rate monitor, 24/7 Blood Oxygen level monitor, Sleep tracking, Stress monitoring, Sports tracking, Step Counter, Meditation, Notifications, Idle Alert, Phone Finder, Weather Forecast, Music and Camera Control, Alarm, Stopwatch, linear Vibration Motor, Flashlight.
- Sports Modes: Outdoor Run, Indoor Run, Outdoor Walk, Cycling, Hiking, Pool Swimming, Jump rope, Freestyle (130+ more in Nothing X app)
- Sensors: Optical heart rate sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, Compatible with Android 6.0 and iOS 13+, dual-band L1+L5 GNSS, microphone and speakers
- Battery: 350mAh
- Colors: Light Gray, Light Green, Orange, Dark Gray
- Dimensions: 47 x 47 x 14.4 mm
- Weight (without strap): 51 grams
You also get Nothing’s polished software experience alongside over 120 minimalist watch faces and the usual health and fitness tracking, all for under $100/€100. This reviewer spent over two weeks with the CMF Watch 3 Pro strapped to his wrist 24/7, pacing it through work and play. Read on for our full assessment.
Table of Contents:
Design
You’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the Watch 3 Pro and its predecessor as both feature the same basic design with a metal body and silicone watch strap. The newer model does not get the removable watch bezel, which was a key design focus on last year’s model. We’re not exactly sure why Nothing abandoned the interchangeable bezel concept after just one generation but it is what it is.
Nothing expanded the screen size on the Watch 3 Pro, and it now measures 1.43 inches compared to 1.32” on the Watch Pro 2. It’s still an AMOLED, so you also get Always-On Display (AOD) functionality, which is always a welcome feature. Screen brightness tops out at 670 nits, which is fine even in bright sunny conditions, though not as bright as the Huawei Watch GT6, for example.
This is still a 47mm watch, so it’s definitely on the larger side. It’s also 14.4 mm thick, which is more than a lot of competitors.
Our review unit comes in the fresh Light Green color, which brings a metallic finish to the top side of the bezel. The midframe and rotating crown button get a darker gray shade, while the bottom side, where we have the sensors, is made from plastic. We’ve grown to like Nothing’s clean design language, and the Watch 3 Pro is certainly a good-looking smartwatch, and it also feels great on the wrist.
The included silicone watch strap is interchangeable so that you can swap it out for any other 22mm style. Watch 3 Pro weighs 52 grams, which is a bit on the heavier side, but nothing too drastic.
The retail package is quite slim and only includes the watch, watch straps and the proprietary two-pin magnetic charging cable.
Software and Features
Watch 3 Pro boots a custom real-time operating system (RTOS), which looks nearly identical to last year’s Watch Pro 2. It features the minimalist Nothing dot matrix styling and covers the basic functionality you’d expect from a wrist wearable. Before we delve deeper, we should mention that there are no third-party apps or NFC support for contactless payments, nor a cellular connectivity option.
You navigate the UI via swipes for the most part, but you can also use the crown button to quickly launch apps and sports activity tracking. The crown button gives off a nice vibration feedback and also supports a programmable double-press action.
The latter is limited to 13 actions, which is not bad, but there are some clear omissions. For instance, you can’t assign the double-press gesture to the timer, which is something that this reviewer uses quite often on his Huawei Watch Fit 3.
While Nothing is hesitant to bring a second physical button, it does bring two optional gesture controls. You can assign a wrist rotate gesture or an arm shake to launch any app on the watch, manage incoming calls or even control music playback.
Elsewhere, Watch 3 Pro is equipped with the standard set of features you’d expect from a midrange smartwatch in 2025. Thanks to the OLED screen, you get Always-On Display (AOD) functionality and over 120 watch face options.
We have to give credit to Nothing as the watch face selection looks and feels better than the usual bland mix you’d see from most makers. From clean minimalist faces with analog dials, to more modern and feature-rich ones, we can safely say there are enough options for just about any style and best of all, they are all free (take note Huawei!). Most watch faces support dedicated AOD mode, which still shows you key complications.
You can only store 7 watch faces on the watch at a time, which is less than what most competitors give you, but still a good selection. Nothing also has three custom watch face tools with album dial, video dial and studio dial. The album dial shuffles preselected photos from your phone’s gallery.
Video dial lets you choose a 5-second snippet of any video from your phone’s gallery, which is then synced to the watch and plays every time you check the time. It’s an original idea that is actually fun to use and is a cool party trick.
Studio dial leverages AI to create on-the-spot watch faces on your phone, which can then be transferred to the watch – a cool concept, though more on the gimmicky side.
The onboard speaker and microphone allow you to take voice calls right on the wrist but Nothing went a step further. Essential News is a unique feature that uses the built-in speaker on the watch to read out news based on your interests.
You select the topics that interest you in the Nothing X app, and the top stories are then synced from your phone to the watch. Nothing CFO Tim Holbrow’s voice reads your daily headlines out loud. This is a neat feature to have, and we enjoyed our time using it …
You can also access our phone’s digital assistant through the watch and even have access to ChatGPT. Nothing also implemented a native voice note recorder, which is handy if you want to jot down any ideas when your phone is out of reach. You also get notifications with the ability to send out preset replies for texts directly from the watch.
Connectivity was great during our time with Watch 3 Pro as it managed to keep a stable connection to this reviewer’s iPhone 17 Pro and delivered prompt notifications.
Health and activity tracking
Health tracking
Watch 3 Pro brings an optical heart rate sensor, which also tracks blood oxygen saturation alongside the usual mix of health tracking metrics for sleep and stress. These are the same options we saw on last year’s model, covering the same general health insights. As such, we can’t vouch for their accuracy but we did get comparable results to the Huawei Watch Fit 3 for heart rate and SpO₂ and stress measurements.
You can also toggle the frequency of the heart rate monitoring with options for every 1, 3, 5 or 10 minutes alongside alerts for low and high resting heart rate levels. The watch can also push alerts if your blood oxygen levels drop below a certain percentage.
In terms of sleep tracking, you get the usual monitoring metrics with sleep stage breakdown, total sleep duration, and a sleep quality score. CMF Watch 3 Pro showed identical go-to-sleep times as the Huawei Watch Fit 3, but when it came to wake-up times, it consistently delivered far more accurate readings by showing the actual time I woke up instead of the time I got out of bed, like on the Watch Fit 3.
You can view key sleep metrics directly on the watch, while the Nothing X app provides even more details and the ability to reference a longer flow of data points to track your progress.
Activity tracking
In terms of activity tracking, Watch 3 Pro brings an expanded roster of 131 sports modes alongside an updated 6-axis accelerometer over the outgoing Watch Pro 2. You also get dual-band GNSS positioning.
One of our biggest gripes with the Watch Pro 2 was its pesky GPS performance, which would take ages to lock on, but we can confirm that Nothing fixed the issue with the Watch 3 Pro’s GPS receiver, as it locks onto position in a matter of seconds. GPS accuracy is on point so you can safely leave your phone at home when going for a run.
Speaking of running, Watch 3 Pro offers the usual running metrics you’d find in most fitness trackers alongside some more advanced ones like VO2 Max, training load and recovery. You can also sync your workout data with Strava, Apple Health and Google Fit. The warm-up and stretching guide with 3D animations is another nice touch.
There’s a dedicated Running Coach that leverages AI to create a personalized workout plan to help you improve your running performance. The feature also adapts to your performance and adjusts training sessions according to your progress.
While we’re confident with the CMF Watch 3 Pro’s activity tracking for running and casual gym sessions, we can’t help but feel disappointed that it lacks swim tracking and other water sports.
Battery life
Nothing claims you can expect up to 13 days with moderate usage and 10 days of heavy usage from the Watch 3 Pro’s 350mAh battery.
In our testing, we got 7 days with auto brightness on, AOD off, a constant flow of 100+ daily notifications, 24/7 health tracking, and 3 workout sessions. While not on the level of Huawei’s recent crop of wearables, the CMF Watch 3 Pro delivers respectable battery endurance.
A full 0-100% charge with the in-box dual-pin magnetic charger takes 90 minutes. A quick 10-minute top-up leaves you at the 20% mark, while 30 minutes gets you to 50%.
Verdict
CMF Watch 3 Pro builds on its predecessor with a larger AMOLED display, vastly improved dual-band GPS, and a refined software experience, all while keeping its price comfortably under the $100/€100 mark. Core features such as notifications, calls, and voice assistant access work reliably across both Android and iOS, which isn’t always a given at this price point.
The minimalist Nothing styling remains a strong selling point, and despite the watch’s sizable footprint, it proved comfortable for all-day wear. The expanded watch face selection, clever customization tools, and extras like Essential News and voice notes add personality without straying from the brand’s clean UI approach.
Health and activity tracking is reliable for everyday use, with heart rate, SpO₂, sleep, and stress metrics offering consistent results. The upgraded GPS performance is a major improvement, and the AI-powered running coach adds genuine value for runners. Still, the omission of swim tracking is a notable miss, which even budget smartbands offer nowadays.
Battery endurance isn’t record-breaking, but it remains respectable at around a week of mixed use. Charging is quick enough, and the proprietary puck gets the job done, though the addition of wireless charging would have been great.
Overall, the CMF Watch 3 Pro delivers a polished smartwatch experience with standout design, dependable tracking, and thoughtful software features. It may not be the Swiss Army knife of smartwatches, but considering the price point, it gets our nod of approval.
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