It’s no secret that budget wearables are a hot topic in the tech world right now. It seems that every week a new budget wearable is being unveiled, offering consumers a way to stay connected for a fraction of the cost of the high-end options. Unfortunately, it appears that nothing big is happening in terms of budget wearables, at least judging by leaked images of upcoming products from CMF.
The leaked images come from a Chinese electronics platform called Xiaomi Youpin and show a CMF-branded smartwatch and a pair of wireless earbuds. Despite the CMF branding, the design of the products looks incredibly familiar, basically rehashing design principles that have been common in the wearables market for quite some time. There doesn’t appear to be any innovative features that set the products apart from the competition, and the leaked specs failed to wow.
Looking at the smartwatch, it features a square display with a 1.1-inch rectangular screen, coated with 2.5D arc glass. It’s powered by Realtek 8762C processor, along with 8MB of RAM and 128MB of storage. It includes basic features such as an accelerometer, notification alerts, activity tracking, and even a basic camera. All of that is wrapped up in an IP67 rated water-resistant case with a 22mm wristband. The smartwatch also includes support for 5ATM water resistance, so it should be able to handle shallow swimming sessions.
Moving on to the earbuds, they look very ordinary when it comes to design. They have an in-ear design with a bud shape case that houses 13.6mm dynamic drivers. The earbuds feature a series of controls on the exterior, including a minimum and multi-function/power button. They also come with Bluetooth 5.0 and support AAC and SBC audio codecs.
So, all in all, it looks like CMF has elected to play it safe with these budget wearables. Instead of looking for ways to set their products apart from the competition, CMF appears to have just taken the easy route of repackaging existing designs and tech. That’s a shame, and it’s a good reminder that consumers should always do their own research before opting for a budget wearable.
