Nothing has launched its first CMF-branded phone, aptly named the CMF Phone 1. CMF is the brand name for a lineup of accessories, so what’s the deal with Nothing’s CMF phone? I’m Nayem, and let’s find out in our full review.
Nothing, a brand known for its unique design philosophy and innovative approach to consumer technology, has introduced the CMF Phone 1 under its CMF lineup. The phone aims to deliver a value-based mid-range experience with a touch of modularity.
Design and Build Quality:
Like the recent Nothing Phone 2A, the CMF Phone 1 aims to bring a solid, value-based mid-range experience. Feature-wise, it appears well-rounded, without too many bells and whistles, except for one special thing, a modular design. You’ll notice that the back has actual screws in it, and when you undo them, you can swap out the whole back of the phone.
Nothing sells a few different backings for the CMF Phone 1. They’re all flat and plastic, though a couple of them are covered with vegan leather. All of them are pretty straightforward, nothing flashy.
CMF refers to it as an engineer’s aesthetic. It’s worth noting that while the back is removable, Nothing doesn’t recommend swapping out the battery here, though it should be easier than on your typical smartphone. There is still ingress protection here, rated at IP52 against dust and light splashes of water.
Accessories:
It’s no surprise that there are CMF-branded accessories available too. They attach via a circular element on the back called an accessory point. These include a card case, a lanyard, and a stand.
Display Quality:
The display of the phone is a 6.67-inch AMOLED with a 1080p resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen is quite bright, with a measured maximum of over 700 nits with a manual slider, which could boost to over 1,250 nits in auto mode when needed. The color accuracy and viewing angles are excellent, making media consumption enjoyable.
The refresh rate makes swiping and scrolling quite smooth and can dial down from 120Hz to 60Hz when you stop interacting with it to save energy. Overall, the performance of the display is good. It’s sharp and contrasty, though there is no official HDR video support.
Speaker Quality:
You don’t get stereo speakers on this phone either, just a single bottom-firing one. The loudness is good, and the sound quality is okay-ish. Mids are clear, and highs are decent, though there’s not much for bass. Compared to other phones in this price range, the speaker performance is average.
Software and User Experience:
The Nothing CMF Phone 1 runs the latest version of Nothing LS, version 2.6, on top of Android 14. Features-wise, it’s quite close to stock Android, but you get heavily customized aesthetics. Nothing’s signature dot matrix font and overall aesthetics permeate the UI. You can even turn the whole interface monochrome. The phone offers interconnectivity and support for various Nothing earbuds through the Nothing X app.
For software support, the CMF phone 1 will get two years of software updates and three years of security patches. The UI is smooth, with minimal bloatware, providing a clean user experience.
Performance:
The chipset of the CMF phone 1 is a MediaTek Dimensity 7300, which has demonstrated great power efficiency in other devices.
Benchmark scores align well with other phones in this price bracket. It’s not designed for heavy gaming but handles everyday tasks and light to moderate games smoothly. The phone excels in thermal management, going through prolonged stress tests without major throttling and never getting hot.
Battery Life and Charging Speed:
With a 5000 mAh battery on board, the CMF phone 1 earned one of the best battery life scores around, totaling 16 hours and 13 minutes of active use in our tests.
There’s support for 33-watt charging, but no charger is bundled with the phone. A proper charger can bring the phone from 0-50% in half an hour, with a full charge taking an hour and 21 minutes.
Camera Quality:
The camera setup is simple, featuring a 50-megapixel main camera and a depth sensor. The main camera produces 12.5-megapixel photos due to pixel binning. Daytime photos are solid, with natural-looking colors, good contrast, and dynamic range, though they could be sharper. Portrait shots are decent, handling human subjects well, though subject detection can sometimes make mistakes.
Night shots hold up well, with plenty of detail and low noise, though sharpness could be better. Selfies with the 16-megapixel front-facing cam are satisfactory, with good facial features and colors, though the dynamic range is limited.
Conclusion:
The Nothing CMF Phone 1 is a well-rounded mid-range with excellent battery life and a customizable design that helps it stand out. It’s likely easier to repair than many other phones, thanks to its modular design. There are some shortcomings, such as a single speaker, no NFC, and no charger in the box. If these don’t bother you, the Nothing CMF Phone 1 is worth considering.
For alternatives, check out the Samsung Galaxy A35 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro. Let us know what you think, and I’ll see you in the next review.
