Coming across character-driven products with an avant-garde approach to design is uncommon in the budget smartphone segment. However, when Nothing puts out a product, its design language is always the centre of discussion. This time around, the UK-based tech outfit has grabbed the headlines by launching an affordable smartphone with a modular design under the banner of its subsidiary brand, CMF. Ditching its parent company’s ‘see-through’ design philosophy, CMF embraces colour and minimalism. Its debut smartphone, aptly named Phone 1, features an interchangeable back and comes with a range of accessories. Also impressive is the Dimensity 7300 SoC it packs under its hood. Its price tag of Rs 16,000 is just as impressive. We used the CMF Phone 1 for a week, here is our in-depth review of the smartphone.
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In This Article
CMF Phone 1 by Nothing Review: Design and Display
Here’s what you get inside the CMF Phone 1’s retail box:
- Smartphone
- USB Type-C to Type-C cable
- SIM ejector
- Safety and Information Guide
The modular design of the CMF Phone 1 lends it a whole lot of personality. There are visible screws on the plastic panel, which is a bold choice that has paid off well on the device. It gives the smartphone a ‘raw’ look without being too loud. There’s a rotating wheel at the bottom right corner of the panel which can be unscrewed to attach the kickstand and lanyard. The oval-shaped camera cutout on the top-left corner balances the screw wheel on the bottom.
The matte finish on the plastic back panel massively elevates its in-hand feel. The CMF Phone 1 does not feel like a cheap device at all. Everything about its design is tasteful and well thought out. The volume rocker keys and the side button on either side of the frame have a glossy finish which offers a nice contrast to the matte texture of the back panel. The hybrid SIM tray, USB port, and speaker grille are positioned at the bottom of the device. The secondary microphone finds its way to the top edge of the frame.
The customisation versatility of the CMF Phone 1 is its X factor. The back panel of the device can be easily swapped after removing the screws with a flathead screwdriver (provided with the accessories). Once you’ve removed the back, there is no option to swap the battery unit. We hope CMF adds this option in future iterations of this smartphone.
There are four back panel colour options on offer – Black, Blue, Light Green, and Orange. Since every panel comes with its own rotating wheel, you can give your device a unique colour combination. Having an easily replaceable back panel also means you can easily swap it when it breaks or gets worn out.
CMF’s accessory list for the Phone 1 also includes a card holder, a kickstand, and a lanyard cable. You don’t need to unscrew the device to attach the latter two accessories. The rotating screw wheel takes care of it. However, the cardholder requires installing a magnetic plate on the back panel with the help of screws before the mini wallet can snap onto it. We like this workaround as it opens the door to a lot of other accessories for the device.
The front fascia of the Phone 1 can hold its own without relying on the charm and design intricacies of the back panel. The 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display has a 120Hz refresh rate and can hit 2,000 nits of peak brightness. The touch response offered by this display is snappy and fun. The punchy colours, deep blacks, and contrast-packed images bring the best out of this display. Streaming content on platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar was a pleasant experience. The smartphone does not have a stereo speaker, but the bottom firing unit can get pretty loud.
CMF Phone 1 by Nothing Review: Performance and Cameras
Powering the CMF Phone 1 is the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 SoC, which is an excellent chipset in this price range. More recently, we saw the Dimensity 7300 family of chipsets on the much pricier Oppo Reno12 Pro and the entry-level Motorola Razr50. On the Geekbench 6 app, the CMF Phone 1 scored 1,023 points in the single-core test and 2,894 points in the multi-core test.
The smartphone crushes everyday tasks like instant messaging, video calling, social media browsing, video recording, and navigation without breaking a sweat. The load time for apps is minimal and the general usage experience is quite smooth. During the week-long review period, we did not hit a snag on the CMF Phone 1.
Putting the Phone 1 to the gaming test yielded good results. We played Call of Duty Mobile and Asphalt 9 on the smartphone and were pleased with the way it handled demanding graphics. The touch response rate of the display played a crucial role in ensuring a seamless gaming experience. After 40 minutes of gaming, we were able to feel a slight warmth on the back panel but the smartphone did a good job of managing the internal temperature when we crossed the 1-hour mark.
OS duties on the CMF Phone 1 are handled by Android 14-based Nothing OS 2.6. Despite being a ‘budget’ offering, the smartphone runs the full version of Nothing OS 2.6, consisting of all the features bar the Glyph controls (for obvious reasons). The lack of significant bloatware earns the smartphone brownie points from us. Nothing’s eye-catching icon packs and widgets bring a lot of flair to its devices. Even though the software experience is close to stock Android, the little tweaks make it much more enjoyable.
We are particularly fond of the home screen customisations offered by Nothing OS. Not only can you choose from a wide range of native widgets, but also apply a number of skins and layouts to the app folders on the screen. The ‘Wallpaper Studio’ generates novel wallpapers using AI but has a limited number of prompts. Nonetheless, it isn’t hard to generate a wallpaper that matches the home screen aesthetic.
The 5,000 mAh battery on the CMF Phone 1 puts in a versatile performance. The phone can easily last a day on heavy usage. You can push its battery life to a day and a half if you’re more conservative with your usage. We were able to clock 7 hours and 20 minutes of Screen On Time on the device before the battery hit 15%. Our daily tasks on the CMF Phone 1 during the review period included video streaming, social media browsing, video calling, web browsing, and gaming. With support for 33W wired charging, the smartphone took just over an hour to reach a 100% charge.
The rear camera panel of the CMF Phone 1 consists of a 50MP primary sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The latter isn’t a standalone camera but helps in adding the depth effect to the portraits captured by the main sensor. The rear camera setup lacks an ultrawide camera, but given the price of the smartphone, we don’t deem this as a major loss.
The 50MP primary sensor takes good pictures in daylight conditions. The images flaunt vivid, punchy colours and pack a good amount of details. The camera app has a ‘Vivid Mode’ which uses AI to detect the scene and enhance the colours in the images. Every time you change the scene in front of the camera, the AI engine generates a small description of how it will improve the image. This seems like a neat trick on the surface, but the end results are never as versatile as the smartphone makes them out to be.
Budget smartphones typically don’t fare well in limited lighting conditions, but the CMF Phone 1 proved to be a pleasant exception. With the Night Mode turned on, the 50MP camera produced decent results. In the image processing phase, the smartphone does a good job of brightening the subject and assigning it accurate colours.
Portrait shots taken with the CMF Phone 1 are detailed and have a lot of clarity. The camera does a good job of detecting the edges of the subject and separating it from the background. However, the background blur leaves more to be desired.
The front-facing 16MP camera takes decent selfies but they seem a little too processed. The skin tone and texture seem a bit artificial. In limited lighting, the selfies are visibly soft. This camera can record 1080p videos at 30fps. Meanwhile, the rear camera can record 4K videos at 30fps.
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Conclusion
The Rs 16,000 price tag of the CMF Phone 1 places it in the budget smartphone category but it punches above its weight in almost every metric. The smartphone has a distinct personality that separates it from the cliched devices in its segment. What we like about the smartphone is that it doesn’t rely on its modular design as a gimmick. Even without the accessories, the CMF Phone 1 is a rock-solid device that is ideal for everyday use.
The MediaTek Dimensity 7300 SoC delivers a well-rounded performance on the smartphone, as evidenced by the impressive benchmarks. The Super AMOLED display is a delight to use and brings fluidity to the device. On the OS front, the reliable Nothing OS 2.6 delivers a signature performance. The versatile battery life ties the bow on a splendid smartphone experience.
CMF Phone 1: Pros
Unique design
Fluid display
Good chipset
Versatile battery life
CMF Phone 2: Cons
Lacks a stereo speaker
