CMF Phone 1 Review: Affordable Budget Smartphone with Impressive Features and Customization Options

Excellent technology at a low price. This is what the CMF by Nothing brand, another product of the London-based technology company, stands for. The manufacturer has already confirmed that this foundation works with the Watch Pro 2 and Buds Pro 2, which affected our test. With the CMF Phone 1, the company is now breathing new air into the budget smartphone class, delivering an extremely large phone at a price of around 200 euros and with a few new ideas, as our test appears.

Technical data

CMF Phone Test 1: Make your design as you wish

• Unique design
• Replaceable back
• Good work

A fresh, youthful look that can be quickly transformed in a few easy steps. What already worked for the CMF Watch Pro 2 wear also applies to the CMF Phone 1, because the back of the smartphone can be replaced in no time.

The Phone 1 is available in a classic black color scheme, as well as a new orange or mint green (light green) look. Optional cases in orange, blue or light green are also available for around €35, allowing you to change the look (and feel) of the device.

A cover is not a cover, but simply covers the entire smartphone. While our tester comes in black with a slightly rough surface, the blue case that the manufacturer gave us for testing feels much grippier and “warmer” thanks to the leather vegan.

Replacing the case is very simple: the case comes with a screwdriver, a SIM card slot and a round accessory button in a matching color. Just remove the four screws, remove the SIM card slot and you can remove the back.

However, this round button on the back has even more functions, because the CMF Phone 1 can be used with other optional accessories. These include a lanyard, card wallet or stand.

As for the overall design of the CMF Phone 1, the smartphone looks quite amazing in my eyes and has a small, slightly industrial look to it. The different currency controls are a nice touch.

It’s fair to assume that the Phone 1 is mostly made of plastic, given the price. The workmanship is of good quality, but the black case is particularly prone to scratches.

Too bad it only offers IP52 certification, ie splash protection. Unfortunately, the device is not fully waterproof. The cheaper Phone 1 also lacks the glyph interface with LED light that we know from the Nothing Phone 2a Plus (our review), for example.

Big AMOLED screen, good features

• Bright AMOLED screen
• high resolution
• 120 Hertz.

The display of the CMF Phone 1 is very impressive in the price range up to 250 euros. The manufacturer has given the device a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels and a refresh rate of 120 hertz – perfect for gaming.

Brightness values ​​are also very rare in this price range. In regular display, the screen is up to 700 nits bright, with HDR content even peaking at 2,000 nits. Due to the display’s thin bezels, the flat screen takes up almost the entire front of the device. The Phone 1 displays excellent colors and contrasts, making media consumption very enjoyable.

However, the glass used is slightly more prone to fingerprints and dirt than is the case with smartphones in higher price ranges. On the other hand, CMF by Nothing equipped the Phone 1 with an optical fingerprint sensor that works very accurately and quickly.

Features and software

• MediaTek chip with 8 GB of RAM
• Expandable memory via microSD card
• No NFC; average speakers

The features are also very impressive. Under the hood is the MediaTek Dimnsity 7300 chipset, which combines eight processing cores with a clock frequency of up to 2.5 GHz and works very efficiently thanks to 4 nm production.

It is supported by 8GB of RAM, through which the smartphone can borrow up to another 8GB of system memory. By default, a memory expansion of 2 GB is set here, which can be increased to 4 GB or 8 GB, although this requires a reboot. Memory is either 128GB or 256GB and can be expanded up to 2 terabytes via a microSD card if needed.

Alternatively, two SIM cards can be used with phone 1. Both slots support 5G. It also has fast Wi-Fi 6 with an impressive range and Bluetooth 5.3 for connecting to wireless devices.

Unfortunately, there is no NFC – there is no compatible chip installed here, which is not unusual in this price range. There’s also one mono speaker at the bottom, which is nice and loud, but tends to back off at high volumes. Also, there is some detail in the media in particular, meaning that sound is a bit muddy with spoken content.

The operating system is nothing OS 2.6 based on Android 14, which has the clean and minimalist look that I like. However, if you don’t want this black and white look, you can also use the classic Android design as an alternative.

Unfortunately, the manufacturer only offers 2 years of Android updates and 3 years of security updates. A little weak. The security patch is current from 01 August 2024.

CMF 1 phone performance

• good system and processor performance
• GPU chip
• it is hardly suitable for playing

Although the chip of the CMF Phone 1 is newer than that of the Nothing Phone 2a, for example, the manufacturer uses slower CPU cores and a weaker GPU. This means that the smartphone cannot keep up with the latest mid-range devices in terms of performance. However, the Phone 1 can keep up with the much more expensive Nothing Phone 2a Plus in terms of pure processor performance.

The graphics unit is especially weak in games. For casual games with less demanding games, the performance offered is sufficient, but not much more. This is also because the CMF with Nothing uses a simpler cooling system compared to the Nothing Phone 2a/2a Plus.

Fortunately, you are not aware of much of it. Even in the stress test, there is almost no reduction in performance, while the device does not heat up too much so it can be used without any problems. And yet: if you want to play a lot with your smartphone, you will be happy here only to a limited extent because of the weak GPU.

In daily use and normal tasks, including multitasking, high-resolution video streaming and more, however, the SoC is not noticeably weak: the CMF Phone 1 scores here with fast response time, smooth operation and flawless usability in daily use.

CMF Phone 1 Camera

On the back, the CMF Phone 1 has a 50MP main camera that uses the Sony IMX 882 sensor. It offers an f/1.8 aperture, but unfortunately no optical image stabilization (OIS). If you have shaky hands, there is a risk that the images will not be sharp.

There is also a 2MP depth sensor for portrait photography and a 16MP front selfie camera. The image quality of the main camera is good in good lighting conditions.

If you manage to get blur-free shots, they win points for sharpness and detail. However, the dynamic range is a bit low, giving pictures an oversaturated, rather flat look, with a lack of contrast between dark and bright areas. The situation is similar to the selfie camera, which provides solid results but lacks special features.

Photographs look great. Bokeh shows the subject in focus well, but shows some weaknesses in clipping and detail.

Image quality lags in difficult lighting conditions or night photography. Image noise is always present, while details are quickly lost. Also, the lights and colors don’t look very realistic. The main camera records videos at a maximum resolution of 4K UHD at 30 frames per second. Here too, the quality is okay, but you won’t get any special selling points.

CMF 1 phone battery

• 5.000 mAh
• excellent runtime
• Charging speed 33 watts

The CMF Phone 1 is based on a 5,000 mAh battery, which – in combination with the efficient chip – achieves very good operating times. In the PCMark 3.0 Battery Benchmark, we achieved a runtime of 17 hours and 31 minutes. Excellent value on par with the Nothing Phone 2a Plus.

Charging occurs at a maximum speed of 33 watts, but unfortunately wireless charging is not possible. However, the Phone 1 is capable of wireless charging with up to 5 watts.

CMF Phone 1 Review: Conclusion

The CMF 1 phone offers a very impressive package at around 220 euros. The design is quite unique, but the build quality is very good. And the features are also very impressive. The fact that the memory can be expanded using a microSD card is also a welcome feature.

Then there is the long-lasting battery, good display and completely consistent performance – if you don’t want to use the device for gaming. However, there are no features such as NFC, wireless charging or a better camera configuration, which you will certainly find in the competition in the price range up to 300 euros.

If that doesn’t bother you, the CMF Phone 1 is a solid all-around device that performs above its price range in some areas, but falls a little short in others. However, price conscious buyers can definitely pick it up after careful consideration.