CMF Phone 1 review: Nothing's budget smartphone shakes up segment in style
The CMF Phone 1 offers extensive customisation options on the design front. With interchangeable back panels and attachable accessories, the smartphone provides users with the flexibility to choose their preferred fit and finish. But is the style matched with substance? Let us find out:
Design and customisation
Like every Nothing device I have reviewed, design is a key component for the CMF Phone 1. This time, with an opaque back panel, the smartphone presents a more subtle look compared to Nothing-branded smartphones like the Phone 2a. The CMF Phone 1 stands out with a unique mechanical design, featuring four exposed screws around the edges of the back panel, a rotatable and removable dial/wheel, and a dual-camera setup on a pill-shaped elevated bump in the top left corner.
These design elements aren’t just for aesthetics—they offer a range of customisation options, including attachable back panels in various colours and textures, accessories like an attachable pouch, phone stand, and lanyard cable. The review model came in black with a matte texture that looked and felt durable. However, I quickly swapped it for the dark blue back panel with a vegan leather texture, which came with colour-coordinated SIM tray, screws, and wheel. Despite this, I opted to use the black screws and wheel to attach the new back plate, giving the phone a distinctive and contrasting look. This level of customisation and personalisation is what makes the CMF Phone 1 unique. The accessories and back panels, which you purchase separately, come with a unique miniature screwdriver, making the entire process more engaging.
Among the accessories, I found the stand, which connects to the smartphone using the wheel, to be the most useful. The pouch, on the other hand, makes the smartphone too thick to carry in pockets and does not feel very secure due to its flimsy lid. The build quality of the lanyard cable and the metal connector, which attaches to the smartphone using a colour-coordinated wheel, is impressive. However, carrying the smartphone with a lanyard is a matter of personal preference.
A few points worth mentioning: the accessories are only available in the orange colour associated with the CMF brand. Additionally, I noticed that the plastic section around the screw holders on the back cover can get easily dented when using the screwdriver while swapping the back panel.
Overall, the CMF Phone 1 feels durable and solid despite its all-plastic outer shell. The textured back panel and matte plastic frame design add extra grip for extended use, even with wet hands. However, the smartphone is on the heavier side, and the thick bezels surrounding the display slightly detract from its aesthetics.
CMF Phone 1 (front and back)
Display
The CMF Phone 1 sports a flat display atop a thin plastic enclosure that connects it to the side frame. The 6.67-inch AMOLED display is sufficiently large and offers decent picture quality overall. The panel produces clear and crisp visuals but lacks vibrancy, likely due to the slightly warmer tone of the display, which affects overall colour richness. Nonetheless, the display is adequate for regular tasks, social media, and watching movies. It is also bright enough for outdoor use, offering clear visuals even in midday sunlight from all angles. The 120Hz refresh rate capability enhances the experience, making it smoother and more fluid.
For media consumption, Nothing has added support for HDR10+, making it easier to differentiate between colours. Additionally, the company has included an HDR display mode that increases peak brightness for HDR content. This feature works well with third-party apps like YouTube as well.
Camera
The CMF Phone 1 sports a 50-megapixel primary sensor aided by a 2MP depth sensor. The rear camera performance is decent for its price point. Daylight shots are clear – the sensor captures details in the foreground as effectively as the subject. At night or in low light, the sensor maintains colour accuracy but compromises on detail, resulting in some softened areas in the images.
In portrait shots, the edge detection is impressive for a budget smartphone. However, under artificial lighting, it increases brightness and softens facial details to compensate for the sensor’s limitations. Additionally, portrait shots exhibit a slightly warmer tone compared to standard images.
The front-facing 16MP camera offers decent selfies in daylight but struggles to maintain consistency in low light, resulting in grainy and lacklustre pictures.
The smartphone impresses with its videography capabilities. The smartphone allows recording 4K videos at 30 frames per second and at 1080p quality at up to 60fps. It also gets the HDR recording option but is limited to 1080p resolution recording at 30fps. The front camera can record up to 60fps at 1080p and also gets the HDR recording option. The overall picture quality is similar to the camera’s imaging capability, however, I noticed that the microphone picked up a lot of noise while recording.
Performance and software
Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G chipset, which is not typically found in smartphones under the Rs 20,000 mark, the CMF Phone 1 offers solid performance for its price. Web surfing, casual gaming, and social media scrolling are all a breeze on this smartphone. It also performs well during multitasking and while playing graphic-intensive games like Real Racing 3. The smartphone comes with up to 8GB RAM, and Nothing has included its RAM Booster technology, which provides an additional 8GB RAM, improving performance during intensive tasks. Additionally, Nothing has effectively managed the thermals, ensuring the smartphone never gets uncomfortably hot.
On the software front, it is impressive that Nothing has not used a stripped-down version of NothingOS on the CMF Phone 1. Instead, the smartphone features the same clean and bloatware-free user interface as higher-end Nothing smartphones. Like the Phone 2a, the CMF Phone 1 offers users a choice between the standard Android interface and Nothing’s custom UI, NothingOS 2.5, both free of unnecessary bloatware and distractions.
What stands out about NothingOS is its innovative approach to home screen organisation. It allows users to place quick setting widgets on the home screen for managing specific settings. Furthermore, the UI enables users to group similar apps into customizable drawers on the home screen, each with its own distinct icon for easy identification.
Battery
The CMF Phone 1 is powered by a 5,000mAh battery that offers impressive battery life. You can confidently rely on the CMF Phone 1 to last throughout the day with enough charge remaining for another half day. The smartphone supports 33W fast charging but does not include a charger in the box. I tested it with the 33W CMF by Nothing charger, sold separately, and it managed to charge up to 55 per cent in 15 minutes.
Verdict
The CMF Phone 1 is a unique smartphone offering extensive design customisation options, allowing users to mix and match for a personalised look. Nothing has achieved this without compromising on the basics. The smartphone delivers adequate performance, solid battery life, and social media-friendly imaging capabilities, all bundled into a value-for-money package.
Priced at Rs 15,999 onwards, the CMF Phone 1 is an excellent choice for those seeking a budget smartphone with a clean UI and solid performance. While the display could have been better, the smartphone remains a very capable budget option.
