Verdict
While Nothing ’s CMF Phone 1 wo n’t be contend with some of the most up to telephone set around , its modular figure charm , attractive Android user user interface and hearty casual performance all punch well above its £ 209 price breaker point .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Truebudget phonesare ordinarily fantastically dull . For the most part , they ’re cookie - tender copy - and - paste jobs with no somebody , no character and no interesting features .
It ’s the type of telephone set most manufacturers use as a check mark - box exercise , to give birth the unsheathed lower limit it can get away with , and move on .
But that ’s left a act of a gap for something dissimilar : enter the CMF Phone 1 by Nothing , the first interesting £ 200 phone I ’ve seen in averylong time .
Design
Okay , so technically it ’s £ 209 , but the full point remains . Nothing is prove to make the boring , low - destruction headphone market a little interesting , and it ’s doing it by make the design engaging and merriment . And actually attractive ?
One part of that is the removable back case . So instead of your usual case where you just peel off and snap on a protective piece of plastic over the top of the rear surface , the obliterable case is really the back of the phone . So you’re able to change the look of the equipment itself , instead of covering it up .
There are five screws dot around the perimeter of the telephone ’s edge . Four of them are standard screws , with a groove in for a flathead screwdriver ( which comes on a small tool in the box seat with any surrogate cause ) .
The 5th is one that attend like a little ringlet roulette wheel in the bottom right-hand box . Unscrew all of these , take the SIM tray out and you may squirm off the back panel and snap on a dissimilar gloss one , before screw it back in seat . These additional casing are about £ 30 each , by the way .
I wo n’t dissemble it ’s not a fiddly unconscious process . It is . The grooves for the flathead screwdriver are shallow and severe to get a near hold on . Plus , the screwdriver puppet itself is petite and equally backbreaking to get a solid grip on .
It also convey some forcefulness to get the case off – it ’s not as mere as I think it would be , anyway . The system of logic behind that is you ’re not expected to do it all that often , so of class it ’s not as easy as dispatch a steady casing . Still , I think it ’d do good from a slight redesign if there ’s a second generation .
As playfulness as the musical theme is , there is a practical benefit to this approach too . Like back in the Nokia 3310 Clarence Day , if your phone is dropped and the case crack or gets damage , you may just buy a new case and replace the back for relatively little money .
If anything on the inside need fixing , being able to take the back off without heat guns to meld any mucilage , or need to pry the phone aside with tools , is a vainglorious summation . Although , in reality getting any of those parts out and replacing them will take some technical expertness ; it ’s not a elementary jade - and - play component system like recent unveiling fromNokia .
The rear case is n’t the only customisation . The wheel screw , called the Accessory Point , at the bottom edge also makes it possible to attach a variety of other accessories .
There ’s a lanyard sweetener if you require it , or a kickstand for watching your TV or make telecasting calls handwriting - free , and even a magnetised backplate that do with a magnetic card notecase ; a little likeMagSafe on the iPhone , except without the wireless charging ability . These cost £ 19 each .
The only issue I had with the Accessory Point is that it ’s right on the bottom edge , and that make it unacceptable to stave off it when holding the telephone . I was always aware of that point being there , protruding into my pinky .
For the first few day of using it , I kept wanting to turn the phone upside down , acquire I was fascinate it the wrong way and that what I was feeling was a camera mental faculty . I did get used to it finally , it ’s just a little piece of a scholarship curve when you ’re accustomed to entirely purge , smooth phones .
The downside of a non - certain social unit is that it ’s not fantastically junk - proof or water - resistive . It ’s only tolerant to IP52 levels , which means it can only cope with very mild sprays of water , and only if it set ashore on the phone , vertically . Though it fares better against dust , it might as well not have any protection at all . Good lot in any dust storm or sideways rainfall .
Otherwise , for a headphone this size , there ’s a reassuring rigidity to the frame of the phone . It ’s squeamish and slim too , but is a large earpiece , so some stretch is required if you want to use it one - handed . It expect and feel more exchange premium than the Mary Leontyne Price point would evoke it should be .
Display
keep that feel of commence a lot for your money , there ’s a 6.67 - inch Full HD+ AMOLED display here with 120Hz refresh rate . It ’s not an advanced LTPO venire with the power to storm up and down at 1hz increments for top-notch - placid and super - efficient animation speed changes , as see in the assault and battery life ( which I ’ll get into a bit later ) , alternatively switching between a fix 60- and 120Hz .
That refresh rate spec is actually the first area of the phone experience I feel did n’t quite match up to the hope . While it might technically be able to reach 120 refreshes per second , the literal animation on fast gestures like sneak the app draftsman up , swiping to go home , and purloin the notification shade down , is n’t all that quiet . There ’s some definite meantime in those areas .
But then , when you think of how trivial this phone costs , it ’s not surprising that some framing - dropping and stammer crawl in when you ask it to inspire rapidly and with liquidness . This is n’t a flagship phone after all .
The other field it express this is in its oleophobic ability . I noticed oily blot on the glass and some insidious rainbow effects where my finger was abstract . It ’s not a major issue , but just another little reminder that we ’re looking at a £ 200 speech sound here , not a £ 1200 one .
It is a comme il faut display though , on the whole . It ’s really bright , got skilful colours , it ’s vibrant , and the dark parts of picture are inky-black and deep . And asunder from having a slightly thicker bezel on the bottom boundary , there are some slight bezel around it to ensure your capacity gets pride of place on the front , enlarge across almost all of that area .
With peaks up to 2000 nits , and distinctive brightness up to 700 nit , it ’s easy visible in most circumstance , only struggling a little with smart verbatim sunlight ponder off the surface .
Otherwise , I ’d happily tear - watch my favourite YouTube channels and Netflix shows on this exhibit . I was pretty surprised in fact , that I did n’t find my perfectionist snobby personality furrowing my supercilium at the want of quality . It ’s actually good .
It has a built - in ocular fingerprint sensor in the display too , which work about as well as any other opthalmic sensor . There are fail reads plausibly one out of every seven or eight tries . Usually when my quarter round is n’t quite in the optimum position for meter reading .
Cameras
The CMF Phone 1 ’s camera organisation does sense like something of a reversion to previous fourth dimension .
Cast your mind back to some of the first phone with treble camera systems – phones like theHTC One M8 in 2014 . or else of have an ultrawide , or even a rapid climb , this phone mate a secondary ‘ depth ’ sensor alongside the primary lens .
We ’ve seen these so - call depth sensors on other telephone set too . And ordinarily they ’d be added as the 2d or third camera on the more affordable devices , ordinarily just so manufacturers could bluster about have a multi - camera organization .
The idea behind this second sensor is that it can help discover profoundness between target , and so enables an in effect ‘ Portrait ’ mood where your subject is in focus , complete with a blurred background . The only job is , as we ’ve get a line from so many advanced phones , it ’s not really necessary to have a depth sensing element to make this upshot any longer .
you may adjust the persuasiveness of the fuzz using a slider on the portrait modality screen , and the actual feel of the fuzz can be really nice . It ’s politic , without any eldritch artefacts or swirl , but despite that extra lens , it still has a little trouble with edge spying .
I even found at metre with object that had defined , smooth edge , it would get disordered . One specific exemplar was a small Lego mini figure of speech with a masque , it would get confused with the eyes behind the mask – sometimes blur one out , but not the other – and not being capable to recount if the light reflection on the top of the foreland was part of the head , or something in the background .
This means despite perplex that deepness sensing element on the phone to make the background fuzz / bokeh and depth better , it ’s still not all that much better than what phones like the Pixel compass can do with just one front - face selfie camera .
Otherwise , it ’s heavy to knock the tv camera organisation too much , strictly because of , again , how small this phone monetary value . The one single camera that really does something utilitarian is a pretty warm performing artist .
It ’s a 50 - megapixel camera that can take sharp , color - rich shots in the daytime , with plenty of contrast and saturation for those attractive shots you want to share on social medium . And it takes them quickly , with very little , if any , trouble with motion blur , even when light level swing a trivial .
I ’ve shoot photos with unfirm hands , and while walking , and the images amount out in - focussing and sharp . And because it ’s get a high - resolution sensor , it ’s got a pretty effective 2x digital soar too , getting you that mo closer to the activity without needing a dedicated rapid growth camera .
I ’m not saying it would n’t benefit from a rapid climb camera though , because those rapid climb outcome – when you take care closely – do n’t look as precipitous and detailed as the veritable 1x chief focal length .
Similarly , it has some issues with HDR , and balancing out highlights and dark in special , especially when there ’s a darker surface in the foreground with a shiny scope . To keep the sky looking detailed in all of its cloudy , striking glory in the below shot , the shadowed foreground objects become completely coloured and crushed .
At Nox fourth dimension – and in down light – I ’d say it ’s safe to temper your expectations a trivial act . Not that it ca n’t use night mode to ripe effect to shoot sharp , motion - fuzz - free range , it can . What it does n’t do well is balancing light , blanched remainder , exposure and line .
Images at nighttime metre often occur out looking over - sharpened , very contrasty , and with a white-hot balance that seems to be seek to turn the night scene into day , by gain Earth’s surface and object that are warm to the optic look cool and blue .
telecasting seizure is decent enough too in day fourth dimension . It ’s still a bit saturated and contrasty , but it ’s sound enough for the purposes of share with friends and on social media . It ’s deserving noting , however , that the phone is confine to 30fps for 4 super C capture , and can only shoot 60fps at 1080p .
Software
Nothing ’s phone software has a unique look . It ’s uninfected and does n’t have a lot of bloat or additional apps , but it does have an esthetic that makes it instantly recognisable as a Nothing phone .
It ’s monochromic , with sheer , retro iconography and case , and there are a bunch of utile widgets you may load to the Home Screen with that same look and feel . In fact , in monastic order to make a logical looking , there are many , many preloaded thingmabob all designed to fit in with that distinctive elan .
Nothing has get going all - in with ChatGPT too , adding a dedicated widget that take you flat to a Nothing - designed AI interface where you’re able to chat , have conversations , need questions and get estimate from the democratic AI helper .
It ’s typical , sporting and unstable , but there ’s a trivial bit of a weakness in that you do n’t get mega - foresighted software program support from Nothing . You get two twelvemonth of major update and three geezerhood of protection patches , which is n’t dandy if you ’re planning on observe this speech sound until it dies .
Performance
There are a match of area where low-cost phones ca n’t check the more expensive , top - tier devices , especially when it comes to world-wide performance and battery animation .
Because where the most modern Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 - powered machine can crush even the most demanding games , and do so without troubling the shelling too much , the CMF Phone 1 ca n’t do those with its MediaTek Dimensity 7300 CPU and 8 GB RAM .
It ’s got plenty of storage : with either 128 GB or 256 GB , as well as the power to expand with a MicroSD card up to 2 TB if you want .
It ’s all about temper expectation with these accessible devices though . It will still run just about any plot you ’d care to play , just not in their extreme or extremist graphics setting . For casual games , it ’s more than right enough .
I was able-bodied to moil through a solid 30 second of Mario Karts Tour in one seance , and the telephone set did n’t get affectionate , did n’t get stuttery or slow , and – for the most part – the double did n’t really lose any character . Throw it into Call of Duty or Genshin at their mellow setting on the other hand , and yes , it will get tiresome and laggy .
Battery life
Nothing says this telephone can last about two days on a full charge via its 5000mAh cellular phone . And with scant use , I think that ’s possible . I ’m usually quite a light user , and I did just about manage to get to the evening of a 2nd day before need to attain for the charging cable .
Standby time is splendid , so if you ’re often busy with oeuvre for long stints , leaving the sound lie inactive on your desk , a full morning of doing nothing will only enfeeble a couple of percentage from the content .
begin using it for WhatsApp or social media , however , that ’s when you ’ll notice the drain . WhatsApp in particular drains it quick , so if you ’re a busy yak with lots of friend groups , and expend time of day in the popular courier app , you might struggle to get near Nothing ’s “ two - day ” hope .
Still , that 30 - minute Mario Kart sitting I observe earlier only dropped 6 % stamp battery and an hour of Netflix drops 8 - 9 % . That ’s not forged at all .
As for commit it up again after it empties , it ’s not the fastest there is .
After thirty minutes plugged into a riotous 33W PD battery charger , the telephone set only refilled about 35 % of the barrage . It ’s fine , but means it ’s not one of those phones you could secure in for 10 - 15 minutes and get enough complaint to get through an good afternoon . A full refill from 1 % is become to take way over an hour . In fact , an 60 minutes plug in render just 70 % . After ninety min , 95 % .
It ’s definitely one of those situations where I mat like I need to level it overnight , every Nox , because I was n’t sure it ’d get through the next day and I knew I could n’t rely on speedy charging if it did get low .
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Should you buy it?
With a removable case , unique accessory attachment and Nothing ’s stylised Nothing UI , you wo n’t find much like the CMF Phone 1 in the budget smartphone space .
The CMF Phone 1 is doubtless interesting , but from a sheer specification perspective , you’re able to get a fate more for your money from the likes of theMotorola Edge 40 Neo .
Final Thoughts
verbalize wide strokes , with the CMF Phone 1 , I came away from my time examination it impressed .
Most of the things I had publication with , or that I detect imperfect , were things I ’d expect to see – and would broadly speaking be ok with – in a phone that be anywhere between £ 300-£400 in the UK . But this phone cost much less . It ’s jolly toilsome to ideate how Nothing is even making money on this phone .
With its turgid , vibrant display , dependable routine performance , attending to detail and cohesiveness in the software artistic , and television camera calibre , it ’s a phone I ’d happily practice as my daily speech sound without too many issues .
That ’s a huge testament to what Nothing has attain with this very affordable gadget . And to make it a earpiece that ’s really cool , and looks great ? It ’s a winning pattern .
Trusted Score
How we test
We examine every mobile phone we go over soundly . We use industriousness - standard tests to equate feature properly and we use the phone as our main machine over the recapitulation stop . We ’ll always secernate you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to review a product .
FAQs
It is , but with only an IP52 rating , it ’ll only survive the unaccented splash of water .
The CMF Phone 1 will get two OS upgrades and three years of security measures plot of land .
Test Data
Full Specs
