Nothing CMF Phone 1 Review: Is the Cool Design mere Window Dressing?

The Nothing CMF Telephone 1 in a nutshell

The Nothing CMF Telephone 1 was formally unveiled on July 12, 2024. It’s out there by way of CMF’s beta program on the CMF retailer*. It is available in two configurations exterior of the US (8/128 GB and eight/256 GB), though solely the 8GB RAM + 128GB mannequin is accessible Stateside with an asking value of $199. This may be thought of a barely inferior various to the Nothing Telephone (2a) (overview).

Simply in case you have been questioning, CMF is a sub-brand of Nothing. It primarily targets rising markets resembling India and Southeast Asia. The idea is to promote inexpensive merchandise with a robust emphasis on design. Nothing does not talk a lot about this CMF vary in Europe or the US. Nevertheless, you may nonetheless decide up CMF merchandise if you wish to. Nothing appears to take extra duty for its sub-brand, which additionally features a smartwatch and wi-fi headphones.

Design and display screen

Design is the primary promoting level of the CMF Telephone 1. The again options an interchangeable panel and a small knob to connect quite a lot of equipment.

Execs:

Distinctive design.
Cool modular or “interchangeable” idea.
Flat display screen with pretty skinny bezels.
120 Hz refresh price and ample brightness.

Cons:

Solely IP52 certification.
No Gorilla Glass safety for the display screen.
Costly equipment and again panels contemplating the smartphone’s value.

Cool modular design

Whereas the clear again discovered on different Nothing smartphones is lacking right here, the CMF Telephone 1’s again panel could be unscrewed so that you can swap it with completely different coloured panels of assorted supplies. Nothing provides 4 colours to the discerning buyer: black, inexperienced, blue, and orange. In fact, extra panels could be bought individually.

The tactic to take away the again panel of the CMF Telephone 1 is way from easy. I used to be usually afraid of breaking the smartphone when attempting to unclip it. I additionally had a little bit of bother eradicating the screws that secured the plate utilizing the included instrument. It was far too small for my fats fingers.

The matte plastic coating on the black and inexperienced panels was good to the touch and so was the faux-leather coating on the orange and blue variations. They value $35 a pop which I feel is a bit steep.

The again of the CMF Telephone 1 additionally sports activities a small round button on the underside proper often known as the Accent Level. By unscrewing the panel, you may connect specifically designed equipment for the smartphone. Nothing provides a stand, a lanyard, and a card case. Every accent is bought individually and prices $25.

It is intelligent and appeals to my collector’s behavior of snapping up all of the equipment and covers. It additionally appeals to my penchant for Lego as I can “construct” my smartphone based on my preferences. The equipment themselves are very simple to put in. Other than the cardboard case, none of them require any instruments to put in.

Other than that, the CMF Telephone 1 is IP52-certified for water and mud resistance. That is not loopy however no less than this certification remains to be legitimate when the smartphone’s again panel is eliminated.

A plain 120 Hz AMOLED display screen

As for the display screen, it is a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with 1800 x 2400 pixel decision. The refresh price stands at 120 Hz with a typical brightness of 500 to 700 nits, rising to 2,000 nits peak brightness.

The CMF Telephone 1’s display screen is flat, and Nothing did not wish to spend an excessive amount of on Corning’s Gorilla Glass license. Nevertheless, the CMF Telephone 1’s display screen is protected by Dragontail Professional Glass, whose power is alleged to be equal to that of Gorilla Glass 5.

I did not run into any issues when studying content material on the display screen with its first rate brightness stage. Nevertheless, the automated brightness was far too sluggish to react to my environment, leading to me deactivating it throughout my overview. As for the refresh price, 120 Hz is not excellent on this value vary though it’s good to have.

I discovered the bezels of the CMF Telephone 1’s display screen to be quite skinny. The chin of the display screen is a bit too outstanding, creating an asymmetrical state of affairs that bothers me visually.

Interface and OS

The CMF Telephone 1 inaugurates Nothing OS 2.6, a pores and skin based mostly on Android 14. There are not any main new options in comparison with Nothing OS 2.5 however Nothing’s pores and skin provides an excellent steadiness between inventory Android with a couple of features and customization parts. As for the software program replace coverage, it is just about common.

Execs:

Clear, bloatware-free interface.
Nothing widgets are visually interesting.

Cons:

Common software program replace coverage.
Not a lot that’s new in Nothing OS 2.6.

There’s not a lot to say about Nothing OS 2.6. You’ll be able to learn my Nothing OS 2.5 overview and my information to the perfect Nothing OS 2.5 options to seek out out extra.

The producer merely added two new widgets right here. One for immediately’s date and one other for “group” that I have not discovered. There’s additionally the superb digicam widget that permits you to save exact digicam settings which could be activated by default if you launch the digicam utility by way of this widget.

The CMF Telephone 1 will obtain 2 main Android updates and three years of safety updates. Even for a mid-range smartphone, that is fairly common. Principally, it is the naked minimal a producer ought to present.

The large plus level of Nothing OS is the absence of bloatware. The interface implements all Android features whereas providing a couple of customization choices from Nothing.

Efficiency and SoC

The Nothing CMF Telephone 1 is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 SoC. The smartphone can be geared up with 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of storage, relying on the mannequin and area. I used to be pleasantly stunned by the smartphone’s efficiency.

Execs:

Good temperature management and stability.
Enough efficiency for many video games at 30 FPS.

Cons:

Much less highly effective than Dimensity 7200-powered Nothing Telephone (2a).
No NFC assist.

The Dimensity 7300 in CMF Telephone 1 ought to, in principle, outperform the Dimensity 7200 Professional that powers the Nothing Telephone (2a). Each chips depend on the 4 nm manufacturing course of. Nevertheless, the Dimensity 7300, or extra exactly its important core, has a decrease clock pace than the Dimensity 7200 Professional.

Benchmarks confirmed it to be considerably much less highly effective than the Nothing Telephone (2a). That is logical by itself because the Nothing Telephone (2a) is $150 dearer at launch and Nothing certainly needs to keep up a distinction between its important vary and its CMF sub-range.

In any case, the CMF Telephone 1 proved to be simply as efficient because the Telephone (2a) when it comes to temperature management and stability. All of the cell video games I ran with their graphics high quality set to “medium” by default didn’t expertise any hiccups. At 30 FPS, I did not discover any dropped frames. Nevertheless, that is so far as it goes as cranking issues as much as 60 FPS resulted in a much less secure expertise.

Picture high quality

A single digicam lens is all you get with the CMF Telephone 1. The smartphone contains a 50 MP sensor behind whereas the second lens is solely a depth sensor for portraits. The selfie digicam has a 16 MP decision.

Execs:

Respectable daytime photographs.
Common selfie photographs.
Portrait mode is suitable.

Cons:

Just one digicam lens.
Restricted digital zoom efficiency.
Disappointing evening photographs.

Principal lens efficiency

The 50 MP important lens incorporates a Sony IMX882 sensor which is evidently not a high-end photograph sensor. The default decision is 12.5 MP, achieved by way of pixel binning. Additionally it is attainable to seize full-resolution 50 MP photographs.

Throughout the day and beneath the proper situations, photograph high quality is first rate. Colours are pure and the dynamic vary is well-managed. Nevertheless, the extent of element is way from top-notch. Some areas on the fringe of the photograph stay a pixelated mess.

The CMF Telephone 1 incorporates a second lens which is an easy 2 MP depth sensor for portraits.

Portrait mode photographs are first rate with clear clipping. Topic detection within the foreground is pretty dependable nevertheless it doesn’t blow us out of the water.

Zoom high quality

The CMF Telephone 1 has no telephoto lens and the digital zoom can obtain as much as 10x magnification.

All photographs taken past the 2x zoom stage will find yourself disappointing. Such photographs will lose all their sharpness as a result of the smartphone’s algorithm will restrict picture noise by smoothening the picture. Consequently, an excessive amount of element is misplaced.

Selfie high quality

The 16 MP selfie digicam can be quite atypical. The pores and skin on my face lacked a bit texture however my complexion remained pure. Element and dynamic vary left one thing to be desired with out a lot to crow about, however neither is it excellent in any approach.

Night time photographs

It is all the time at evening that you just notice you’ve got bought an affordable smartphone in your palms. I did not like every of the photographs I took at evening with the CMF Telephone 1.

All the colours are over-emphasized, particularly the sky. Scenes are unrealistic, over-lit, and the lack of element resulting from low mild situations develop into much more noticeable. Then again, the CMF Telephone 1 dealt with robust mild sources nicely, successfully limiting the lens flare impact.

In relation to movies, the CMF Telephone 1 can report as much as 4K at 30 FPS with its important lens.

Battery life and charging

The Nothing CMF Telephone 1 contains a 5,000 mAh battery and wired charging as much as 33 watts. Wi-fi charging is just not supported neither is there a charger included along with your buy.

Execs:

Giant battery capability.
Wonderful battery life.

Cons:

Gradual charging pace.
No charger included.

A 5,000 mAh battery is fairly commonplace in a sub-$300 Android smartphone. Charging at 33 watts can be quite frequent for a producer with no proprietary fast-charging protocol.

In our battery life benchmark, the CMF Telephone 1 lasted 14 hours and 45 minutes earlier than hitting lower than 20% battery life. This is a superb rating. In real-life use and with a median display screen time of three hours, I used to be capable of final two days with none drawback earlier than needing to recharge the smartphone.

Nevertheless, recharging was comparatively glacial. This turns into stark if you examine it to the host of Redmi fashions on this value vary. It took me over 1h 30m to completely recharge. That is sluggish by immediately’s requirements and the CMF Telephone 1 additionally doesn’t assist wi-fi charging. If you happen to’re searching for a bundled charger upon unboxing, you may neglect about that.

Technical information

Conclusion

Would I like to recommend the CMF Telephone 1 for $199? Sure!

The CMF Telephone 1 does some issues very nicely. The design is exclusive, and no different producer provides such a elegant look. Battery life is great. Display high quality and efficiency are additionally excellent for this value vary.

Nevertheless, the CMF Telephone 1 is just not the perfect smartphone for anybody with a $300 finances. The digicam lacks versatility whereas the IP52 score is considerably disappointing. The three-year safety replace interval is not very reassuring and the absence of NFC is tough to know on this value vary.

We now have extra highly effective fashions from Poco and extra versatile digicam fashions from Samsung. The Nothing Telephone (2a) may also be discovered for round $349 for its 8/128 GB mannequin, which boasts a far cooler kind issue with its Glyph interface and superior cameras, higher IP score, and a quicker charging pace.

Affiliate provide

The CMF Telephone 1 is mainly relegated to the realm of inexpensive smartphones. These fashions pull out all of the stops on one or two key parts. They make heavy compromises on the remainder. Xiaomi/Redmi focuses on quick charging and efficiency. Samsung focuses on its digicam efficiency and software program updates. CMF’s focus is on the design. You’ll be able to inform from the “Coloration, Materials, End” title, and it can’t be faulted by sticking to its id.

So no, the CMF Telephone 1’s design is not simply window-dressing to cover its imperfections however stays its major, best-selling level.

What do you consider the Nothing CMF Telephone 1 after this complete overview? Do you propose to purchase Nothing’s inexpensive smartphone?

Nothing CMF Telephone 1

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