With the Nothing CMF Phone 1, there are cost cuttings and yes, buying accessories and a charger for the CMF Phone 1 will bring the price up. But even at a sub-₹20,000 price tag, the CMF Phone 1 still offers pretty decent value. Yes, above a ₹20,000 price tag it may not make sense but if you want a clean software with decent performance and a differentiating element in your smartphone, the CMF Phone 1 is very easy to recommend.
Nothing is a brand that has, since its inception in 2020, tried to challenge the landscape when it comes to smartphone design. From introducing the “Glyph” interface, to giving us a rather unique monochrome UI, the company has now gone one step ahead with its CMF line of affordable products with the latest offering, the CMF Phone 1. And the Nothing CMF Phone 1 is not only the smartphone where Nothing has yet again tried something new, it is also the most affordable Nothing smartphone yet.
And with that, we are getting something that has definitely caught everyone’s attention. The Nothing CMF Phone 1 comes with a customisable back panel. This means that you can change the back panel of your smartphone to any desired colour (currently Nothing is only selling a few colour options), add an accessory to your back panel, and play around with the colours given that you can mix and match colours according to your own style and taste.
But apart from this rather interesting design element, is the Nothing CMF Phone 1 even a good smartphone? If you take away the customisation USP of this smartphone, does it make sense to spend Rs 15,999 on the Nothing CMF Phone 1? In this review, that is exactly the question I will be answering. So read on, to know all you possibly can about this new and funky offering from the new and funky brand that is Nothing.
Nothing CMF Phone 1 review: Design
Like always, today also I will start with the design. Now, I know the intro to this review may have given you a hint around what I think about the design, but let’s talk a little bit more in detail. First and foremost, let’s talk about the main part of the design – the customisation options. I absolutely love the fact that I can change my smartphone’s look and feel according to my taste. Yes, the options may be limited for now. Nothing is only selling four colours as of now – black, blue, green, and orange. Out of these, the Orange back panel has a bit of a leather finish to the touch.
Apart from that, Nothing is also selling accessories that can be attached to the back panel of the Nothing CMF Phone 1. Currently, these are also limited to only three options – a rope lanyard accessory, a card holder/ wallet, and a kickstand. Now, while the options seem limited, the possibilities are enough even with these limited options. What do I mean? Read on.
You see, with the back panel, we are also getting a dial-shaped screw apart from the other four exposed screws. This is the same colour as the back panel of your smartphone. Now, if you chose to buy another colour back panel, you can play around with a different colour dial. Even the SIM tray is a part of the back panel, so one can even choose to keep the SIM tray in a different colour. Then again, the colours of the screws can also be played around with, but only the black back panel comes with black screws. Rest of the colours have the same silver screw.
So yes, in terms of customisations and making the smartphone look different, the CMF Phone 1 does it pretty well. But of course, you will have to buy these back panels which cost ₹1,199 each. Even the accessories are available for buyers to purchase separately.
However, none of the three accessories of the CMF Phone 1 seem to be available on Nothing’s official website. Only the replaceable back covers and the kickstand are available on Flipkart.
But apart from the whole customisation stuff, the Nothing CMF Phone 1 is a decent looking smartphone. I really like the metal finish camera module that gives a bit of a contrast to all the colours that Nothing has to offer for this device. The flat edges, the exposed screws – everything looks pretty decent in my opinion. Up front also, the Nothing CMF Phone 1 comes with a flat display with a hole punch selfie camera that is placed in the middle.
So yes, being a design-centric device, I think it’s fair to say that the Nothing CMF Phone 1 has caught people’s attention with the design elements. Yes, it is a completely subjective thing and as you can already tell, I personally quite like the whole concept. For that, Nothing scores well in my books at least.
Nothing CMF Phone 1 review: Display
Coming to the display, the Nothing CMF Phone 1 comes with a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The display is rated for a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, but that is only limited to HDR content. Now, of course, getting an AMOLED display in a budget of around Rs 15,000 is itself not a bad deal, but getting a sufficiently bright and responsive display is just an added bonus.
Now, I tested the brightness of this display and according to the Lux Meter test, the Nothing CMF Phone 1 can push up to 1130 nits of peak luminance under bright sunlight. This is an outstanding number for a budget smartphone and probably one of the highest on any device under Rs 20,000.
Furthermore, there is HDR certification on the Nothing CMF Phone 1, but the weird part is that it doesn’t support HDR on Netflix. On YouTube, however, you can enjoy HDR content with the Nothing CMF Phone 1. Still, watching TV shows and movies is a pretty decent experience on the Nothing CMF Phone 1. The blacks are deep and dark, the colours pop quite nicely and don’t look too inaccurate or artificial.
It is also pretty responsive with the 120Hz refresh rate. Of course, being a budget smartphone there is no LTPO here, but you can set it to 60Hz or 120Hz, depending on your preference. In normal usage also, the display looks pretty sharp and there are no issues with the clarity in any sense of the word.
So the display is pretty good for the price you’re paying for it. The Nothing CMF Phone 1’s display is a bang for your buck. One thing I didn’t like is that despite it having HDR, you can’t use it on Netflix. Furthermore, the chin on the bottom is slightly thicker than the side and the top bezels of the display.
Nothing CMF Phone 1 review: Performance
Performance-wise, the Nothing CMF Phone 1 comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 SoC paired with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. Now, in terms of performance, the CMF Phone 1 showcased really good numbers. The smartphone, in its range, trumps many competitors like the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite, the Realme P1, and the Poco X6 Neo. The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite, which is ₹4,000 more expensive than the CMF Phone 1 also comes behind the smartphone in terms of the performance numbers.
I also played a few games on the CMF Phone 1 and to my surprise, the experience was pretty good. The smartphone does heat up during longer gaming sessions, but it’s not a deal breaker at all. Even in GPU benchmarks, the performance remains consistent and the CMF Phone 1 comes ahead of many rivals in this area as well.
So yes, while it doesn’t give you any outrageous performance numbers that match up to smartphones above its league, the CMF Phone 1 does a good job in being one of the best performers in its own league. Even with the Dimensity 7300 SoC, the CMF Phone 1 doesn’t throttle much. I ran the CPU throttling test on the smartphone and it throttled to 70 percent of its peak performance, which is decent but not the best.
In terms of the battery, here also the CMF Phone 1 doesn’t have much going against it. We are getting a 5,000mAh battery with the smartphone. This is good enough for you to use your smartphone for at least a day without worrying about the charging. During my usage, I was able to easily get more than a day’s usage on a single charge.
And of course, it also went through our battery tests. Here, the smartphone lost only xx percent of the battery while playing 15 minutes of Call of Duty: Mobile. Furthermore, the smartphone lost xx percent of the battery while streaming a 30 minute video on YouTube on the highest resolution (2160p in HDR). Using GPS for one hour constantly, made the smartphone lost xx percent of the battery. So yes, the battery backup is also good to say the least.
We are also getting 33W fast charging with the Nothing CMF Phone 1 and this charged my unit from 0 to 100 percent in just about 75 minutes. The only caveat here is that with the CMF Phone 1, you don’t get a charger inside the box, so getting a type-C adapter will basically bring the landing cost much above the ₹15,999 listed price.
Nothing CMF Phone 1 review: Camera
Camera is one place where the Nothing CMF Phone 1 does feel like a budget smartphone. We are getting a dual rear camera setup with the smartphone, which consists of a 50-megapixel primary shooter and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. Now, in terms of specifications, the camera doesn’t sound very special. But what about the photos it clicks? They are just fine, in my opinion.
Now we are getting a Sony IMX882 primary shooter with this smartphone and in daylight, this camera performs pretty decently. The details remain intact, and the colours don’t look too far from reality. The dynamic range in daytime shots is also pretty good.
Where I thought it struggles is the low light photos. The detail retention in low light shots isn’t as good as in daytime, and there is a lot of light bleed in photos. I clicked a few shots and could clearly see light from multiple sources creeping into the shots, making the subject also appear artificial. The images, however, remain sharp unless being clicked in an extremely dark environment and there is a lot of flare around light sources.
So yes, the camera may not be the best, but it is good enough for your casual social media usage. And again, this is not a camera-centric smartphone, so having better or clearer images as compared to some of the competition is just fine for this budget.
Nothing CMF Phone 1 review: Verdict
So yes, the Nothing CMF Phone 1 is a game changer when it comes to the design. Not only does it have a good design, it can be customized according to your own taste and preference. While the options are limited at this point, these also offer a lot of possibilities for users to play around with. I honestly like this step from Nothing.
Apart from the design bit, the CMF Phone 1 has proven to be a pretty decent smartphone overall. It has good performance, a decent display, and cameras are also good enough for a casual user who doesn’t want to get into photography.
Yes, there are cost cuttings and yes, buying accessories and a charger for this will bring the price up. But even at a sub-₹20,000 price tag, the CMF Phone 1 still offers pretty decent value. Yes, above a ₹20,000 price tag it may not make sense but if you want a clean software with decent performance and a differentiating element in your smartphone, the CMF Phone 1 is very easy to recommend.
Nothing CMF Phone 1 Key Specs, Price and Launch Date
| Release Date: | 25 Jul, 2024 |
| Market Status: | Launched |
Key Specifications
Storage
128 GB
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Battery capacity (mAh)
5000
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Rear Camera Megapixel
50 + 2
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Screen size (in inches)
6.7
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