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CMF Phone 1 review: Look beyond the screws
- The CMF Phone 1 is an absolute must buy for people who like to tinker around with the way their phone looks, want a good quality display, decent battery life, an in-display fingerprint scanner and bloatware free software experience around the ₹15,000 price range.
Since its inception, Nothing has set itself apart from the competition with its unique design and clean yet feature-rich software experience. And with the CMF Phone 1, Nothing has brought a breath of fresh air to the crowded though similar-looking budget smartphone market by offering the ability to not only attach accessories to the back of the smartphone, but to actually change the entire back case.
Apart from the design, the CMF Phone 1 also looks like a very promising device on paper and has the potential to significantly disrupt the sub- ₹20,000 price segment. I tested the Phone 1 extensively for over 10 days and here's my take on how the first phone from Nothing's sub-brand performs in everyday use.
Also Read | OnePlus Nord 4 review
Unboxing and design:
Inside the box of the CMF Phone 1, you get the device itself, some paperwork, a USB Type-C to Type-C cable and an orange SIM ejector tool. For those who don't know, CMF/Nothing doesn't include a charger with its devices, and a supported 33W fast charger can be purchased separately for ₹1,299.
Let's start with the star of the show, the design. The phone comes in four colourways: Black, Light Green, Blue and Orange, the latter of which comes with a vegan leather back. I received the black colour variant of the Phone 1, which isn't exactly an eye-catcher and frankly looks a bit cheap, but that's to be expected for the price range, I guess.
There is a pill-shaped camera cut-out on the back, followed by a pale CMF branding on the bottom, four screws and a knob. The best part of the CMF Phone 1 is the customisation options it offers; all the four screws can be opened to change the back cover to a colour of your choice, while the knob can be unlocked to attach accessories such as a card holder, lanyard cable and phone stand.
Also Read | Infinix GT 20 Pro review
While users will have to rely on Nothing to supply the accessories and back covers for the time being, I sincerely hope that third-party accessories will become available in the future, which will not only increase the choices for users, but should also help to bring down the cost. For now, the interchangeable back covers can be purchased on Flipkart and CMF's website for ₹1,199.
With all the flashy stuff out of the way, there were two major issues with the design of the CMF Phone 1 that were a deal breaker for me. Firstly, the back of the Phone 1 has these sharp edges that make it uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time, and secondly, I noticed that the phone's camera lens has already started to develop a few scratches, suggesting that CMF may have cut corners with the lens material.
In terms of connectivity, the Phone 1 supports 10 5G bands, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, USB Type-C and an IP52 rating for splash and dust resistance.
Display and software:
Another big plus for the Phone 1 is its display and software experience. A 6.67-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, 2100 nits peak brightness (700 nits in high brightness mode) and support for HDR 10+.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the screen, which has great contrast, deep blacks and vibrant colours. In fact, I would have gone on to say that it's easily the best device in this segment for media consumption purposes if it weren't for the fact that there's only a single bottom-firing speaker here, which isn't great and can easily be blocked by your hands. There are also large bezels on all sides, which will certainly let you know that this is a budget device.
However, I had no problems using the Phone 1 indoors or in bright sunlight. I particularly liked the extra dim option on the control panel, which comes in handy for people like me who often find themselves doom scrolling through their phones late at night.
Despite being a CMF phone, Nothing has made no compromises with the software and the Phone 1 gets the same treatment as its more expensive Nothing counterparts. The CMF Phone 1 is perhaps the only phone under ₹20,000 that comes with zero bloatware apps and ads. Plus, the software experience was so smooth that there were times when I couldn't believe it was a ₹16,000 smartphone (more on this in the performance section).
The Phone 1 runs Nothing OS 2.6 based on Android 14, and Nothing promises 2 years of Android updates and 3 years of security patches with this device. There are a few interesting features in the Nothing OS, including the ability to generate AI wallpapers (not as cool as it sounds), a dedicated gaming mode and some cool widgets like quick settings, recorder (even works for calls), screen time and weather.
For some reason, though, despite having an AMOLED screen, the Phone 1 does not come with support for Always on Display (AOD). However, there is still the option to customise lock screen widgets and shortcuts.
Performance and battery:
The Phone 1 is powered by the newly launched MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset, which is paired with a Mali-G615 MC2 GPU to handle graphics-intensive tasks. Mind you, this is the same chipset that powers the much more expensive Oppo Reno 12 Pro. So kudos to Nothing for bringing a powerful chipset to the sub- ₹20,000 price segment.
Like I mentioned earlier, this phone punches above its weight when you look at the sheer user experience it offers. All the day-to-day tasks, like browsing the web, switching between multiple apps and even multi-tasking, felt incredibly smooth.
Moving on to gaming, the Phone 1 can run Call of Duty Mobile at 'high' graphics and 'max' frame rate, while BGMI supports up to 'HDR' graphics and 'Ultra' frame rate. The gaming experience was decent, with no major lag issues or frame drops, and the phone didn't heat up too much during extended gaming sessions. While the gaming experience was largely smooth, I wouldn't go so far as to recommend this phone to out and out gamers.
In terms of benchmarks, the Phone 1 had a score of 6,51, 291 on Antutu, which is much better than the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, but still lags behind MediaTek's own Dimensity 7200 chipset. On Geekbench 6, it scored 1,035 on single-core tests and 2,895 on multi-core tests. Meanwhile, the Phone 1 had a best loop score of 851 on 3D Mark's Wild Life Extreme stress test, with a stability rating of 99.8%.
The Phone 1 has a 5,000 mAh battery, which took about 1.5-2 hours to charge using a third-party charger. However, the charge time may be shorter if you use the original CMF adapter. The battery life is decent, certainly not the best out there, but it should last all day for most normal users, while power users may need to connect it to a charger at least once.
Camera:
Camera performance has been one of Nothing's weak points in the past, and the CMF Phone 1 is no different. The 50MP Sony IMX882 sensor actually takes decent pictures during the day, bringing out a lot of detail, although colour accuracy is lacking in some shots.
It's at night, however, that things really get complicated. While the Phone 1 does take some pleasing pictures, the output isn't consistent and the differences are clear when you compare it with the pictures taken by the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite.
While the Phone 1 undoubtedly captures more detail, the CE 4 Lite delivers a more consistent output and also gets the colours right on most occasions. I also noticed that the Phone 1 uses a bit of software processing that tends to boost colours in certain scenarios.
The 16MP selfie shooter is decent for the most part, but I noticed a strange problem here that causes images to come out with an orange skin tone that makes the output unusable in many circumstances. Hopefully, Nothing will be able to fix this in an upcoming software update.
As always, there is no need to take my word for the CMF Phone 1's camera performance. Head over to the Google Drive link here to see the raw footage from the Phone 1, along with comparison shots from the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite.
Verdict:
The design of the Phone 1 is undoubtedly a talking point, and Nothing should be applauded for its efforts in trying to reimagine what a budget phone should look like while giving users more choice. However, I feel it is necessary to look beyond the mere aesthetics here. The CMF Phone 1 actually has a lot going for it, including a vibrant AMOLED panel, a powerful processor (for its price), a clean and feature-rich software experience, an in-display fingerprint scanner and a half-decent rear camera.
The only reason I am not going out of my way to recommend the Phone 1 as a smartphone to buy around the ₹15,000 mark is the inability of Nothing to get some of the basics right. For example, the quality of the camera lens and the lack of a stereo speaker setup are certainly deal breakers for me. In addition, the camera's output is inconsistent at best and really needs an overhaul to remain competitive in this price range.
So who is this phone for? The Phone 1 is an absolute must-buy for people who like to tinker with the way their phone looks, want a good quality display, decent battery life, an in-display fingerprint scanner and a bloatware-free software experience in the ₹15,000 price range.
| Pros | Cons |
| Eye catcing and functional design | Inconsistent camera performance |
| Powerful processor | No stereo speakers |
| Clean and feature rich UI | No charger inside the box |
| Good quality AMOLED display | |
| In-display optical fingerprint scanner |
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First Published:23 Jul 2024, 05:20 AM IST
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