$200 has no right being this much fun…
Depending on how you look at it, one could consider Carl Pei’s Nothing to be a smartphone company that talks big but does very little. They claim to be focused on making tech fun again, pushing the envelope in how it works, and revitalizing the tech landscape. Yet if you look at any of their devices, be it the Nothing Phones or their wireless headphones, chances are all you’ll notice is their iconic designs and not much else. And well, it turns out that’s enough, because for all their lofty claims, Nothing’s secret weapon to making all these big changes is just design, and well with their latest device, the $200 CMF Phone (1), they’ve taken that concept of design to the next level, creating an affordable device that stands set apart from anything on the market, and instantly becoming one of the best phones of the year.
That’s high praise, I know. So let me start by asking you a question: What do you look for in a $200 phone? Probably just something that works right? It doesn’t turn off or freeze while you use it, it isn’t terrible to look at, and the camera is usable even if it’s not great. Simple budget phone stuff. Now what if we told you that instead of just getting responsive software and an ok processor, you get one of the best ones available for cheap phones and an awesome Android skin that makes your phone faster? What if we said you don’t just get a pretty good screen, but you get a 120hz AMOLED that puts $800 iPhones to shame? What if we said the software processing on the camera is actually respectable too, meaning the single shooter you get while not outstanding, will put a smile on your face. And this is all before we even give you the phone’s best feature: it has a modular backplate system that lets you modify and customize the phone in the most awesome way, making this cheap little device arguably one of the most compelling phones on the market right now.
But why is swapping a backplate so important? Well because in their dedication to combining form and function, Nothing figured our how to do it with this device as well. Right off the bat, the obvious advantage is customisation. After all, now the color you buy the phone in is less of a factor, as you can simply swap out the original backplate and the accompanying knob/thumbscrew to create a color combo that matches your style. This also includes a backplate with more premium textures like a faux leather. But then Nothing went a step further and thought style wasn’t enough., because, through this same system, you can attach new functions or accessories to the phone like a kickstand, a back compatible with Apple’s MagSafe stands, a back with NFC Functionality, a wallet cover, and literally a bunch of other designs as Nothing isn’t just making accessories, it’s open sourced the so that basically anyone with a 3D printer can make these accessories. Now whether they blow up that much depends on third parties and how much they love the phone, but still, the fact that Nothing is even making this a a part of the phone’s appeal and ecosystem is worth commending on its own. After all, it makes this device exactly what we stated it as in the title card: a hardware lover’s perfect dream.
There’s people who will buy this phone as is and never change anything about it because again, it is a very solid phone for $200. But there are people like me who love knowing they can tinker that much and that easily with their device, or people like custom PC nerds who will love swapping things around and constantly adding utility to this phone just like they do on a PC. There’s a certain joy in that which again, no other phone at ANY price point even brings. That’s the kind of ingenuity smartphones as a whole need right now and of all things, Nothing’s more affordable CMF sub-brand is stepping up to that plate.
Now again, this is a $200 phone, so it comes with such limitations. The biggest one for me is the camera array, which despite looking like a 2-camera setup is really one proper 50MP camera and a 2MP depth sensor below it. The depth sensor is used for portrait shots but let’s face it, we figured it out in 2017 that depth cameras aren’t that necessary, and this is likely a case where one was added for looks and to tick boxes on a list rather than actively make the phone better. And yes, one could argue that at the price point, this makes sense, but phones like the Redmi Note 14 have a proper triple camera array with a 108MP main lens despite having the same price. That phone also comes with a headphone jack, which the CMF Phone 1 lacks, though considering they basically launched this phone alongside its wireless Earbuds, one can understand why the omission. Even with such flaws though the Phone 1 is still a compelling case. It still has SD card support and 128-256GB of storage after all, maintaining its practicality while still being experimental where it counts.
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As such, our verdict still remains positive. Nothing knows they’ve made a banger here with the CMF Phone 1, making something that catches the eye of both the bored tech nerd in need of something new and the budget-conscious buyer who wants something practical but also fun. The CMF Phone 1 is both those things, but it’s also a shot in the arm for budget phones that were starting to stagnate. Perhaps Nothing is revolutionalising tech after all.
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