Nothing CMF Cellphone 1 Evaluate: Is the Cool Design mere Window Dressing? – Uplaza

The Nothing CMF Cellphone 1 in a nutshell

The Nothing CMF Cellphone 1 was formally unveiled on July 12, 2024. It’s obtainable through 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-about a barely inferior different to the Nothing Cellphone (2a) (evaluation).

Simply in case you had been questioning, CMF is a sub-brand of Nothing. It primarily targets rising markets equivalent to India and Southeast Asia. The idea is to promote reasonably priced merchandise with a robust emphasis on design. Nothing would not talk a lot about this CMF vary in Europe or the US. Nonetheless, you may nonetheless decide up CMF merchandise if you wish to. Nothing appears to take extra accountability 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 Cellphone 1. The again options an interchangeable panel and a small knob to connect a wide range of equipment.

Execs:

• Distinctive design.
• Cool modular or “interchangeable” idea.
• Flat display screen with pretty skinny bezels.
• 120 Hz refresh price and sufficient 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 Cellphone 1’s again panel could be unscrewed so that you can swap it with totally different coloured panels of varied supplies. Nothing provides 4 colours to the discerning buyer: black, inexperienced, blue, and orange. After all, extra panels could be bought individually.

The tactic to take away the again panel of the CMF Cellphone 1 is way from easy. I used to be typically afraid of breaking the smartphone when attempting to unclip it. I additionally had a little bit of hassle 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 Cellphone 1 additionally sports activities a small round button on the underside proper generally 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 “build” my smartphone in response to my preferences. The equipment themselves are very straightforward to put in. Other than the cardboard case, none of them require any instruments to put in.

Other than that, the CMF Cellphone 1 is IP52-certified for water and dirt resistance. That is not loopy however a minimum of 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 Cellphone 1’s display screen is flat, and Nothing did not need to spend an excessive amount of on Corning’s Gorilla Glass license. Nonetheless, the CMF Cellphone 1’s display screen is protected by Dragontail Professional Glass, whose energy is claimed 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 respectable brightness stage. Nonetheless, the automated brightness was far too sluggish to react to my environment, leading to me deactivating it throughout my evaluation. 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 Cellphone 1’s display screen to be relatively skinny. The chin of the display screen is slightly too outstanding, creating an asymmetrical state of affairs that bothers me visually.

Interface and OS

The CMF Cellphone 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 stability between inventory Android with a number 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 possibly can learn my Nothing OS 2.5 evaluation and my information to the most effective Nothing OS 2.5 options to seek out out extra.

The producer merely added two new widgets right here. One for right now’s date and one other for “community” that I have never discovered. There’s additionally the wonderful digicam widget that allows you to save exact digicam settings which could be activated by default once you launch the digicam utility through this widget.

The CMF Cellphone 1 will obtain 2 main Android updates and three years of safety updates. Even for a mid-range smartphone, that is fairly common. Mainly, 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 number of customization choices from Nothing.

Efficiency and SoC

The Nothing CMF Cellphone 1 is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 SoC. The smartphone can also 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.
• Ample efficiency for many video games at 30 FPS.

Cons:

• Much less highly effective than Dimensity 7200-powered Nothing Cellphone (2a).
• No NFC help.

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

Benchmarks confirmed it to be considerably much less highly effective than the Nothing Cellphone (2a). That is logical by itself because the Nothing Cellphone (2a) is $150 costlier at launch and Nothing certainly desires to take care of a distinction between its most important vary and its CMF sub-range.

In any case, the CMF Cellphone 1 proved to be simply as efficient because the Cellphone (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. Nonetheless, that is so far as it goes as cranking issues as much as 60 FPS resulted in a much less steady expertise.

Photograph high quality

A single digicam lens is all you get with the CMF Cellphone 1. The smartphone encompasses 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 pictures.
• Common selfie photographs.
• Portrait mode is suitable.

Cons:

• Just one digicam lens.
• Restricted digital zoom efficiency.
• Disappointing night time pictures.

Major lens efficiency

The 50 MP most important lens incorporates a Sony IMX882 sensor which is evidently not a high-end photograph sensor. The default decision is 12.5 MP, achieved through pixel binning. It’s also doable to seize full-resolution 50 MP pictures.

In the course of the day and underneath the correct circumstances, photograph high quality is respectable. Colours are pure and the dynamic vary is well-managed. Nonetheless, the extent of element is way from top-notch. Some areas on the fringe of the photograph stay a pixelated mess.

The CMF Cellphone 1 incorporates a second lens which is a straightforward 2 MP depth sensor for portraits.

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

Zoom high quality

The CMF Cellphone 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 pictures will lose all their sharpness as a result of the smartphone’s algorithm will restrict picture noise by smoothening the picture. Consequently, quite a lot of element is misplaced.

Selfie high quality

The 16 MP selfie digicam can also be relatively unusual. The pores and skin on my face lacked slightly 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 means.

Night time photographs

It is at all times at night time that you simply notice you’ve got received an inexpensive smartphone in your palms. I did not like all of the pictures I took at night time with the CMF Cellphone 1.

All the colours are over-emphasized, particularly the sky. Scenes are unrealistic, over-lit, and the lack of element attributable to low gentle circumstances develop into much more noticeable. However, the CMF Cellphone 1 dealt with robust gentle sources properly, successfully limiting the lens flare impact.

Relating to movies, the CMF Cellphone 1 can file as much as 4K at 30 FPS with its most important lens.

Battery life and charging

The Nothing CMF Cellphone 1 encompasses 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:

• Massive battery capability.
• Wonderful battery life.

Cons:

• Sluggish charging velocity.
• No charger included.

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

In our battery life benchmark, the CMF Cellphone 1 lasted 14 hours and 45 minutes earlier than hitting lower than 20% battery life. This is a wonderful rating. In real-life use and with a mean 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.

Nonetheless, recharging was comparatively glacial. This turns into stark once you evaluate it to the host of Redmi fashions on this value vary. It took me over 1h 30m to completely recharge. That is sluggish by right now’s requirements and the CMF Cellphone 1 additionally doesn’t help wi-fi charging. In the event you’re on the lookout for a bundled charger upon unboxing, you may overlook about that.

Technical knowledge

	Technical specs
System	Nothing CMF Cellphone 1
Picture
Display screen	6.67-inch AMOLED 1080 × 2400 pixels 120 Hz refresh price
SoC	MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G
Reminiscence	6 / 8 GB RAM 128 / 256 GB storage Expandable storage through microSD (max. 2 TB)
OS	Nothing OS 2.6 based mostly on Android 14 2 Android updates 3 years of safety updates
Photograph module	Major lens: 50 MP, f/1.8 Depth sensor: 2 MP
Selfie	16 MP selfie
Battery	5,000 mAh 33 W wired charging No wi-fi charging Charger not included
Connectivity	5G | Wi-Fi 6 | Bluetooth 5.3 | No NFC
IP certification	IP52
Dimensions and weight	164 × 82 × 8 mm, 202 g

Conclusion