2024 CMF Phone 1: Mid-range smartphone with unique exciting customisation options in Nepal

The British-based electronics company, Nothing with its sub-brand CMF has launched its first smartphone, the CMF Phone 1. CMF stands for Colour, Material and Finish. CMF before the launch of the Phone 1, launched other products such as CMF Watch Pro, CMF Buds Pro, CMF Power 65W GAN and the CMF Neckband Pro.

Alongside the Phone 1, CMF has also launched the CMF Buds Pro 2 and the CMF Watch Pro 2 in Nepal. The Buds Pro 2 and the Watch Pro 2 are affordable wearable options in Nepal. CMF focuses on affordable products which get the same DNA as Nothing products. This enables customers to gain the Nothing experience at a cheaper price.

The Phone 1 has a fascinating and unique design that has grabbed many’s attention. CMF has given attention to customisation at a whole new level with the replaceable back and accessories. The Phone 1 will compete in the mid-range price segment against Samsung Galaxy A25 5G, Realme 11, Vivo V29e, Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G and Oppo Reno 11 5G.

Let us see what the smartphone delivers in terms of specifications.

Specifications of CMF Phone 1

Design and Display

The CMF Phone 1 has the unique styling that Nothing smartphone gets. Being a more affordable option, the CMF Phone 1 doesn’t get the signature LED lighting on the back but offers the unique replaceable back cover feature. The back is made up of plastic and is held by four screws and a circular piece. The circular piece unwinds normally along with the four screws open the back plate.

There are four colour options; Black, Green, Blue and Orange. The Black and Green colours have a smooth matte finish whereas the Blue and Orange have a vegan leather finish. The customisation can be levelled up with the combination of the circular piece and back plate. Even though the back plate can be opened, a seal for the battery needs to be opened to access the battery and the back. But it does make repairing and servicing easier.

The rear camera on the CMF Phone 1 is pill-shaped and made of metal. The frame is still made of plastic and has an aluminium brush finish. The display on the front is standard with a hole-punch cutout at the centre for the selfie camera. The bezels are slightly thicker in comparison to the other Nothing smartphones.

The display of the CMF Phone 1 features a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED LTPS display with a sharp 1080 x 2400 resolution and 395 ppi. It shows bright and vibrant colours with Ultra HDR+ and a 1000000:1 contrast ratio. The screen gets very bright, up to 2000 nits making it easy to see in sunlight. It has a 120 Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling and a 240 Hz touch sampling rate for quick responses. It also has an IP52 dust and splash resistance for protection.

Performance and Storage

The CMF Phone 1 is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset built on a 4 nm process. It features an octa-core CPU with 4 cores running at 2.5 GHz (Cortex-A78) and 4 cores at 2.0 GHz (Cortex-A55). The phone uses a Mali-G615 MC2 GPU for graphics.

It runs on Nothing OS 2.6, which is based on Android 14. CMF is set to provide 2 years of software updates and 3 years of security updates for the smartphone. The software is clean with the unique Nothing look.

The smartphone comes with 8GB of RAM and offers storage options of 128GB or 256GB. It also has an expandable storage option of up to 2TB using an external MicroSD card.

Camera

The CMF Phone 1 features a single main camera with a 50 MP lens with an f/1.8 aperture which is accompanied by a 2 MP portrait sensor. The camera can record 4K videos at 30 FPS and 1080p videos at 30 or 60 FPS. It supports Live HDR at 1080p at 30 FPS, slo-mo at 120 FPS recording and Night Mode at 1080p at 30 FPS for low-light video capture. The video features include Action Mode for smooth footage during movement, EIS image stabilisation and 4K Time Lapse for creative video sequences.

The CMF Phone 1 is equipped with the TrueLens Engine 2.0, which includes advanced features like Ultra XDR for exceptional contrast and colour range, AI Vivid Modes for enhanced colour reproduction, Night Mode and Motion Capture for better tracking of moving subjects. The front camera is a 16 MP sensor with an f/2.0 aperture. It also supports 1080p video recording at 30 FPS.

Accessories

The CMF Phone 1 has a range of easy-to-use accessories. Users can unscrew the Accessory Point’s cover to attach a Stand, Card Case, or Lanyard. The Stand folds out to support the phone for calls, selfies or watching shows which also then folds away. The Lanyard keeps your phone safe from drops and is easy to find, with a loop for attaching charms. The Card Case securely holds up to three cards, allows contactless payments and snaps on and off magnetically. The accessories need to be bought separately.

Battery and Performance

The CMF Phone 1 is equipped with a 5000 mAh battery that supports 33W wired charging. It offers Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) with dual-band support for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and Bluetooth 5.3 for connection to other devices wirelessly.

The phone supports LTE and 5G networks and features Dual SIM capability. For audio, it has a single loudspeaker. For sensors, it includes an under-display optical fingerprint sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor and a compass.

The CMF Phone 1 is available in two colours in Nepal; Black and Green.

The CMF Phone 1 costs Rs 36,999 for the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage option and Rs 41,999 for the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage option in Nepal.