CMF Phone 1: Unboxing And First Impression
Nothing’s design-centric CMF’s Phone 1 costs Rs 15,999 and offers a 120Hz AMOLED display, Dimensity 7300 SoC and a 5,000 mAh battery
I really feel that CFM (an abbreviation for colour, material and feel) is trying to go for a mix of design, features and affordability to tap into the larger market of pocket-friendly smartphones. The design-first approach reminds me of what Apple used to be in the earlier days. However, you might think that this is awfully similar to what Nothing is doing with its own line of products and that’s completely true. It is only when you start to recognise affordability in the mix, you realise what CMF is attempting to achieve with the Phone 1.
The CMF phone 1 is proof of Nothing’s mission of making tech fun again. The smartphone has made me realise that CMF is fully committed to offering a different perspective on smartphones. This smartphone starts from Rs 15,999 (6GB + 128GB) while the top variant (8GB + 128GB) costs Rs 17,999. It supports expandable memory of up to 1 TB.
In the box, you get the Phone 1, the USB Type C cable, the sim tool and some paperwork. That’s all there is. There is no adapter as usual. Nothing likes to keep it simple and wants you to use your old power adapters (sustainability and whatnot).
The phone is all plastic, that’s something that we also expected. Right off the bat, what you’ll notice is the much-marketed back panel and the visibly prominent screws. These screws, I tell you. They’re not just functional but they are also good to look at.
We have the camera module right where it usually is on smartphones (top left corner) with a vertical dual camera set-up. The panel has a matte surface and I personally liked it. Fingerprints are not an issue with the phone which is a huge bonus.
Remember the rotatable disk that we were all excited about after the X posts from Nothing (formerly Twitter)? Well, it’s not what we thought it was. It is essentially a cover for a quick-release button which allows users to remove the back panel. No disappointments there, though. I didn’t really expect it to actually be a volume rocker, which many people initially thought it would be. It would have been cool, though.
The overall design is good. I see the edges, the pack panel, the power button, the volume rockers, the camera module and the CMF by Nothing branding. It is all good-looking. You won’t be able to tell that this is a sub-20,000 smartphone just by looking at it. That is for sure.
It was only a few years ago that seeing AMOLED on the specifications sheet of a smartphone was a thing of amazement. Well, it seems like those days are history. Despite carrying a petite price tag just shy of Rs 16,000, the Phone 1 offers a 6.67-inch 120Hz Super AMOLED FHD+ display. The colours are bright (2000 nits), the contrast is good and the bezels are almost symmetrical.
The UI is classic Nothing. The brand has successfully retained its now iconic look with monochromatic icons and an overall minimalistic use interface. The phone feels fine, that is, until you start using intense graphic operations like playing games that demand a strong processor. Demanding games such as Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves and Call of Duty: Warzone start to lag at high graphics settings. I checked the phone and realised that the new Dimensity 7300 SoC does not have performance cores. It essentially has 2 clusters of 4 efficiency cores each, none of which clock above 2.5 GHz.
The camera app is getting talked about a lot and not all of this talk is good talk. While there are people who like the camera and feel it is better than expected from a sub-Rs 20,000 smartphone, there are those who feel that the camera is not up to the mark.
The primary camera is a 50MP shooter that is assisted by a second camera which is essentially a depth assist camera. In simpler terms, it helps you capture photos with a better depth of field, a.k.a., blurry backgrounds.
Shooting video at 4K 30 FPS is always a great thing to have in a smartphone. For an affordable mid-ranger, the video quality of the CMF Phone 1 does not disappoint.
This phone has a 5,000 mAh battery so battery life will not be a issue for most users.
The fingerprint sensor is not that great and honestly, a little sluggish. Most of the time it just fails to read my fingerprint. I end up putting in the passcode in order to unlock the phone.
Despite the plethora of features that this budget phone offers, there are a few shortcomings that we just cannot ignore.
Number one on this list is the lack of any solid water resistance. An IP52 rating is simply not good enough if we draw a comparison between the CMF Phone 1 and its contemporaries. Dust protection stays the same as all Nothing smartphones. Secondly, Nothing is going to provide OS upgrades for only two years. Compared to what other brands are doing, two years feels a tad bit less. And lastly, there is no NFC. Not that you’ll feel the absence directly but it is good to have something and not use it rather than not have it at all.
It is always refreshing to see a tech company trying to do things differently. More often than not, these moves are looked down upon and even critiqued. It is only in hindsight that we start to appreciate these innovations. I would, however, state that modular backs are not a new thing. I remember having a blast with smartphones from the Nokia 5800 series. Nokia gave three colourful back panels free with the smartphone for users to mess around with. Regardless, the fact that Nothing is even attempting to deviate from the existing norms of smartphone design deserves a bit of appreciation from users.
Well, this was the Phone 1 by CMF and it’s first impressions. The in-depth review of the smartphone will be out soon.
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