CMF by Nothing could be soon bringing us its first budget smartphone
There is never a shortage of rumors and leaks out in the wild of new tech releases, and today has definitely not be an exception. The latest rumor being that of Nothing's sub-brand, CMF — which has to date only released accessories such as a pair of earbuds, a watch and a 65W power brick — releasing its first ever smartphone.
This all began with the leak of a new device model number, A015, initially discovered by Android Headlines. This leak listed "Nothing" as the associated brand, fueling rumors that it could be the long-awaited Nothing Phone 3, codenamed "Tetris."
However, those familiar with Nothing's model number patterns found this a bit strange. Past models, like the original Nothing Phone (A063) and the Phone 2 (A065), didn't quite align with the A015 model number if this device was meant to be a successor.
Credit: Android Headlines
The puzzle was finally solved when, shortly after, the model number A015 surfaced on the BIS certification site. 91Mobiles was the first to notice that BIS listed the model number as belonging to CMF, the sub-brand of Nothing that specializes in budget accessories.
Credit: 91mobiles
This, of course, is quite surprising considering that CMF has, until now, focused on more affordable tech products like earbuds and smartwatches. Should this information prove to be accurate, this new device would mark CMF's first venture into making smartphones. This would add a new and potentially exciting option to the Android market.
However, the question remains why, with the existence of the Nothing Phone 2a, would Nothing release another budget phone under the CMF sub-brand. It's possible that, as the Nothing Phone 2a is considered a mid-range device, the CMF Phone could be targeting the sub-$300USD budget phone market and thus not cannibalizing its own brand.
A device like this could be direct competition to devices such as the Samsung Galaxy A23 5G, Galaxy A15 5G, Moto G Stylus 5G, and the Moto G Power 5G. This could be really exciting as budget devices are increasingly adopting more "premium-like" features, and judging by how the rest of the CMF line looks, it could turn out to be a very stylish option. We'll just have to keep an eye out for any new developments on this model to see what CMF will bring to the table.
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