CMF Phone 1 Review: The budget phenom
CMF Phone 1 Intro
The CMF Phone 1 often gets mentioned as the best budget phone around.
In many ways it is – it has a surprisingly smooth performance for a $200 device, easily beating competitors. It's got a good looking OLED screen too. Being a subsidiary of the clever Nothing brand, you have a design with a twist too, as you can unscrew the back and swap it for a new one, or even screw in a kickstand to the phone. Really cool!
However, after using it for a while, we found the camera a bit lacking. Is that a deal-breaker or just a slight disappointment in the grand scheme of things? Read on to find out.
The PhoneArena Review score for the CMF Phone 1 is 5.5, higher than the average rating of 5.3 for phones in this price class. The CMF Phone 1 scores way above the average in categories such as performance, charging, display quality and design. However, it has a lower score for camera quality and software.
Table of Contents:
CMF Phone 1 Specs
A zippy processor
Let's start with an overview of the CMF Phone 1 specs:
| CMF Phone 1 | Samsung Galaxy A25 5G |
|---|---|
| Size and Weight 164 x 77 x 8.2 mm 197 g | Size and Weight 161 x 76.5 x 8.3 mm 197 g |
| Display 6.7-inch OLED 120Hz | Display 6.5-inch OLED 120Hz |
| Processor MediaTek Dimensity 7300 | Processor Samsung Exynos 1280 |
| Software Android 14 | Software Android 14 with One UI 6.1 |
| Cameras 50MP main, f/1.8 2MP depth - 16MP front | Cameras 50MP main, f/1.8 8MP ultra-wide 2MP macro 13MP front |
| Battery Size 5,000 mAh | Battery Size 5,000 mAh |
| Charging Speeds 33W wired no wireless | Charging Speeds 25W wired no wireless |
CMF Phone 1 Design and Display
A clever modular design
You can easily swap the back of the CMF Phone 1 with a different one. Cool! (Image by PhoneArena)
The CMF Phone 1 features a plastic back, and while that would be a shortcoming for many phones, CMF has its own twist on the design that actually turns this into a unique selling point.
The back of the phone unscrews and you can easily swap it for a different one! We have the plastic light green color for review, but you can swap for an orange or blue vegan leather, with a nice texture to it. And since this phone is plastic, you don't really need a case.
The phone also comes with a built-in screen protector right out the box, which is a nice touch.
No charger in the box (Image by PhoneArena)
You do not get a charger in the box, though. Keep in mind that the phone supports 33W charging speeds, so if you want the fastest charging speeds, you should get a proper charger.
The screen has slightly thicker bezels, but it is a beautiful OLED display (Image by PhoneArena)
With a 6.7-inch 1080p OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, the CMF Phone 1 offers more than many rivals, which still come with LCD screens at that price.
An OLED screen has a much more vibrant colors and deeper blacks.
Our screen lab measurements show that the Phone 1 reaches nearly 1,200 nits of max brightness, which is decent, so you could use the phone outdoors without too much of an issue.
We do wish the screen could get dimmer at night though. The minimum brightness is 2.4 nits, which can be a bit too bright if you use the phone in bed with the lights off.
When it comes to biometrics, you have an in-screen optical fingerprint reader.
It gets the job done, but the accuracy is not perfect and there is a tiny bit of lag when using it. Nothing major, but you could notice that if you value a fast unlocking experience.
CMF Phone 1 Camera
Only one camera on board
Don't be fooled by the two lenses, you effectively have just one camera here (Image by PhoneArena)
Despite what looks like two cameras on the back of the CMF Phone 1, only one of them is actually useful, the 50MP main one. The second being a 2MP depth sensor, it has dubious value and is there mostly for decor.
This is quite the controversial decision, but hey, if it's a great camera, maybe users will be willing to live with it.
Our extensive camera score, however, shows quite a few weaknesses. The CMF Phone 1 – lacking a zoom camera and an ultra-wide camera – is naturally one of the worst scoring device we have ever tested when it comes to overall camera quality.
Zooming even slightly is not a good idea as detail is sorely lacking, and you will notice that overall colors appear a bit bland and exposure is often a tiny bit off.
But those are the technical details, let's look at the actual real-world photos we took with the Phone 1.
CMF Phone 1 Camera Sample Photos
It's not all bad, as you can see above.
Colors in photos are a bit washed out and detail is on the soft side, but considering many other phones go way too far in the other direction with oversaturated tonalities, some people might actually find some charm in this.
We like the portrait photos, they turned out with nice, realistic colors and a pleasing background blur.
However, images captured at night have ghost-like colors and detail falls off a cliff quickly. They are not completely unusable, but definitely not what you expect from a modern phone.
Video quality with the CMF Phone 1 is decent. You can record 4K video and CMF has addressed the biggest problem for most budget phones – stabilization, so footage looks very stable.
Video Quality
Video quality with the CMF Phone 1 is decent. You can record 4K video and CMF has addressed the biggest problem for most budget phones – stabilization, so footage looks very stable.
Of course, there are slight issues. You have more noise, which you can see even during the day, but especially when you try zooming in.
For the most part, though, the CMF Phone 1 does decently well.
CMF Phone 1 Performance & Benchmarks
Solid, stutter-free performance
Faster than rivals (Image by PhoneArena)
The CMF Phone 1 is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 7300 (4 nm) paired with 6GB of RAM.
This is a solid configuration that ensures you get a pleasing experience in daily use with no major hiccups. That is often not the case on other budget phones, so the CMF Phone 1 is really a step ahead of the competition here.
In the GeekBench CPU test, the CMF Phone 1 outperforms the Galaxy A25 5G by a good margin.
Performance Benchmarks:
In the GeekBench CPU test, the CMF Phone 1 outperforms the Galaxy A25 5G by a good margin.
It is also one of the best gaming phones at its price, beating the way more expensive Galaxy A35 5G when it comes to gaming.
It's also nice that you have 128GB of on-board storage AND a micro SD card slot for expandable memory. The latter is a rarity these days.
It's also nice that you have 128GB of on-board storage AND a micro SD card slot for expandable memory. The latter is a rarity these days.
CMF Phone 1 Software
The Phone 1 runs on Nothing OS 2.6, based on Android 14. Nothing commits to two OS updates and three years of security updates, which is not a lot.
In January 2025, the Phone 1 still hasn't received the latest Android 15 update, so you should be prepared to wait a bit longer for those updates.
On the bright side, the system is very well optimized and runs surprisingly smoothly for a $200 phone.
It's not without the occasional dropped frame here and there, but nothing like the lag you often see on other phones in this price. The gesture navigation also works well and if you like the distinct Nothing design language, you will enjoy the little quirks in the system too.
We did not like, however, that you cannot remove the Google widget from the home screen. Pixel phones are the same way, and it is extremely frustrating not being able to fully control the look of your home screen.
CMF Phone 1 Battery
5,000mAh battery and average battery life, but fast charging
In our in-house tests, it scored nearly 11 hours of video streaming, which is above the average, but it got around 13 hours for web browsing, which is below the average mark.
We estimated that its combined screen time is 6 hours and 55 minutes, which puts it right in the middle of our rankings.
It supports 33W charging speeds, again slightly faster than rivals.
We measured that a full 1% to 100% top-up takes 1 hour and 8 minutes, which is definitely quite fast for a budget phone.
There is no wireless charging on board, but we don't expect to have it at this price.
CMF Phone 1 Audio Quality and Haptics
The CMF Phone 1 comes with a single (mono) speaker on the bottom, but it gets surprisingly loud and boomy.
It has clear highs, but as typical on many budget phones, there is little in terms of bass, so if you like to listen to hip-hop or other similar music that typically has a strong bass line, you probably won't enjoy it too much. For talking head videos, however, the CMF Phone 1 does perfectly fine.
Haptics are nothing exceptional, but they are strong enough to not miss notifications or a buzzing call.
Should you buy it?
The CMF Phone 1 is a budget phenom (Image by PhoneArena)
The CMF Phone 1 is a budget phenom! At $200, it's an absolute steal and while you cannot expect perfection, those who value fast and smooth performance should definitely consider it.
The OLED screen also looks good and it's nice that it runs at 120Hz, plus the design is quirky in a good way.
If you are after the absolute best camera, though, the CMF Phone 1 is not quite that. Another important consideration is that it only has 2 years of OS updates, not great if you plan on keeping the phone for longer.
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