I’m coming After 10 years covering mobile phones, and after some time with the CMF Telephone 1I don’t think I’ve ever used a more perfect phone for the money I paid. CMF is a sub-brand of Nothing, founded by Carl Pei of OnePlus fame. It’s been dabbling in ultra-low-cost devices like smartwatches and earbuds, but the CMF Phone 1 is its first Android phone. And it costs $199.
I aim to do cheap smartphone reviews. I remember the days when I spent every penny I earned to buy my first smartphone, the $200 Samsung Galaxy Captivate in 2010. It is important to help guide people on a budget to good This year alone, I’ve tested the $150 Moto G Play and the $199 Galaxy A15, the latter of which I found to be a disappointing successor to 2023’s excellent Galaxy A14. But neither of these phones compare to the CMF Phone 1, which outperforms its peers.
Phenomenal value
CMF’s design language for the Phone 1 is its first triumph. This device is far more visually interesting than any other $199 phone in the US. The industrial look comes to life when you adopt the $35 interchangeable back covers. Use the included screwdriver to remove the screws and you can change the back to a different color. I chose orange.
The screwdriver is a bit short so it’s a bit difficult to remove the screws – I can’t imagine changing the back. oftenThis doesn’t mean you’ll be able to start repairing things yourself or changing the battery either – CMF urges customers not to remove the battery without authorisation (there’s a warning label on the battery). Unfortunately, there’s not much here to make repairs easier. Unlike the new HMD Skyline.
Photography: Julian Chokkattu
Part of the fun is the accessory point, the little wheel on the right corner of the phone. Remove this thumbscrew and you can attach other accessories, such as a lanyard, stand, or wallet. My favorite of all is the stand, and I dare say it doubles as a fidget spinner. Functional, fun, and stylish! CMF even encourages Customers who want to 3D print accessories for it.
But all of these design tricks, while unique, aren’t what makes the CMF Phone 1 special. No, that’s the actual hardware, build, and specs. Right off the bat, my first impression after booting it up was how fast it is. In my time with it, I don’t think I noticed any lag or stuttering, which is rare for a $199 smartphone. That’s thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 inside with 8 gigs of RAM, but it also has a lot to do with the optimizations between the hardware and the software, which is Nothing OS. (It’s still Android, but the Nothing layer on top offers a specific aesthetic with a few tweaks, like the all-monochrome theme on the home screen.)
Okay, no lag. Next up, the battery life impressed me. I made this my primary device when I traveled to Paris to cover Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event, and some nights I went to bed without considering plugging the phone in after seeing that it had 50 percent battery left. That’s with navigation, Bluetooth music streaming, messaging, and taking photos. I managed to push the 5,000mAh battery to its limits with heavy use and get it down to 30 percent by the end of the day, but with average use, I regularly got two days of use. (I can’t say the same for the $1,100 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6.)
