Nothing CMF Phone 1 Review: specs and features, camera quality test, gaming benchmark, user opinions and photos

Nothing CMF Phone 1 is an interesting, but far from perfect experiment

It is difficult to deny the Chinese company Nothing originality and resourcefulness. The manufacturer was able to endow the product with a memorable design and a number of other distinctive features that distinguish the developer’s electronics from numerous opponents. Unfortunately, not all of the corporation's decisions can be called unambiguously successful. The hero of today’s review, which was supposed to be the company’s most inexpensive phone, cannot be considered as such.

The appearance of the new product is distinctive, but controversial. The replaceable plastic back panels look cheap, but allow you to install an additional battery and other accessories, the dual camera unit looks outdated, and the display frames are far from minimal. To the positive aspects of the exterior we will add an under-screen fingerprint scanner, a modern design of a 16-megapixel selfie camera, and attractive body colors. There are no complaints about the 6.67-inch AMOLED panel. It produces a clear (resolution of 2400x1080 pixels), smooth (120 Hz refresh rate) picture, free of problems with color reproduction, brightness reserve (more than 2000 nits), and a PWM effect.

The technical characteristics are MediaTek Dimensity 7300 CPU with support for 5G networks, 6GB/8GB of RAM and Mali G615MC2 video adapter. This is a new balanced combination that scores about 700 thousand points in the AnTuTu test. Performance in games is not bad; gamers can count on medium graphics settings in demanding projects, including Genshin Impact, Fortnite, Zenless Zero Zone. There is throttling, but it cannot be considered significant. The energy-efficient chipset helps you get up to 9-10 hours of active screen time from a 5000mAh battery. The charging power is not outstanding (33W), you will have to stay at the outlet for more than 50-60 minutes. As for the permanent memory, it is allocated 128/256GB with a slot for MicroSD cards.

The main 50 and 2 megapixel photo modules, led by the Sony IMX882 sensor with hybrid stabilization, cope adequately with daytime and even evening shooting. There is not much noise in the photographs, and the detail and color reproduction are more than good. The situation with sound is noticeably worse. The only speaker is quite quiet, there is little bass. Surprisingly, existing versions of the gadget do not have NFC contactless payments. And it is precisely this drawback that is the most critical and prevents us from recommending an overall interesting and competitive phablet for purchase to everyone. All that remains is to wait.