Bottom line: Nothing's budget-minded sub-brand, CMF, has introduced its first mobile phone. The CMF Phone 1 is an entry-level handset that could finally take the concept of a modular smartphone mainstream. The price is right at $199, but will it make a splash in a cutthroat market where every previous modular attempt has come up short?
The CMF Phone 1 (CMF being short for Color, Material, and Finish) features a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display (1,080 x 2,400, 395 PPI) with a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate driven by MediaTek's Dimensity 7300 SoC, an octa-core chip built on a 4nm manufacturing process. It's paired with 8 GB of RAM.
Other noteworthy features include a 50-megapixel rear-facing camera from Sony, a 16-megapixel front-facing shooter, up to 256 GB of local storage (expandable up to 2 TB via microSD card slot), and a 5,000 mAh battery that's good for up to 23 hours of continuous video playback.
The CMF Phone 1 ships running Nothing OS 2.6 (powered by Android 14). It looks to be a solid budget entry on paper, but its modular design could make it special.
Unlike previous modular smartphone attempts that focused on swappable hardware components, CMF is focusing on an accessory ecosystem built around a user-replaceable rear backplate. Simply remove four screws on the rear of the phone, pop off the stock backplate, and replace it with one of a handful of alternatives.
At launch, CMF will have three alternate backplates available to purchase. One adds a wallet to the rear of the phone, another features a flip-out kickstand, while a third includes a tethered lanyard. It sounds a lot like Motorola's Moto Mods from the mid-2010s.
Pricing starts at a very reasonable $199, which includes a pre-applied screen protector. As a budget phone, you are giving up some luxuries found on more expensive devices such as wireless charging, support for NFC, and robust protection against liquids.
Look for it to ship in the US as part of the company's beta program later this month.