CMF by Nothing proves once again that it’s the IKEA of gadgets with the new Phone 1, Watch Pro 2 and Buds Pro 2 – all with fun designs and temptingly affordable price tags.
Launched in 2023, Nothing’s CMF sub-brand continues its cheap but cheerful theme with this new trio of launches. The Phone 1 in particular offers a lot (on paper) for $199 / £179 / AU$399, making it a strong contender for our best budget phones guide.
On the specs front, the phone has a (1) 6.67-inch AMOLED display (with a 120Hz refresh rate) and runs on Android 14 skinned by Nothing OS. The camera setup is also promising for the price, with a 50MP f/1.8 main camera with a depth sensor for portrait shots, paired with a 16MP selfie camera.
Elsewhere, performance shouldn’t be radically different from the Nothing Phone 2a, thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chip and 5,000mAh battery. Base storage is also 128GB and it’s IP52 water resistant, meaning it can handle the odd splash.
Perhaps most interestingly, the CMF Phone 1 also has a removable back cover. This means you can unscrew the stock one and replace it with other covers to get a new look. Unfortunately, you can’t replace components like the battery, which means the Phone 1 doesn’t go as far as the Fairphone, but it’s still a great feature.
You can pre-order the CMF Phone 1 from Nothing’s website now in black, orange or light green for $199 / £179 / AU$399 (for the 128GB / 8GB RAM version), with shipping expected from July 12. However, it’s worth noting that the phone is being sold through a “beta program” in the US, as it’s not yet fully optimized for US mobile networks.
If you’re looking for an affordable smartwatch or a set of wireless headphones, Nothing’s CMF sub-brand could help you out, too. The CMF Watch Pro 2 is a follow-up to last year’s debut model. In comparison, our review of the CMF Watch Pro concluded that it was “a smart watch at a great price, but not perfect.”
As you’d expect at $69 / £69 / AU$119, the Watch Pro 2 won’t get Google’s Wear OS, which means no third-party apps. But it does promise basic smartwatch features like heart rate monitoring paired with sleep, stress and SpO2 tracking (the latter measures blood oxygen saturation levels).
GPS tracking and the promise of 11-day battery life are also impressive. Like the Phone 1, there is also an interesting customization feature with the option of interchangeable bezels. Throw in a 1.32-inch AMOLED display with auto-brightness (missing from its predecessor) and you’ve got another contender for our best budget smartwatch guide, if nothing solves the phone connectivity issues that plagued the previous version.
Lastly, there are the new Buds Pro 2, which follow up on the brand’s original wireless headphones from last year. The main improvement here is the strengthening of Active Noise Cancellation, which now blocks sound up to 50dB (rather than 45dB), plus a claim for improved sound quality.
There’s also a new case on the design front with an integrated dial that lets you control headphone volume and noise cancellation and activate ChatGPT. That is right. Like the Nothing Ear (a), which made our guide to the best tech of 2024 so far, the Buds Pro 2 have ChatGPT integration that lets you connect to the AI ​​assistant on your CMF or Nothing phone.
The Buds Pro 2 cost $59 / £59 / AU$99 and are available in orange, dark grey, light gray and blue. Again, they are expected to ship very soon on July 12th.
They’re cheap, but are they any good?
CMF by Nothing deserves huge kudos for injecting some fun and cheerful design into the budget phone, headphone and smartwatch space. On paper, all the new models look good value, although naturally they will have limitations at these prices.
We haven’t tested the CMF Phone 1, Watch Pro 2, or Buds Pro 2 yet, but we’ve reviewed some of their predecessors and spiritual ancestors, and they remain good guides to what to expect.
Our review of the CMF Watch Pro praised its design, saying there was a “premium sheen in everything” from the hardware to the software. But we also found its Bluetooth connection spotty, making notifications a pain, and it’s worth bearing in mind that you’re not getting any app store with a fairly basic feature set.
It was a similar story in our review of the CMF by Nothing Buds, which are the even cheaper siblings of the Pro series at $39 / £39. We said it was “hard to criticize for their low price”, but basic features like ANC were understandably underwhelming.
Although the Buds Pro 2 offer higher noise cancellation and boast a similarly impressive 43 hours of playtime on a single charge, we’re looking forward to comparing them to the best budget wireless headphones, including the Sony WF-C700N. and JLab Go Air Pop (our current top two), very soon.