CMF Phone 1 Review: Is This The Best Budget Phone You Can Buy in the UK?

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Ever feel like all new phones are just… the same? Shiny rectangles that cost a small fortune and do everything your old one did, but a tiny bit faster. It’s a bit boring, isn’t it? Well, a new brand on the block, CMF by Nothing, is trying to shake things up. They’ve just launched the CMF Phone 1, and it’s been making some serious waves. Why? Because it promises a top-notch experience without the eye-watering price tag you’d expect from a flagship phone from the likes of Apple or Samsung.

But is it all just hype? We’ve all been burned by budget phones before – the ones with cameras that make everyone look like a blurry potato and batteries that die before you’ve even had your lunch. This article is your definitive, no-nonsense guide to the CMF Phone 1 from a UK perspective. We’re going to dive deep into what this phone is really like to live with. We’ll look at everything from its bold design and fancy screen to how well it handles your daily scrolling on the bus, its camera chops for those essential foodie pics, and whether its battery can actually last a full day out and about. By the end, you’ll know for sure if this is the budget champion we’ve all been waiting for, or just another phone that’s all talk and no trousers.

What Exactly is CMF by Nothing?

Before we get our hands on the phone itself, it’s worth figuring out who CMF actually are. You might have heard of a company called Nothing, started by Carl Pei, who was one of the original masterminds behind the phone brand OnePlus. Nothing burst onto the scene a few years back with a really cool, see-through phone called the Phone (1), and later the Phone (2). Their whole thing is about making tech interesting again, with unique designs that stand out from the crowd.

Think of CMF by Nothing as Nothing’s slightly more sensible, budget-conscious sibling. The letters stand for Colour, Material, and Finish, which gives you a big clue about their focus. They want to make products that still look and feel great, but at a price that won’t make your bank account cry. The CMF Phone 1 is their first proper smartphone, and it’s aimed squarely at people who want a brilliant phone experience without having to sell a kidney to afford it. It’s about bringing a bit of that unique Nothing style and slick software to a much wider audience here in the UK.

First Impressions: Unboxing and Design

Let’s be honest, first impressions count. The CMF Phone 1 arrives in a simple, no-fuss box, but it’s what’s inside that’s interesting. The phone itself immediately grabs your attention, especially if you get it in the bright Orange colour. It’s a bold choice that shouts, “I’m not another boring black phone!” Of course, if you prefer something a bit more understated, it also comes in Black and a rather nice Light Green.

Build and Feel: Plastic Fantastic?

The first thing you’ll notice when you pick it up is that it’s made of plastic. Now, hold on – don’t let that put you off. This isn’t the cheap, creaky plastic you might find on some budget phones. It feels solid and well-put-together. One of the clever things CMF has done is make the back covers interchangeable. So, if you get bored of your orange phone, you can swap it for a different colour. It’s a fun, simple way to personalise your device that we don’t see very often anymore.

It’s a fairly big phone, with a large 6.67-inch screen, but it doesn’t feel overly bulky. At 197 grams, it has a decent heft to it without being a brick in your pocket. The sides are flat, which is very much in style at the moment and makes it easy to grip. However, some users have noted that the camera lenses on the back stick out a bit. This is pretty common on modern phones, but it does mean it’s probably a good idea to pop it in a case to stop them from getting scratched when you put it down.

The Mysterious Dial: What’s it For?

One of the most talked-about features is the small, textured dial on the corner of the phone. What does it do? Well… not a huge amount, as it turns out. You can attach a lanyard to it, and CMF has hinted at future accessories that might clip on here. For now, it’s mostly a design quirk – a little bit of that Nothing weirdness that helps the phone stand out. It’s a conversation starter, if nothing else.

The Screen: A Budget Phone Shouldn’t Look This Good

The screen is usually the first place where budget phones cut corners. You often end up with dull colours and screens that are hard to see in the sunshine. Not here. The CMF Phone 1 has a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display, which is frankly brilliant for a phone at this price.

What Does AMOLED Mean for You?

Let’s break that down. AMOLED is a type of screen technology you usually find on much more expensive phones. Unlike standard LCD screens, which have a backlight that’s always on, each tiny pixel on an AMOLED screen makes its own light. This means that when something on the screen is black, the pixels just switch off completely. The result? Perfect, deep blacks and colours that really pop. Everything from watching a bit of Netflix on the train to scrolling through your Instagram feed looks vibrant and full of life.

Smooth Scrolling and Bright Sunshine

It gets better. The screen also has a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. In simple terms, this means the screen refreshes itself 120 times every second, which is double what many older or cheaper phones can do. The practical benefit is that everything feels incredibly smooth. Scrolling through websites, flicking between apps – it all feels buttery smooth and super responsive. The “adaptive” part means the phone is clever enough to slow the refresh rate down when you’re just looking at a static picture to save battery, which is a neat touch.

And what about using it outdoors on a rare sunny day in Britain? No problem. It has a peak brightness of 2000 nits, which is tech-speak for “very, very bright.” You’ll have no trouble seeing what’s on your screen, even in direct sunlight. It’s a fantastic display that punches well above its weight.

Under the Hood: Performance and Guts

A great screen doesn’t mean much if the phone is slow and laggy. So, what’s powering the CMF Phone 1? It’s running on a chip called the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G. Now, that might just sound like a load of numbers, but what you need to know is that this is a very capable, modern processor. CMF says it was co-engineered with Nothing to be super-efficient.

What Does This Mean for Day-to-Day Use?

For all your everyday tasks – browsing the web, checking emails, watching YouTube, and endlessly scrolling through TikTok – this phone is more than fast enough. It feels snappy and responsive, with apps opening quickly and no frustrating stuttering. It’s helped along by a generous 8GB of RAM. Think of RAM as the phone’s short-term memory; the more you have, the more apps you can have open at once without things slowing down.

The phone also has a clever feature called RAM Booster. If you’re a real power user and manage to fill up the 8GB of physical RAM, the phone can borrow up to another 8GB from its main storage to keep things running smoothly. In reality, most people will find the standard 8GB is plenty, but it’s a nice safety net to have.

Can it Game?

What if you like to play a few games on your commute? For most popular games like Candy Crush or Royal Match, the CMF Phone 1 will handle them with ease. For more demanding, graphically intensive games like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty Mobile, you might have to turn the graphics settings down from “Ultra” to “High” to get a perfectly smooth experience, but it’s definitely capable of playing them. For a phone in this price bracket, its performance is seriously impressive.

Storage: Got Enough Space?

The phone comes with 128GB of internal storage, which is a decent amount for your apps, photos, and videos. But here’s a feature that’s becoming a real rarity these days, especially on more expensive phones: it has a microSD card slot. This means if you do run out of space, you can just pop in a memory card and easily add more. It’s a huge plus point for anyone who likes to keep a lot of media on their phone.

The Camera: Good Enough for the ‘Gram?

The camera is often the make-or-break feature for many people. The CMF Phone 1 has a dual-camera setup on the back, with a main 50-megapixel (MP) Sony sensor and a secondary sensor dedicated to helping with portrait shots. On the front, you’ve got a 16MP selfie camera.

Pictures in Good Light

Let’s start with the good news. In bright, sunny conditions, the main camera can take some really lovely photos. The 50MP sensor captures a lot of detail, and the colours look natural and vibrant. CMF has included some clever software, which they call the TrueLens Engine 2.0, to help process the images.

There’s also a feature called Ultra XDR, which was co-developed with Google. This is just a fancy way of saying it’s very good at handling tricky lighting situations, like when you’re taking a picture of a friend with a bright sky behind them. It does a good job of balancing the bright and dark parts of the photo so you can see both your friend’s face and the clouds in the sky.

Where it Struggles a Bit

However, this is where the budget price starts to show a little. The camera performance is a bit of a mixed bag. While it’s great in good light, it can struggle a bit when it gets dark. Photos taken at night or in a dimly lit pub can look a bit grainy and lose some detail. It’s not terrible by any means, but it’s not going to compete with a phone that costs four times as much.

It’s also worth noting that there’s no ultra-wide lens. This is a lens that lets you zoom out to fit more into your shot, like a big group of friends or a sweeping landscape. It’s a common feature on many phones now, and its absence here is a bit of a shame.

Selfies and Video

The 16MP front camera is perfectly fine for selfies and video calls. It produces clear and detailed shots, and the software does a decent job of making your skin look smooth without turning you into a plastic doll.

For video, it can shoot decent-quality footage, but it lacks the advanced stabilisation you’d find on pricier models. This means if you’re walking and filming, your videos might look a bit shaky. For static shots, though, it’s perfectly adequate.

The verdict on the camera? It’s good, but not great. For the average user who just wants to snap pictures of their pets, kids, and nights out for social media, it’s more than capable. But if you’re a serious photography enthusiast, you might find it a bit limiting.

Battery Life and Charging: Can It Go the Distance?

Here’s an area where the CMF Phone 1 really shines. It has a massive 5000mAh battery. Combined with the power-efficient processor, this phone is a real workhorse. Most users will find it can easily last a full day, even with heavy use. Lighter users might even be able to squeeze two full days out of a single charge. This is a huge selling point. It means you can leave the house in the morning without worrying about your phone dying on you by teatime.

When you do eventually need to top it up, it supports 33W fast charging. CMF claims this can get you from empty to 50% charged in just 20 minutes, which is pretty speedy. It’s fast enough to give you a significant boost if you’re in a hurry.

However, there are a couple of things to be aware of. Firstly, there’s no charging brick included in the box. You only get a USB-C cable. This is becoming increasingly common as manufacturers try to reduce electronic waste (and save a bit of money), but it’s something to bear in mind. You’ll need to have your own USB-C charger that supports fast charging to get the best speeds. Secondly, there’s no wireless charging. This isn’t a huge surprise on a budget phone, but it’s a convenience that some people might miss.

Software: The Nothing OS Experience

The software on a phone is just as important as the hardware. It’s what you interact with every single day. The CMF Phone 1 runs on Nothing OS 2.6, which is built on top of the latest version of Android (Android 14).

Clean, Fast, and No Bloatware

If you’re used to phones from brands like Samsung or Xiaomi, you might be used to them coming pre-loaded with dozens of apps you’ll never use – what we call “bloatware.” This is where Nothing OS is a breath of fresh air. It’s a very clean and minimal version of Android. Out of the box, there are very few pre-installed apps beyond the standard Google ones.

This has two big benefits. Firstly, it means more of your storage is free for your own stuff. Secondly, and more importantly, it helps the phone feel really fast and smooth. There aren’t lots of unnecessary processes running in the background slowing things down.

A Unique Look and Feel

Nothing OS has a very distinct visual style. It uses a lot of dots and a monochrome (black and white) theme for its icons and widgets. It looks very cool and futuristic, though it might not be to everyone’s taste. Thankfully, if you prefer the standard colourful Android look, you can easily switch back to it. The key is that CMF gives you the choice to personalise it how you want.

ChatGPT on the Go

One unique feature is a deep integration with ChatGPT, the famous AI chatbot. You can access it directly from your home screen to ask questions, get ideas, or listen to information. It’s a neat little extra, especially if you’re someone who uses AI tools a lot.

The Promise of Updates

CMF has made a solid promise when it comes to software updates. They are guaranteeing three years of major Android updates and four years of security updates. This is excellent for a budget phone and means your device will stay up-to-date and secure for a good long while. It’s great to see a company taking software support seriously at this price point.

The Big Missing Piece: No NFC

So far, it’s been a pretty glowing review. But there’s one big, glaring omission that could be a deal-breaker for a lot of people in the UK: the CMF Phone 1 does not have NFC.

NFC, or Near Field Communication, is the technology that allows you to make contactless payments with your phone using services like Google Pay. It’s what lets you just tap your phone on the card reader in a shop, on the Tube, or on the bus.

The lack of NFC on this phone means you simply cannot use it for contactless payments. For many of us who have become used to the convenience of paying with our phones, this is a major step backwards. You’ll have to go back to carrying your physical bank card with you everywhere. Why did CMF leave it out? Almost certainly to save money and hit that aggressive price point. But it’s a significant compromise, and it’s crucial that you’re aware of it before you consider buying this phone.

The Final Verdict: Should You Buy the CMF Phone 1?

So, after all that, is the CMF Phone 1 the right phone for you? It’s a phone of some interesting contradictions. On the one hand, it offers features that are genuinely outstanding for the price: a stunning 120Hz AMOLED screen, brilliant battery life, snappy performance, and clean, well-supported software. It looks cool, feels well-made, and even has a microSD card slot.

On the other hand, it makes a couple of significant compromises. The camera is decent but won’t blow you away, especially in low light, and it’s missing an ultra-wide lens. But the biggest issue, by a country mile, is the lack of NFC.

Who is this phone for?

The CMF Phone 1 is an almost perfect phone for a specific type of person. It’s for someone who:

• Values a great screen and smooth performance for media and browsing.
• Needs a battery that can comfortably last all day and then some.
• Appreciates clean, bloat-free software with guaranteed updates.
• Is on a tight budget but still wants a phone that feels modern and capable.
• Crucially, does not care about using their phone for contactless payments.

Who should avoid it?

If you rely on tapping your phone to pay for your coffee, your shopping, or your commute, then this phone is not for you. It’s as simple as that. The lack of NFC is a deal-breaker for anyone who has embraced the convenience of Google Pay. You should also probably look elsewhere if you’re a passionate photographer who needs a top-tier, versatile camera.

In the end, the CMF Phone 1 is a brilliant budget smartphone that gets so much right. It’s a testament to how much phone you can get for your money these days. It’s just a massive shame that one missing feature holds it back from being an easy, wholehearted recommendation for everyone in the UK. If you can live without contactless payments, it’s arguably one of the best value-for-money phones on the market. But for many, that’s a very big “if.”

Further Reading

For those who wish to delve deeper into the world of smartphone technology and read more expert opinions, here are some highly respected resources:

• GSMArena: For incredibly detailed specifications and professional reviews on almost every phone imaginable.
• TechRadar: A great UK-based source for tech news, reviews, and buying guides.
• Android Authority: A fantastic resource for all things Android, from phone reviews to software tips.
• The Verge: Known for its in-depth reviews and excellent video content on the latest tech.