Last year, Nothing introduced the first smartphone under its budget sub-brand CMF by Nothing. The device, called CMF Phone 1, turned out to be quite interesting and even unique in some aspects, offering solid specifications at an affordable price, and even accompanying this with its signature unique design. Although not without compromises.
The manufacturer recently introduced the CMF Phone 2 Pro smartphone, the second smartphone of the CMF by Nothing brand. It is not yet known whether Nothing is going to release a regular Phone 2, so I will call the new product the successor of the Phone 1, even though it is located half a step higher in the hierarchy of Nothing smartphones.
The new product has retained its signature distinctive features, including a partially modular design. The price-performance ratio is also quite attractive. But most importantly, Nothing has worked on the mistakes, eliminating a number of the first-generation model’s shortcomings.
⇡#Specifications
⇡#Design and ergonomics
The designers of Nothing did not try to be clever with the design of the CMF Phone 2 Pro, simply refining the concept that was laid down in the CMF Phone 1. And this is good, because this way the identity of the CMF by Nothing devices is preserved – smartphones with a similar design have not appeared on the market, so the user still gets a unique device – in the budget segment this is a great rarity.
However, unlike the Phone 1, the new model has a non-removable back cover – I didn’t know this while preparing the review and tried to remove the back panel, but it was glued in the upper right corner. It won’t be possible to remove it without heating or additional tools. On the one hand, this is a step back, since now you won’t be able to simply replace a broken or unpopular cover. On the other hand, the smartphone has become slightly thinner and lighter.
CMF Phone 2 Pro, rear panel: top left — block with three cameras and flash, bottom right — Accessory Point screw
Despite this, the Phone 2 Pro retains its partial modularity. On the back panel, not only the protruding cameras catch the eye, but also four silver screws, as well as a large “twist” in the lower right corner – the head of the Accessory Point screw. All of them are used to attach various accessories.
CMF Phone 2 Pro, винт Accessory Point
The so-called “Universal Cover” is attached to the regular screws. It acts as a protective bumper and is also a key component that provides the smartphone with modularity. Firstly, it has built-in magnets that allow you to easily attach various accessories, such as a folding stand with a “pocket” for plastic cards. And secondly, removable camera lenses are attached to the “Universal Cover”. Nothing has only introduced two lenses so far: an ultra-wide-angle “fisheye” and a lens for macro photography.
Branded accessories that can be attached to the Universal Cover and Accessory Point on the CMF Phone 2 Pro
Unfortunately, the Phone 2 Pro’s accessory kit is quite limited at the moment: in addition to the above, there’s only a strap that attaches to the Accessory Point instead of that big screw. It’s also not specified whether the Phone 2 Pro is compatible with Phone 1 accessories, but I’m guessing at least some of them should fit.
The back cover itself is made of plastic: versions are available in black, light green, orange, and white and gray colors. The latter is the one I got for review, and as you can see, the back cover is divided in half: the upper part is white, and the lower part is gray with small specks. The halves do not differ in texture. The plastic is slightly rough, pleasant to the touch, and does not collect fingerprints. The corners of the back cover are slightly rounded, so the smartphone is comfortable to hold.
CMF Phone 2 Pro in a complete case
As already mentioned, the CMF Phone 2 Pro has become thinner and lighter than its predecessor — 7.8 mm versus 8.2 mm and 185 grams versus 197. At the same time, the smartphone is better protected from moisture: the new product complies with the IP54 standard (versus IP52 for its predecessor), which indicates protection from splashes. At the same time, the manufacturer claims that even complete immersion in water will not harm the smartphone — but to a depth of only 25 cm and for no more than 20 minutes. By the way, a transparent silicone case is supplied with the smartphone.
CMF Phone 2 Pro, front panel: at the top of the screen – a front camera in a hole and a speaker
The front panel of the CMF Phone 2 Pro is covered with a flat protective glass Panda Glass – the same Nothing used, for example, in the recent Phone (3a) Pro. There is an oleophobic coating, in addition, the display is covered with a protective film by default. The front camera is located in a small hole in the middle, at the top edge of the screen. The screen frames can hardly be called thin – the display occupies 86.1% of the front panel, but the new product got rid of the traditional “chin” for budget smartphones – now the lower frame of the screen is no different in width from the rest.
CMF Phone 2 Pro, right side: power key on the right, Essential Key on the left
CMF Phone 2 Pro, left edge: volume keys
The side edges are one piece with the back cover. Like other recent Nothing smartphones, in addition to the standard buttons – a pair of physical volume keys on the left edge and a lock button on the opposite one – there is also an Essential Key. It is located on the right edge, below the lock button. The new functional element is responsible for launching the Essential Space AI function, which will be discussed below.
CMF Phone 2 Pro, bottom edge: SIM card slot, microphone, USB Type-C port and main speaker
CMF Phone 2 Pro, top edge: microphone
The rest of the functionality is standard: on the bottom edge there is a slot for a pair of SIM cards, a USB Type-C port and a speaker, and on the top edge there is only a tiny microphone hole. There is no headphone jack – like with any other Nothing device. In the case of a budget smartphone, this is definitely disappointing, although finding affordable wireless headphones is not difficult these days.
⇡#Software
CMF Phone 2 Pro runs on the still relevant Android 15 operating system with the proprietary Nothing OS 3.2 shell. The software platform here is no different from what we saw in the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro: the interface is minimalistic, here and there you can find inscriptions made in the characteristic Nothing fonts, and the proprietary theme offers application shortcuts on the desktop adapted to the general style. By the way, Nothing allows you to switch to standard shortcuts – this is indeed more convenient for searching applications, but aesthetically it is not the same.
I talked about the proprietary AI function Essential Space in detail in the Phone (3a) Pro review, so I’ll just briefly remind you here. This is a notepad improved with the help of neural networks, which allows you to take screenshots and photos, as well as add notes to them by dictating them. AI recognizes objects in images and speech, and based on the information received, either simply leaves a note or suggests various actions – for example, make a to-do list or add a reminder to the calendar for the desired date.
I praise Nothing OS in every review, and this one is no exception. The software platform is fast and stable, no problems were found during the review preparation – everything worked smoothly, without freezing or application crashes. Also, while I was preparing the review, Nothing released a large update (more than 4 GB), in which, in addition to optimizations, increased system stability and minor improvements, much attention was paid to correcting some rough spots of the camera – I will tell you more about this in the section dedicated to shooting.
The fingerprint scanner is built into the screen panel and works on the basis of an optical sensor, so it may not work if the finger is dirty or wet. Under normal conditions, it works quickly and reliably – during the entire time of use, I never had to enter a PIN code due to scanning errors. There is also a face recognition function, which works through the front camera without additional sensors, like most Android smartphones. Recognition occurs quickly and, as a rule, the first time, but in low light you will have to use alternative methods – a fingerprint or PIN code.
⇡#Display and sound
The CMF Phone 2 Pro has a 6.77-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2392 × 1080 pixels (aspect ratio of 19.93:9) and a pixel density of 388 ppi. The screen of the new product is 0.1 inches larger than its predecessor, and its characteristics are almost identical to those of the Phone (3a) Pro.
The display of the new CMF Phone 2 Pro has become noticeably brighter compared to the previous model. As in other modern smartphones, manual brightness control has certain limitations, and maximum values are achieved only in automatic mode. Manual settings now allow you to set up to 800 cd / m², which is significantly higher than the previous values. Under bright light, for example outdoors, the brightness can automatically rise to 1300 cd / m², and when viewing HDR content, it reaches an impressive 3000 cd / m². By the way, to save battery power, you can prohibit the smartphone from raising the brightness to the peak in the settings (that is, turn off the “HDR display” option, which is activated by default).
Although I did not have special equipment for precise brightness measurements, according to my personal feelings, the device is comfortable to use even under direct sunlight. The automatic brightness control generally works correctly, although sometimes in the dark there was a desire to slightly reduce the brightness manually.
The CMF Phone 2 Pro display supports dynamic refresh rate change within four values: 30, 60, 90 and 120 Hz — the predecessor only had 60 or 120 Hz without dynamic change. In the settings, you can select the dynamic mode, where the refresh rate is adjusted to the displayed content, or set it to 60 or 120 Hz. Interestingly, in the dynamic mode, for some reason, the screen prefers to work with a frequency of 90 Hz in most scenarios. But I was unable to “catch” 30 Hz. Videos are played mainly at 30 Hz, which should increase battery life. I will add that the touch panel has a polling rate of up to 1000 Hz.
The display settings here are standard for any modern Android smartphone. There is brightness control (including automatic), choice of screen off time, light and dark themes, status bar settings, font and interface scale, auto-rotation, as well as refresh rate settings.
There is a vision protection mode with warm shades (“Night illumination”), you can adjust the color contrast. There are standard color rendering options – with bright or natural shades, plus there is a manual adjustment of the color temperature. The screen produces a rich, pleasing to the eye image without noticeable distortions or distortions.
The new product supports Always On Display (AoD) mode, like most Android smartphones (yes, this is a dig at Apple). It allows you to display not only the time and date, but also lock screen widgets in a minimalist design – for example, the weather, a pedometer, or notes from Essential Space.
As I already said, there is no 3.5 mm headphone jack. To connect a headset, it is suggested to use Bluetooth 5.3 with support for LE Audio and the main audio codecs – AAC, LC3, aptX and LDAC. There are also stereo speakers: the main one is located at the bottom, and the conversational one works in tandem with it, like in most modern smartphones. The sound is loud, clear, without any complaints about the quality.
⇡#«Iron and performance
The CMF Phone 2 Pro is powered by the Dimensity 7300 Pro SoC, an improved version of the Dimensity 7300 used in the first CMF Phone. The chips are identical in specs, but Nothing claims the new platform is 5% faster in graphics performance and 10% faster in CPU speed.
MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro is manufactured using TSMC’s 4nm process technology. The chip has eight cores on the ARMv8.2-A architecture, which are divided into two clusters: four productive Cortex-A78 with a frequency of up to 2.5 GHz and four energy-efficient Cortex-A55 with a frequency of up to 2.0 GHz. The graphics subsystem is Mali-G615 MC2. Nothing is reported about the GPU frequency.
Synthetic tests showed that Nothing was lying about the performance gain: the difference between the CMF Phone 2 Pro and the CMF Phone 1 is within the margin of error, and even the smallest differences in the indicators are not always in favor of the new product. Nevertheless, in terms of performance, the smartphone is about on par with its competitors. The hardware platform’s resources are more than enough for any everyday tasks, and the smartphone can handle launching fairly “heavy” modern games, although you can’t count on maximum FPS or graphics quality.
There were no overheating issues during the review preparation period – even after long and seriously platform-loading stress tests, the smartphone became only warm, but certainly not hot, like some flagships. Accordingly, there is no problem with processor throttling. The smartphone passed the resource tests from the 3DMark package without reducing the clock frequencies of the processor cores.
The CMF Phone 2 Pro has 8 GB of RAM, and as for the storage, there are 128 or 256 GB options. Nothing does not specify what kind of memory is used in the new product, but the AnTuTu benchmark showed a storage speed corresponding to the UFS 2.x class. There is also a function for expanding the RAM – up to 8 GB can be “borrowed” from flash memory. Like its predecessor, the CMF Phone 2 Pro supports microSD memory cards up to 2 TB.
⇡#Communications and wireless communications
CMF Phone 2 Pro offers two SIM card slots (nano-SIM), but one of them is combined with a memory card slot, so you will have to choose: either a SIM card or storage expansion. There is no eSIM support. The smartphone can work in networks from 2G to 5G. The maximum declared data transfer speed is 3.27 Gbps. But this is in fifth-generation networks, and for Russia, 4G LTE networks are much more relevant for now. The smartphone has no problems with them: all common ranges are supported, and the maximum speed exceeds 1 Gbps.
Dual nano-SIM card slot combined with microSD memory card slot
The smartphone supports Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (aka Wi-Fi 6) and Bluetooth 5.3. There is a navigation module with support for GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS, QZSS, BeiDou and Galileo. But most importantly, in the Phone 2 Pro, the developers have corrected one of the main shortcomings of the Phone 1: the new product has an NFC module, so contactless payments are fully available here.
⇡#Camera
Nothing seems to like equipping smartphones with triple cameras, as the new CMF Phone, like the latest Nothing Phone models, has three modules on the back panel. The set is classic: the main camera, a wide-angle camera and a zoom module with a telephoto lens. The latter is a very pleasant surprise for a smartphone in the mid-price segment. I assume that this is the feature that Nothing was counting on, and for good reason.
The main camera of the CMF Phone 2 Pro is built on a Samsung ISOCELL GN9 sensor with a resolution of 50 megapixels. The matrix has a format of 1 / 1.57 inches and pixels of 1 μm. Optics with an aperture of f / 1.88 and an equivalent focal length of 24 mm (in 35 mm equivalent) are used. There is no optical stabilization – only electronic. Phase autofocus is used. By default, the smartphone shoots with a resolution of 12.5 MP, grouping pixels by four (Quad Bayer), but you can manually select the 50-megapixel shooting mode.
The zoom camera of the Phone 2 Pro is also built on a 50-megapixel sensor, but this is a compact OmniVision OV50D of 1/2.88-inch format with 0.612 µm pixels. Here, too, there is only electronic stabilization and phase autofocus. The sensor is complemented by a classic zoom lens with f/1.85 aperture and an equivalent focal length of 50 mm, which provides a two-fold optical zoom relative to the standard focal length.
The wide-angle camera is built on a compact 1/4.0-inch GalaxyCore GC16B3 sensor with a resolution of 8 MP and 1 µm pixels. The optics have a wide viewing angle of 119.5 degrees, an aperture of f/2.2, and an equivalent focal length of 15 mm. There is no optical stabilization or autofocus.
The CMF Phone 2 Pro offers only three standard focal lengths, one for each camera. The telephoto lens also supports digital zoom up to 20x.
Left to right: wide angle, standard focal length, 2x optical zoom
The main camera of the CMF Phone 2 Pro copes with its tasks quite well. The pictures are rich and contrasty, the dynamic range is quite wide. However, there is a clear problem with the algorithms that excessively enhance the contour sharpness. Detailing is also lame – at least in some shots. But the biggest problem, in my opinion, is the color rendering: the main module is clearly “greenish”. This does not appear in all photos, but in some cases the effect is very noticeable – a photo of a light-colored clock tower can serve as a striking example. After a major software update for the smartphone, which was released during the preparation of the review, the situation has improved, but still, the three cameras render colors slightly differently.
But when shooting at night, the main camera is very pleasing. We note a good level of detail, natural color rendition and a fairly wide dynamic range. Of the minuses, I will note the lack of sharpness and noticeable noise in the photo, but their level is far from critical.
The camera with a telephoto lens was also a pleasant surprise — after all, optical zoom clearly wins over the hybrid zoom offered by most modern smartphones. Here, small details are better worked out in the pictures, and there is no “oversharpening”. The color rendition is quite natural, without “green” distortions of the main module. The shots are saturated, with a wide dynamic range. When shooting in low light, the zoom camera also copes unexpectedly well: good detail, natural color rendition, and a fairly wide dynamic range. Noise, of course, is present, but not critical.
The wide-angle camera is present here rather for show, it is difficult to expect much from a tiny 8-megapixel sensor. No, it can take a decent photo in ideal conditions, but often the quality leaves much to be desired. Photos cannot boast of good detail, there is an excess of contour sharpness, the image is slightly blurred at the edges. The dynamic range is also not very wide – overexposures are very common. This camera can only be praised for its quite natural color rendition. But at night it is better not to turn on the wide-angle camera at all: there is almost no sharpness in the pictures, it is impossible to capture details, and the high level of noise only worsens the picture.
On the left – a snapshot in normal mode, on the right – at night
The camera app offers a “Night” mode, but it duplicates the automation that activates a similar mode during standard shooting in low light conditions. Shooting in this mode is standard for modern smartphones: a series of photos with different exposures is created within 1-3 seconds, which are then “glued together” and retouched programmatically into one final photo. If you turn off the night mode manually, the photos are slightly less detailed, but in terms of exposure, there is virtually no difference. When shooting at night, it can be difficult for a smartphone to catch and maintain focus, so you need to try to hold the smartphone as statically as possible. I note that all cameras suffer from glare, which is especially noticeable when shooting at night. Well, yes, the night mode does not help when shooting with a wide-angle module.
On the left are pictures with a base resolution of 12.5 megapixels, on the right – with a maximum resolution of 50 megapixels
By default, the CMF Phone 2 Pro takes 12.5 MP photos on the main and telephoto cameras and 8 MP on the wide-angle module. In the settings, you can select full resolution shooting only for the main and zoom cameras. However, there is practically no difference between 12.5 and 50 MP photos – except that high-resolution shots take up 2.5 times more space in the smartphone’s memory.
Macro photography examples. From left to right: the first two photos were taken with the main camera, the third with a telephoto lens
The CMF Phone 2 Pro doesn’t have a separate macro mode, but you can still get good photos of close objects on your smartphone. You’ll just have to work hard to get the focus — although the minimum focusing distance for the main camera and the telephoto lens module is quite short.
Top row, left to right: 2x optical zoom, 3x software zoom, 6x software zoom. Bottom row: 10x software zoom, 20x software zoom
The camera with a telephoto lens, in addition to a 2x optical zoom, also supports digital zoom up to 20x. Of course, there is no point in talking about any acceptable quality with such a strong zoom. However, zooming up to 6x remains relatively functional, and the quality of the pictures is satisfactory.
In portrait mode, the smartphone offers to shoot with a telephoto lens with its native focal length of 50 mm by default. This way, the proportions of the face are more natural than when shooting with the main camera. In addition, three more focal lengths are offered: 24, 70 and 100 mm – this is convenient for full-length portraits, waist-length portraits or close-ups. The user can adjust the degree of background blur and two-level retouching, as well as four modes for processing light glare: they can be turned into circles, curved lines, stars and snowflakes. It seems like a small thing, but it looks funny.
The portrait mode itself is implemented normally – the object and background are separated correctly, but the dividing line is quite sharp and often with noticeable flaws. In addition, in some cases the smartphone does a poor job of blurring a complex background, suddenly “highlighting” one or another area. But the retouching system works quite well – without obvious excesses.
The camera app in the CMF Phone 2 Pro is the same as in other new Nothing models. It is minimalistic and intuitive: all the “extra” settings are hidden in the drop-down menu. I did not notice any lack of functionality. All the necessary modes are present, including manual with the ability to save photos in RAW format. Also, the “Ready settings” migrated from the Phone (3a) Pro – presets with optimal parameters for certain shooting scenarios.
The video shooting capabilities of the CMF Phone 2 Pro are quite typical for a mid-range smartphone. The new product can record video on the rear camera in 4K resolution at 30 frames per second or in Full HD at 30 or 60 frames per second. The smartphone can only record on the wide-angle module in Full HD at 30 frames per second – the other modes are available only on the other two cameras. Slow-motion video is only available in Full HD at 120 frames per second (on the main and zoom cameras). Only electronic stabilization is present.
In normal lighting, the videos are quite good, but for dynamic scenes it is better to use the Full HD mode at 60 frames per second – this way the video will be smoother and more pleasing to the eye. In Full HD and 4K at 30 frames per second, dynamic video may look a little jerky, and the windows of houses and tree trunks sometimes create a ripple effect, which is not very pleasing to the eye. When switching to the zoom camera, the video quality deteriorates: there is more noise, and the sharpness is overdone. When shooting at night, it is better to limit yourself to the main camera, and also to stand still – when walking, the video slightly “twitches” with each step. In addition, in low light, a lot of noise appears in the video, and the detail leaves much to be desired.
The CMF Phone 2 Pro’s selfie camera is inherited from the first-generation model with minor changes. It is also based on a 16-megapixel GalaxyCore GC16B3 1/3-inch image sensor with 1-micron pixels. However, it uses different optics: with a reduced aperture of f/2.45 and a focal length of 22 mm. This module shoots in full resolution by default. There is software background blur and retouching, which work quite well.
⇡#Offline work
The CMF Phone 2 Pro is equipped with a 5000 mAh battery — the same as its predecessor. However, the larger and brighter display played its role, as a result of which the autonomy of the new smartphone is noticeably lower. Nevertheless, the new product will easily work all day without recharging even with fairly active use — the hardware platform is very energy efficient.
In our traditional test with Full HD video playback at maximum brightness, with Wi-Fi and notifications enabled, the smartphone lasted 17 hours and 59 minutes – not an outstanding result, but not bad either.
The charging speed hasn’t changed — the CMF Phone 2 Pro supports power supply of up to 33 W. It takes a little over half an hour to charge to 50%. The smartphone doesn’t support wireless charging — the Nothing Phone 3a, which is higher up in the hierarchy, doesn’t either, so there’s nothing surprising about that. There’s no charger in the package, like any Nothing product — only a white cable with USB Type-C connectors.
⇡#Conclusions
Nothing has once again created a very interesting smartphone, which is rare in the lower mid-range segment. The CMF Phone 2 Pro retains the original design and modular construction, almost like its predecessor (it’s a pity that it no longer has a removable cover), but at the same time it has received a number of improvements and offered something unique for the budget segment.
Of course, I mean the rear camera, namely the module with a telephoto lens. This is not found in any smartphone in the same price category: triple cameras are often represented by the main, wide-angle and auxiliary modules (or they will put a macro camera for quantity). Here we get a real optical zoom – even if only twofold, but the quality of shooting is in any case better than that of competitors with a hybrid zoom.
I would also like to praise the developers for the work they have done to correct the errors. They have eliminated one of the key shortcomings of the first CMF smartphone — the lack of an NFC module, which is simply unacceptable for a modern device. The new product has received such a module, thanks to which contactless payments have appeared (where relevant). In addition, the new product has received potentially more durable glass and a higher class of water protection, and has also become thinner and lighter.
The only drawback I can point out is the reduced battery life. But that’s the price you pay for a larger and brighter screen. Otherwise, the CMF Phone 2 Pro offers an excellent set of features and capabilities for an affordable smartphone.
Advantages:
- Unique design with the possibility of customization;
- Bright, high-quality OLED display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz;
- Almost “pure” Android;
- Triple camera with optical zoom and decent shooting quality in normal lighting conditions;
- Quite powerful and cool processor;
- On-screen fingerprint scanner;
- Protection against dust and moisture according to IP54 standard;
- Memory card slot;
- Now with NFC.
Disadvantages:
- No mini-jack;
- Mediocre quality of shooting in the dark;
- No performance improvements;
- Reduced autonomy;
- No power adapter included.