CMF by Nothing proves it’s the IKEA of tech with the new Phone 1, Buds Pro 2 and Watch Pro 2
CMF by Nothing has once again proven that it is the IKEA among gadgets with the new Phone 1, Watch Pro 2 and Buds Pro 2 – all with a fun design and an attractively affordable price tag.
Launched in 2023, Nothing’s sub-brand CMF continues its cheap-but-cheerful theme with this new trio of launches. The Phone 1 in particular offers a lot (on paper) for its $199 / £179 / AU$399 price tag, making it a strong contender for our guide to the best cheap phones.
In terms of specs, the Phone (1) sports a 6.67-inch AMOLED display (with a 120Hz refresh rate) and runs Android 14, which is overlaid with Nothing OS. The camera setup also looks promising for the price, with a 50MP f/1.8 main camera with a depth sensor for portrait photos and a 16MP selfie camera.
Elsewhere, performance shouldn’t be radically different to the Nothing Phone 2a, thanks to a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chip and a 5,000mAh battery. Base storage is also 128GB and it has IP52 water resistance, meaning it can take a beating.
Perhaps most interestingly, the CMF Phone 1 also has a removable back cover. This means you can unscrew the standard back cover and replace it with different covers to give it a new look. Unfortunately, you can’t swap out parts like the battery, which means the Phone 1 doesn’t go as far as the Fairphone, but it’s still a nice feature.
You can already order the CMF Phone 1 via Website of Nothing The phone is available now in black, orange or light green for $199 / £179 / AU$399 (for the 128GB / 8GB RAM version), with shipping expected from July 12. It’s worth noting, however, that the phone is being sold through a “beta program” in the US, as it’s not yet fully optimised for US mobile networks.
If you’re looking for an affordable smartwatch or a set of wireless earbuds, Nothing’s CMF sub-brand might also be for you. The CMF Watch Pro 2 is a follow-up to last year’s debut model. For reference, our CMF Watch Pro review concluded that it was “a great value smartwatch, but not perfect.”
As you’d expect for the $69 / £69 / AU$119 price tag, the Watch Pro 2 doesn’t get Google’s Wear OS, meaning no third-party apps. But it does promise basic smartwatch functionality, such as heart rate monitoring along with sleep, stress, and SpO2 monitoring (the latter of which measures blood oxygen saturation).
Impressively, you also get GPS tracking, plus the promise of 11 days of battery life. Like the Phone 1, there’s also an intriguing customization feature with the option of interchangeable bezels. Throw in a 1.32-inch AMOLED display with auto-brightness (lacked on its predecessor) and you’ve got another contender for our best cheap smartwatches guide, as long as Nothing has fixed the phone connectivity issues that plagued the previous version.
Finally, there are the new Buds Pro 2, the successor to the brand’s original wireless earbuds from last year. The main upgrade here is a boost to Active Noise Cancellation, which now blocks out noise by up to 50dB (up from 45dB), plus a claim of improved sound quality.
On the design front, there’s also a new case with an integrated dial, which lets you control the earbuds’ volume and noise cancellation, as well as activate ChatGPT. That’s right. Like the Nothing Ear (a), which has been our guide to the best tech of 2024 so far, the Buds Pro 2 have ChatGPT integration, which lets you connect to the AI assistant on your CMF or Nothing phone.
The Buds Pro 2 will cost $59 / £59 / AU$99 and come in orange, dark gray, light gray, and blue. They’re expected to ship shortly, on July 12.
They are cheap, but are they any good?
The CMF by Nothing brand deserves a big shout-out for injecting some fun and cheerful design into the budget phone, earbud and smartwatch space. On paper, the new launches all seem to offer good value for money, although they will of course have limitations at those prices.
We haven’t tested the CMF Phone 1, Watch Pro 2, and Buds Pro 2 yet, but we have reviewed some of their predecessors and spiritual ancestors, which give a good idea of what to expect.
Our CMF Watch Pro review praised the design, stating that there was a “premium sheen to everything” from the hardware to the software. But we also found the Bluetooth connectivity to be spotty, making notifications a nuisance, and it’s worth bearing in mind that you don’t get an app store with a pretty basic feature set.
It was a similar story in our CMF by Nothing Buds review , which are the even cheaper $39 / £39 siblings in the Pro series. We said they were “hard to fault given their low price point”, but core features like ANC were understandably disappointing.
The Buds Pro 2, however, take things a step further in the noise-cancelling department, boasting an equally impressive 43 hours of playtime on a single charge. We’re looking forward to comparing them against some of the best budget wireless earbuds soon, including the Sony WF-C700N and JLab Go Air Pop (our current top two picks).
