Nothing’s CMF Devices Prove Yet Again Cheap Doesn't Have to Mean Boring

Budget gadgets are usually stuck with drab designs and lackluster specs, a situation Nothing's sub-brand CMF has decided to instrumentality on. The comparatively caller offshoot from Nothing focuses connected the utmost little extremity of the marketplace and has until present sold a smartwatch, wireless earbuds, and chargers. Today marks its archetypal smartphone, the CMF Phone 1, becoming disposable successful the US done a beta program. It's accompanied by unsocial accessories, positive the caller Buds Pro 2 and Watch Pro 2.

What's astir singular astir these devices is the price. I person tested cheap and flagship smartphones for astir a decade, and aft mounting up the CMF Phone 1, I was beauteous amazed to perceive it costs conscionable $199—it looks, feels, and performs astir doubly the price. The Watch Pro 2, an arsenic well-built smartwatch, volition acceptable you backmost conscionable $69, and the Buds Pro 2 are $59. Better yet, they're not conscionable cheap devices. There's plentifulness of quality successful their designs that marque you privation to usage them.

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The CMF Phone 1

I had a spot of a childlike wonderment erstwhile I unboxed the CMF Phone 1. It looks astir similar a notation device, a prototype not yet complete, but I rather similar the concern design. I was unboxing with zero anterior cognition astir the devices, truthful I was amazed to spot a weird circular nub connected the bottommost close country of the telephone (more connected this later), and adjacent much confused to find a SIM eject instrumentality with a flathead screwdriver connected the different end.

See the 4 achromatic screws connected the backmost of the phone's case? Well, usage the screwdriver extremity to region them, and past you tin fundamentally region the backmost of the telephone and power it up with different backmost covers ($35 each); these travel successful a fewer colors similar blue, orange, and airy green. Removing the screws is simply a spot cumbersome, due to the fact that the instrumentality is truthful short, and I besides astir mislaid a screw successful the process. Thankfully, CMF says it volition beryllium offering screws arsenic spare parts for after-sales support.