Nothing’s sub-brand CMF has finally unveiled its first smartphone – the CMF Phone 1. Unlike the flashy Nothing Phone series, the CMF Phone 1 gets a rather interesting design with an interchangeable back cover and a “port” to attach accessories. This is also the cheapest new smartphone from Nothing and pre-orders are now available in Malaysia.
CMF Phone 1 Malaysia Price and Availability
The CMF Phone 1 is officially priced at RM1,099 in Malaysia and there’s only a single variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Being a more youthful sub-brand, the Phone 1 comes in four colours – Black, Light Green, Blue and Orange.
According to Nothing, the Black and Light Green cases feature a unique texture while the Blue and Orange options come with a vegan leather layer which adds a little bit to the weight and thickness.
If you’re interested, you can pre-order the CMF Phone 1 online via Lazada and Shopee. The device will be available in Malaysia officially on 15th July 2024 and early bird pre-order customers can get a free back-cover while stocks last.
On 15th July 2024, the CMF Phone 1 will be widely available through authorised retailers such as DirectD, TMT, Urban Republic, Vivid Concepts, Tac Mobile and SS Solutions. The device will also be offered on a telco contract via Yes 5G.
CMF Phone 1 Malaysia Specs and Features
The CMF Phone 1 looks rather industrial with exposed stainless steel screws and a tough-looking camera bump island. During the unveiling video, it was claimed that the design was inspired by a matte Lamborghini with shiny rims.
On the bottom right of the back, there’s a dial element which Nothing calls a Functional accessory point. It isn’t for any phone functions like adjusting the volume, but the dial is just a decorative screw to cover the mounting point used to attach a stand, lanyard or card case. Each of these accessories costs RM59.
As mentioned earlier, the back panel is removable with the included screwdriver. If you want to change the look of your phone, you can purchase the cases which come in Black, Orange, Light Green and Blue, for RM99 each.
In terms of hardware, the CMF Phone 1 gets a 6.67″ 120Hz Full HD+ Super AMOLED screen that boasts Ultra HDR+ with up to 2000 nits of peak brightness and 700 nits of typical brightness.
Under the hood, it gets a 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G mated to 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage (Malaysia only gets the 256GB option). If storage isn’t enough, the CMF Phone 1 still offers a microSD expansion slot, that supports up to 2TB.
In the camera department, it gets a simpler dual-camera setup featuring a 50MP f/1.8 main camera and a secondary portrait lens for the rear. It can shoot 4K videos at 30fps and Live HDR 1080p videos at 30fps. Meanwhile, the front comes with a 16MP selfie shooter that sits in a punch-hole.
The CMF Phone 1 supports 802.11ax WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and 5G with Dual-SIM support. For instant unlocking, it comes with an on-screen optical fingerprint scanner. Unfortunately, the CMF Phone 1 doesn’t support NFC, which is a disappointment if you plan to use it for contactless mobile payments or to reload your Enhanced TNG card.
Powering the device is a 5,000mAh battery which claims to last up to 23 hours for video playback. It supports 33W fast wired charging via USB-C but there’s no wireless charging as you would expect for a device in this price range.
Out of the box, it runs on Nothing OS 2.6 that’s based on Android 14. According to Nothing, they are promising 2 years of major Android OS updates and 3 years of security patches for this new smartphone.
Take note that the charger isn’t included in the box. The CMF Phone 1 is shipped with a CMF Cable (USB-C to USB-C), a screen protector and a SIM tray ejector.
