CMF Phone 2 Pro Review: The Budget Phone That Promises More Than It Actually Delivers
Hello everyone. Gather round, because it’s time to talk about the CMF by Nothing Phone 2 Pro – the sequel no one really asked for, from the subbrand you may or may not care about, and priced at $280, a number carefully chosen to sound enticing while still reminding you that you are, in fact, in budget phone territory. And yes, on paper, it offers “everything for almost nothing” – you know, the usual marketing fairytale.
The Bold Promise… That Immediately Trips Over Itself
The whole “CMF proposition” is supposed to be modular phone magic at the budget level – swappable bits, quirky accessories, extra lenses, and even a screw lovingly embedded at the bottom to make you feel like you’re part of some cyberpunk IKEA project. Except – and here’s the part where the comedy writes itself – they didn’t launch the accessories properly. That’s right, the selling point of this phone arrived dead on arrival because of a manufacturing issue. It’s like being promised a gaming chair with vibrating lumbar support that arrives without the motor. You can look at it, but you can’t use it.
And when the star feature is MIA at launch, what you’ve got left is just another budget Android handset trying to convince you it’s “different” while playing the same tired tune. Not exactly an inspiring start.
The Camera – Surprisingly Less Potato
I’ll start with the good news: for $280, the triple camera setup here punches above its price. You get a 50MP main, a 50MP telephoto, and an 8MP ultrawide. No, it won’t torch Samsung S-series flagships into submission, but it does capture more light than expected, even on dull days. The trade-off? Soft edges and a slightly “last-gen MMO textures” vibe to the sharpness department.
You can switch to 50MP mode to squeeze out better detail, but brace for a slightly agonizing two-second shutter lag. Great for still scenes, less great for capturing your dog before it jumps off the sofa. This isn’t a conspiracy theory – it’s just physics and a budget image sensor at work.
The Screen & Performance – Where It Actually Shines
Thankfully, the display is a 6.77-inch AMOLED, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and 3,000 nits peak brightness – translation: those questionable shots from the soft-focus lens will at least look vibrant on-screen. Scrolling feels fluid. Gaming? Keep it to Candy Crush and maybe some Genshin Impact on low settings unless you enjoy watching a chipset sweat bullets like a nervous intern at a QA meeting.
The MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro here is fine for standard usage. Nothing OS gives you the option to go monochrome on the UI, which is adorable but pointless unless you want your phone to look like an e-ink Kindle married a midrange Android.
Battery & Practicality
5,000mAh battery? Solid. About two days with normal use, fast charging at 33W (average for budget), and even reverse charging at a whopping 5W – because nothing says “cutting edge” like slowly dribbling electricity into your earbuds like an IV drip in a Victorian hospital.
The inclusion of NFC is a big win, because in 2025, a phone without NFC is just a digital paperweight in the world of tap-to-pay convenience. Credit where it’s due – they got that right.
The Design – Plastic Fantastic
Look, plastic is fine at this price, but it feels cheap. Lightweight, yes, but not premium. And dropping the customizable modular backplate from Phone 1 while keeping the screws as decoration? That’s like putting a “Press to Start” button on your dashboard that’s glued down and painted over. The “light green” model also thinks it’s silver. Color police dispatch: we have a code CMF-404, identity not found.
Verdict – The Good, The Bad, and The Budget
This is a classic case of “almost there.” Solid display, solid battery, decent camera for the price, custom skin that doesn’t stink – all very nice. But the whole accessories promise being botched at launch undercuts the “different” factor completely. Without that, the CMF Phone 2 Pro is just another decently competent budget Android phone facing a market full of them. If you just want a usable daily driver under $300, fine. If you want something genuinely special, look elsewhere… or wait for CMF to actually ship what it’s advertising.
As a doctor, I’ll prescribe this phone to the budget-conscious who can live without flagship thrills. As a gamer, I’ll warn you: this isn’t the hero unit – it’s the common NPC you get stuck with in the tutorial zone. But for casuals who just want their daily digital vitamins with minimal side effects, it’s… adequate.
Overall impression: Adequate hardware, decent value, but crippled by its own launch flop. Could have been great; settled for “good enough.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.
