Nothing sub-brand CMF announces shockingly cheap products — $200 phone among them
There's also cheap earbuds and a smartwatch
While a fledgling brand on its own, Nothing is already making a budget-friendly sub-brand called CMF. The brand announced three new products today — the CMF Phone 1, CMF Watch Pro 2 and the CMF Buds Pro 2. As you might expect from the affordable arm of Nothing, these products are all shockingly affordable.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the phone and supporting devices, though at $200 for the phone, $69 for the watch and $59 for the earbuds, I'm a little concerned that these might be too cheap.
CMF Phone 1
The CMF Phone 1 offers outside-the-box design choices, such as a removable rear cover that lets you customize the phone. It enables you to access the phone's internal components for repairs and maintenance. The company also includes an "accessory point," designed to attach fold-out stands, card holders and lanyards.
Under the hood, you'll find an 8-core MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G processor with 8GB of RAM. It has a 5,000mAh battery, so hopefully, it'll have a good battery life. The screen sounds like the most promising element for a budget phone with a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Finally, the company includes a 50MP primary camera sensor made by Sony.
For $200, these specs seem pretty respectable, especially that 6.67-inch 120Hz screen. The phone is scheduled to ship on July 12 for those who pre-order it, so the wait period is relatively short. It has a good chance of being one of the best cheap phones released this year.
CMF Watch Pro 2
The CMF Watch Pro 2 is the company's follow-up to its first watch. It retains the same $69 price as last year's model, which is much cheaper than most smartwatches from reputable brands. Like the phone, it has a degree of customization. You can swap the band and change the bezel to do what CMF describes as "switch fluidly between styles to suit any occasion."
It comes with a 1.32-inch always-on AMOLED display and offers up to 11 days of use per charge. It has all the standard tracking features like built-in GPS, an accelerometer, an ambient light sensor and other health-tracking sensors. Compared to last year's model, CMF also adds an auto-brightness adjustment algorithm, improved sleep tracking and customizable widgets.
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Like the phone, the listed ship date is July 12.
CMF Buds Pro 2
The last product from CMF is the only one that sees a price increase. The original CMF Buds Pro were $49, but the Buds Pro 2 have jumped by $10 to $59. Compared to others on the market, they're still very cheap. They have active noise cancellation and algorithmic spatial audio, which is hard to find on earbuds this cheap. The headphones are also available for pre-order with a July 12 ship date.
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Dave LeClair is the Senior News Editor for Tom's Guide, keeping his finger on the pulse of all things technology. He loves taking the complicated happenings in the tech world and explaining why they matter. Whether Apple is announcing the next big thing in the mobile space or a small startup advancing generative AI, Dave will apply his experience to help you figure out what's happening and why it's relevant to your life.