Why I Still Recommend This $200 Android Phone In 2025 - Even Though It's A Year Old

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The CMF Phone 1 by Nothing, which starts astatine $239, is nan champion fund telephone I've tested this year.
• The replaceable screen and accessories, fantabulous artillery life, and AMOLED show guidelines retired successful a crowded market.
• For nan price, nan downsides see a deficiency of NFC and wireless charging, arsenic good arsenic a specified two-year package update policy.

As a phone reviewer, it's ever a situation to measure cheaper, sub-$300 handsets, particularly aft my senses person been spoiled by glorified, eye-candy displays, snappy processors that tin negociate 20+ tabs, and cameras that tin seizure nan birds successful nan sky.

Also: The champion Android phones of 2025: Expert tested and reviewed

But nan CMF Phone 1, developed by nan sub-brand of Nothing, made things easier than I expected. From its first motorboat successful 2024, nan instrumentality has dropped successful value importantly to $209, starting connected Amazon. Even successful 2025, this remains 1 of nan best fund phones that I've tested truthful far, and I urge it complete galore different low-cost options.

CMF, which stands for "Color, Materials, and Finish" successful nan world of business design, is simply a fitting sanction for nan company. With nan Phone 1, nan attraction to item and sensible creation choices are noticeable. Here's a speedy database of things that instantly stood retired to me:

• The powerfulness and measurement buttons are separated connected each side, making it easier to show which cardinal you're pressing.
• The bezels, while thicker than what you'd find connected much costly handsets, are admirably symmetrical.
• At setup, you're fixed nan prime betwixt Nothing's dot-matrix launcher and banal Android, a state often buried successful telephone settings.
• Dark mode is enabled by default, helping to trim artillery depletion and oculus strain.
• Instead of spec-padding pinch unnecessary camera sensors, location are only 2 connected nan back, a 50-megapixel main and 2x zoom.

Most consumers astir apt won't announcement these creation elements, but they each lend to a hardware/software package that feels much premium than it should.

Also: This $280 Android telephone brings superior title to Samsung and Motorola

One point you'll decidedly announcement is nan DIY quality of nan CMF Phone 1, pinch 4 screws and a thumbscrew connected nan backmost that keeps nan default screen intact. Should you want to alteration nan color, CMF will waste you $35 swappable covers that travel successful orange, ray green, and blue. The full process only takes a fewer minutes to do, and I'd highly counsel picking up either nan orangish aliases bluish finishes arsenic they're made pinch a gripper, leather-like texture. I've had nary problem commuting successful NYC without a case.

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

The thumbscrew tin besides beryllium replaced pinch functional accessories, specified arsenic a lanyard, paper slot case, and kickstand. Since nan CMF Phone 1 is reasonably sizable pinch its 6.67-inch display, I recovered that nan bulkiness of immoderate of nan accessories made nan telephone little comfortable to hold. But if ergonomics are nan slightest of your concerns, there's a world of 3D-printed backmost plates for you to artifact with. Here's to hoping personification makes backmost plates that springiness nan telephone NFC (for tap-to-pay) aliases wireless charging support, arsenic some are omitted.

Also: 5 Android phones you should bargain alternatively of nan Samsung Z Fold 7 (and why)

Display is different area that CMF knocked retired of nan park. You're getting a vibrant AMOLED sheet pinch an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, a ocular pairing that's difficult to find successful nan $200 value range. The brightness besides cranks up to 2,000 nits, which made navigating an upstate hike past play a small little stressful. Just make judge you either region nan default integrative surface protector aliases switch it erstwhile utilizing nan phone; nan layering retains fingerprints and smudges very easy and requires nan strongest microfiber cloth to swipe them off.

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

The package acquisition of nan CMF Phone 1 is astir identical to that of a Nothing Phone, meaning location are respective ways to stylize your icons and location screen, thoughtful widgets, and navigation pathways akin to banal Android. The deficiency of bloatware and duplicated features plays good pinch nan CMF Phone 1's MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G processor, which biases toward extended usage and ratio complete short stints of powerfulness (like connected its rivaling Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset).

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Sure, nan YouTube app will return an other fewer seconds to load thumbnails and videos, and I've noticed nan occasional stutter erstwhile swiping backmost to nan location screen, but nan CMF Phone 1 throttles overmuch little than competitors for illustration nan Samsung Galaxy A15 5G and Motorola Moto G Power 5G. I conscionable wish CMF had committed to package updates for much than conscionable 2 years. With nan merchandise of Android 16 backmost successful June, nan Phone 1 should theoretically enactment feature-relevant until nan extremity of this year.

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

Cameras connected cheaper phones are often a mixed bag, pinch nan champion imagery requiring generous ray sources (read: nan sun connected a agleam time aliases ceiling lights successful an agency space). Otherwise, you're near pinch grainy shots, unrealistic colors, and a noticeable deficiency of depth. That holds existent pinch nan CMF Phone 1; subjects tended to look washed out, and shutter lag made shooting faster-moving subjects difficult. But if you support successful mind that this is simply a $200 phone, nan output is much than acceptable.

Also: This $200 Motorola telephone has nary business being this bully for nan price

It helps that nan CMF Phone 1 sips battery, lasting good into a 2nd time pinch each charge. The operation of cleanable software, power-efficient MediaTek processor, and adaptive refresh complaint show makes nan instrumentality an endurance champion, moreover stacked against phones 3 aliases 4 times its price.

ZDNET's buying advice

The CMF Phone 1 is 1 of nan fewer phones this twelvemonth that I tin confidently opportunity gives you much worth for nan money. At a caller starting value of $209, nan handset nails nan basal needs of immoderate fund shopper, from nan ample and vibrant show to nan two-day artillery life. Add connected nan swappable backmost screen and accessories, polished Nothing OS software, and smaller trinkets of CMF prowess, and you've sewage a winning recipe.

Lastly, I'd beryllium doing you a disservice if I didn't speak to cellular connectivity and compatibility. While nan CMF Phone 1 pulled successful information from my T-Mobile SIM card, including erstwhile I was hiking successful nan mountains and commuting connected a subway, it lacks nan bands to support 5G connected AT&T and LTE connected Verizon. Therefore, I'd counsel Verizon users to see different cheap telephone options and folks connected competing carriers to scan nan database of supported bands earlier making nan switch.

How it compares

Latest updates

July 28, 2025: Added a caller comparison floor plan that compares nan CMF Phone 1 to nan company's latest smartphone, nan CMF Phone 2 Pro. The newer instrumentality is larger, has a amended camera system, and much sensors for cardinal features. Outdated links were besides replaced.