CMF Phone 2 Pro Review: A Budget Smartphone with Few Compromises That Nails the Basics

It’s not a Pro, but the CMF Phone 2 Pro, which I’ve been using for a few weeks now, is a budget smartphone that gets its basics right. The USP of the device, though, is its stand-out design (other than its pocket-friendly pricing). It’s got this insanely good 10-bit 120Hz display (yes, nothing better in the price range) and a triple rear camera setup (which includes a dedicated telephoto camera).

The CMF Phone 2 Pro is a package you won’t find anywhere else in the under-Rs 20,000 price bracket. Nothing has another winner up its sleeve, but how many units the company can ship remains to be seen.

As I said in the headline of this review, the CMF Phone 2 Pro, like any other budget device, makes some compromises. But what others get wrong, CMF gets right. Yes, the basics of a good display, clean software (I’m a huge fan of Nothing OS 3.2 that runs on top of Android 15), a 5,000mAh battery and much more. All in an eye-catching (yes, you can see the screws on the back and even make some modifications) design and coming in at under Rs 20,000.

Let’s dial in.

1. Design

The CMF Phone 2 Pro is the slimmest phone in the company’s ever-growing portfolio. It is 7.8mm thick and sleek-looking. It may have a 6.77-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display (more on that in a bit), but it’s easy to use one-handed.

The Mint Green variant dares to be different and look good while doing so. It’s made of premium materials, carries over the back panel design language of CMF Phone 1, and is a winner in my eyes. The back has a glass-like frosted texture and a metal frame.

Yes, you can’t swap out the back panel, but there are still screws and even a small dial for attaching accessories.

2. Display

Enough about the design. Let’s talk about the display, which I liked to an extent. The 6.77-inch Full HD+ AMOLED (2392 x 1080 ratio, 20:9 aspect ratio) with a 120Hz refresh rate has been a pleasure to use. With 800 nits (typical), 1300 nits (outdoors) and a peak brightness of 3000 nits, the smartphone was plenty usable in the scorching Delhi heat. The display features a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate display (switching between 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz) for smooth animations (especially when doomscrolling through Instagram). There is an Always-On Display option, but unfortunately, it isn’t much customisable. The display is protected by Panda Glass protection. There’s a punch-hole selfie camera at the top, and even though the bezels have been trimmed down, they still seem uneven and chunky. Even the black circle around the selfie camera has grown bigger.

3. Nothing OS 3.2 and MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset

I was pleasantly surprised by the day-to-day handling of the tasks I threw at the CMF Phone 2 Pro. Multitasking was a breeze, doomscrolling was fun, chatting over WhatsApp was easy, editing documents and more. The phone handled it all with aplomb. That’s thanks to the Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset from MediaTek. Yes, MediaTek chipsets have gotten much better over time, and this smartphone proves it and more.

The one downside is that this isn’t a gaming phone, nor is it performance-focused. Try playing a demanding title, and the performance will drop off a cliff. It cannot sustain peak performance at all, but at this price point, you shouldn’t expect it to.

What stands out, though, is Nothing OS 3.2 (based on Android 15). With budget phones, the software is the pain point as it comes with preloaded apps, games, and things that slow the phone down overall. None of that is present in the CMF Phone 2 Pro. Nothing’s Android layer is a beauty; you can tell from the moment you see it. The software is intuitive; even a technology-challenged consumer can feel at home. The widgets are gorgeous, and the monochrome home screen strikes an alluring pose.

The Essential Key is also present on the CMF Phone 2 Pro and debuted on the Nothing Phone (3a) series. The Essential Key activates Essential Space, an app where you can store screenshots, audio clippings, and more and use artificial intelligence to get summaries, key information, to-do lists, and much more.

CMF has promised three Android OS upgrades and six years of security updates.

4. Battery life

The smartphone comes with a 5,000mAh battery and 33W fast charging. On a heavy day full of photos, WhatsApp, social media apps, light gaming, YouTube videos, editing documents and more, I was able to eke out a day’s worth of battery on a single charge. On any lighter day I had, I could get through breakfast the next morning. The 33W fast charging support comes in handy when you require it. You can get up to 50 per cent of the charge in just 20 minutes. 0-100 percent takes just over an hour to complete. It doesn’t support wireless charging, but there is a 33W fast charger bundled in the box (only in India).

5. Cameras

The cameras are one area which I wasn’t enthused about. Yes, it has a triple-camera setup, and yes, it suffices for the price bracket, but it hardly pulls any punches. You get a 50MP main camera (1/1.57” GN9 sensor), an 8MP ultra-wide camera (GC08A8 sensor) and a 50MP 2x telephoto camera (1/2 .88” OV50D sensor).

With the camera UI, you get plenty of shooting modes with the CMF Phone 2 Pro. There’s photo, video, slow-mo, portrait, time-lapse, pano and expert mode (same as pro mode).

In good daylight conditions, the photos that came out had decent dynamic range with natural-looking colours. Shooting HDR shots improves the dynamic range. The ultra-wide camera is okay at best with some details lost and minimal noise. The 2x telephoto camera was my favourite mode, as I shoot a lot of portraits, but edge detection let me down.

There’s a 16MP front camera for all those selfies. This was the best of the lot and all my friends loved shooting with this mode.

Verdict and competition

Yes, I haven’t talked about the accessories, like attaching the magnetic wallet/kickstand combo (and other MagSafe accessories) and even modular lenses, because I haven’t gotten to test this out. Still, it’s something good that CMF has here and I hope they continue it with the next iteration of this smartphone.

If you want a gaming-focused smartphone, then the Poco X7 Pro should be your no. 1 pick. The Moto Edge 60 comes in as a stellar all-rounder with a much better telephoto shooter. There’s also the Redmi Note 14 Pro + with a similar core experience.

As I mentioned above, the price is definitely right. The CMF Phone 2 Pro offers a unique and outstanding design, that 10-bit 120Hz display, the competitive Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset, expandable storage, dependable battery life, and a triple rear camera setup with a dedicated telephoto camera. With a starting price of Rs 18,999, this combination is hard to beat.