With style and substance, CMF Phone 2 Pro gives us something to talk about

India Today

30-04-2025

For a brand that is less than five years old, Nothing has learnt the tricks of the trade, very quickly. It doesn't waste any time and works at breakneck speed, whether it be with products, announcements, or catching social media buzz early. Carl Pei's marketing genius needs little introduction. The team that he has built appears to be as good. It is important to understand and appreciate these things because the smartphone market, particularly in India, is super competitive. So much so that, unless you really pull a rabbit out of your hat, there are chances that you'll go unnoticed. The struggle doesn't end once you're spotted. You must continue to deliver on what you promised to stay relevant.advertisementModularity, but make it affordableWith CMF Phone 1, the maiden smartphone from sub-brand CMF, Nothing tried to do something different. The idea was to give power back to the customer by giving them the tools – it thought of and was able to make – to personalise their phone and make it look the way they liked through optional accessories. It made colourful back covers – not cases – that they could swap and feel like they bought a new phone without having to pay the big bucks. At the same time, accessories like stand, lanyard, and card case, brought extra conveniences.
CMF Phone 2 Pro gets a tweaked design, though it is built around the same CMF Phone 1 template.
Modularity when done right is possibly the best thing that could happen to a gadget. Having the choice to buy a phone once and style it later, is the sort of thing that dreams are made of. The problem is that modularity doesn't come cheap, and the CMF Phone 1 was dirt-cheap, with a sticker price of Rs 15,999 for the base variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Nothing sold a lot of these phones – the claim was 1 lakh units in 3 hours on day 1 sale itself – but even if it sold them at a loss – which most probably it didn't – there was only so much hardware that it could assemble at these prices. The specs were self-explanatory.Meet the CMF Phone 2 Proadvertisement
Not everyone is into Lego and those who want variety can always buy a case – multiple for the same price in fact – and be done with it. Nothing knew the next generation couldn't rely on novelty alone. The specs needed to be better. And that is precisely what it has done with the Gen 2 model. The upgrades, in fact, are so big, Nothing added the suffix 'pro' to it, which, I believe, is a great marketing move. It keeps the mystery around the CMF Phone 2 alive, leaving people with something to talk about even after the buzz around the CMF Phone 2 Pro fizzles. Not to mention, it makes it look like Nothing has taken a giant leap after the CMF Phone 1. Finally, the naming allows it to tweak a few things here and there while also increasing the price, ever so slightly. The Phone 2 Pro starts at Rs 18,999 for 8GB/128GB. A version with double the storage will set you back by Rs 20,999. (The Phone 1 was Rs 15,999 for 6GB/128GB.)
The display is bigger and brighter compared to Phone 1's.
The Phone 2 Pro has a slightly bigger 6.77-inch (versus 6.67-inch for Phone 1) 1080p AMOLED display which can get brighter by up to 3,000 nits (versus 2,000 nits in Phone 1). It can refresh at up to 120 times per second. The MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro inside it is advertised as giving 10 percent faster CPU performance and 5 percent better graphics, over the 'regular' Dimensity 7300 in the Phone 1. Default RAM is now 8GB (up from 6GB). The camera setup has received the biggest overhaul with the Phone 2 Pro toting three brand-new sensors – a 50-megapixel f/1.8 wide, 50-megapixel 2x telephoto, and 8-megapixel ultrawide. Running the show is Nothing OS 3.2 with longer software support: 3/6 years versus 2/3 years before. The battery is 5,000mAh, the same as the Phone 1. Charging is also still capped at 33W, but you get a charger in the box (a first for any Nothing phone).Accessories, lenses, and that signature twistadvertisementThe unique see-through aesthetic is understandably harder to pull off at these prices, so Nothing found a workaround and put actual screws on the surface to give you a deeper sense of connection with your phone. The CMF Phone 2 Pro keeps that look all the way down to the plug-in dial at the bottom for attaching last-gen accessories, even if much of the original modularity seems like it is on the verge of retirement. You don't get to swap many covers, new or old, any more, which was a big sale pitch for the Phone 1. Nothing has made a universal cover that you simply put on top of whatever colour phone you have bought, so, there is no need for complete disassembly. Nothing would have you believe that it is intentional. The IP-rating has been improved from IP52 to IP54, which has made keeping a close lid on things sort of mandatory in this generation (even if it takes away some of the fun of pulling apart your phone every once in a while without voiding the warranty).
The camera setup has been massively overhauled.
advertisementThe cover, which is once again sold separately, lets you magnetically attach another accessory, the wallet and stand combo, to it. Nothing will also sell you interchangeable lenses for the Phone 2 Pro to add fisheye and macro effects in photos, making its camera system even more versatile than it already is. Look, the Phone 1 did not have a gazillion accessories. Neither does the Phone 2 Pro. But that is not the point. What matters is, there is something new to talk about, and it's all been done very tastefully.advertisementBudget phones have their limitations. They always have, they always will, but every once in a while, a new smartphone rises from the dust to surprise and excite, keeping the spirit of thoughtful innovation alive in a market that, let's face it, can be fierce and daunting. It's still early days for Nothing. It is building a community. It is trying to earn their trust. And it is doing it the old-school way, letting its product choices do the talking.The CMF Phone 1 was a spectacle. CMF Phone 2 Pro is basically Nothing saying, 'hey, we're here to stay.' Watch out.