Why I still recommend this $200 Android phone in 2025 – even though it’s a year old

As a cellphone reviewer, it is all the time a problem to guage cheaper, sub-$300 handsets, particularly after my senses have been spoiled by glorified, eye-candy shows, snappy processors that may handle 20+ tabs, and cameras that may seize the birds within the sky.

However the CMF Cellphone 1, developed by the sub-brand of Nothing, made issues simpler than I anticipated. From its preliminary launch in 2024, the gadget has dropped in value considerably to $209, beginning on Amazon. Even in 2025, this stays among the finest price range telephones that I’ve examined up to now, and I like to recommend it over many different low-cost choices.

CMF, which stands for “Coloration, Supplies, and End” on the planet of commercial design, is a becoming title for the corporate. With the Cellphone 1, the eye to element and wise design decisions are noticeable. This is a fast record of issues that instantly stood out to me:

• The facility and quantity buttons are separated on either side, making it simpler to inform which key you are urgent.
• The bezels, whereas thicker than what you’d discover on dearer handsets, are admirably symmetrical.
• At setup, you are given the selection between Nothing’s dot-matrix launcher and inventory Android, a freedom usually buried in cellphone settings.
• Darkish mode is enabled by default, serving to to cut back battery consumption and eye pressure.
• As a substitute of spec-padding with pointless digital camera sensors, there are solely two on the again, a 50-megapixel important and 2x zoom.

Most shoppers in all probability will not discover these design components, however all of them contribute to a {hardware}/software program package deal that feels extra premium than it ought to.

One factor you will positively discover is the DIY nature of the CMF Cellphone 1, with 4 screws and a thumbscrew on the again that retains the default cowl intact. Must you wish to change the colour, CMF will promote you $35 swappable covers that are available orange, mild inexperienced, and blue. The entire course of solely takes a couple of minutes to do, and I would extremely advise selecting up both the orange or blue finishes as they’re made with a gripper, leather-like texture. I’ve had no hassle commuting in NYC with no case.

The thumbscrew can be changed with useful equipment, comparable to a lanyard, card slot case, and kickstand. For the reason that CMF Cellphone 1 is pretty sizable with its 6.67-inch show, I discovered that the bulkiness of among the equipment made the cellphone much less snug to carry. But when ergonomics are the least of your issues, there is a world of 3D-printed again plates so that you can toy with. This is to hoping somebody makes again plates that give the cellphone NFC (for tap-to-pay) or wi-fi charging assist, as each are omitted.

Show is one other space that CMF knocked out of the park. You are getting a vibrant AMOLED panel with an adaptive 120Hz refresh charge, a visible pairing that is onerous to seek out within the $200 value vary. The brightness additionally cranks as much as 2,000 nits, which made navigating an upstate hike final weekend rather less worrying. Simply ensure you both take away the default plastic display screen protector or change it when utilizing the cellphone; the layering retains fingerprints and smudges very simply and requires the strongest microfiber fabric to wipe them off.

The software program expertise of the CMF Cellphone 1 is sort of equivalent to that of a Nothing Cellphone, that means there are a number of methods to stylize your icons and residential display screen, considerate widgets, and navigation pathways akin to inventory Android. The dearth of bloatware and duplicated options performs effectively with the CMF Cellphone 1’s MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G processor, which biases towards prolonged utilization and effectivity over quick stints of energy (like on its rivaling Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset).

Positive, the YouTube app will take an additional few seconds to load thumbnails and movies, and I’ve observed the occasional stutter when swiping again to the house display screen, however the CMF Cellphone 1 throttles a lot lower than opponents just like the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G and Motorola Moto G Energy 5G. I simply want CMF had dedicated to software program updates for extra than simply two years. With the discharge of Android 16 again in June, the Cellphone 1 ought to theoretically keep feature-relevant till the top of this 12 months.

Cameras on cheaper telephones are sometimes a blended bag, with the most effective imagery requiring beneficiant mild sources (learn: the solar on a vivid day or ceiling lights in an workplace area). In any other case, you are left with grainy pictures, unrealistic colours, and a noticeable lack of depth. That holds true with the CMF Cellphone 1; topics tended to look washed out, and shutter lag made capturing faster-moving topics tough. However in case you remember the fact that this can be a $200 cellphone, the output is greater than acceptable.

It helps that the CMF Cellphone 1 sips battery, lasting effectively right into a second day with each cost. The mixture of unpolluted software program, power-efficient MediaTek processor, and adaptive refresh charge show makes the gadget an endurance champion, even stacked towards telephones three or 4 instances its value.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The CMF Cellphone 1 is without doubt one of the few telephones this 12 months that I can confidently say provides you extra worth for the cash. At a brand new beginning value of $209, the handset nails the important wants of any price range shopper, from the big and vibrant show to the two-day battery life. Add on the swappable again cowl and equipment, polished Nothing OS software program, and smaller trinkets of CMF prowess, and you have got a successful recipe.

Lastly, I would be doing you a disservice if I did not communicate to mobile connectivity and compatibility. Whereas the CMF Cellphone 1 pulled in information from my T-Cell SIM card, together with after I was mountaineering within the mountains and commuting on a subway, it lacks the bands to assist 5G on AT&T and LTE on Verizon. Subsequently, I would advise Verizon customers to think about different low-cost cellphone choices and folk on competing carriers to scan the record of supported bands earlier than making the change.

The way it compares

Newest updates

July 28, 2025: Added a brand new comparability chart that compares the CMF Cellphone 1 to the corporate’s newest smartphone, the CMF Cellphone 2 Professional. The newer gadget is bigger, has a greater digital camera system, and extra sensors for key options. Outdated hyperlinks have been additionally changed.