The CMF Phone 1 is finally here, and now there’s no longer any guesswork required to tell you all about it. The first thing that you need to know about this smartphone is that it costs only $200, which is unarguably in the budget range. This means you should temper your expectations to a degree, but it surprisingly manages to do a lot with the capital it has at that price point.

First, the elephant in the room. When you look at the back panel of the smartphone, you see four metal screws and one large knob (essentially a screw too) in the bottom-right corner. These all hold the back panel for the device in place because you can easily remove it and swap it out for another color. That’s perfect for when your phone is starting to feel stale to you.

However, removable back panels aren’t new — though they might feel that way considering how long they’ve been extinct. What makes this device more unique is the aforementioned knob — the Accessory Point — in the bottom-right corner.

By removing that, you get the opportunity to attach custom accessories to your CMF Phone 1. For now, the first-party options seem to be a kickstand, a lanyard, and a bulging card holder for the back of your phone. I expect more options to become available, potentially from third parties too. This means the device is somewhat modular like the LG G5 and other phones tried. Maybe it’ll work better this time around.

The Actual Hardware Is Very Impressive For A Budget Phone

When it comes to the actual specs, the CMF Phone 1 leaves me impressed. First off, one major con is that the device is only IP52-rated. At this price tier and with removable components, that’s not too much of a shock though. The other is that you don’t get NFC, so this won’t help with contactless payments. After this, things are mostly good though.

You get a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with 2,000-nit peak brightness, HDR+ certification, 120Hz refresh rate, and 960Hz PWM dimming. On paper, that’s an excellent display. There’s an optical fingerprint reader under it too. Inside it is a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G which hits the highest performance benchmarks for chips in its class, and it comes with 8GB of RAM which you can pair with either 128GB or 256GB. If neither is enough, there’s a microSD slot too. The phone is on a roll.

Let’s talk about the camera. You get a 50MP primary sensor on the back which can record 4K/30 video. There’s a “portrait sensor” too, which I don’t consider to be a real camera. The big downside here is the absence of OIS, so you’ll want to be steady with your shots. On the front is a 16MP lens.

You get a 5,000 mAh battery with 33W wired charging, which again, is far from shabby for the price point. The software is Nothing OS 2.6 skinned on top of Android 14. You’ll get two years of major OS updates and ChatGPT integration.

	CMF Phone 1
Display	6.67 inches, 1080 x 2400, 120Hz, AMOLED, 2,000-nit peak brightness, HDR+, 960Hz PWM dimming
Rear Camera	50MP f/1.8 Wide + 2MP Portrait Sensor; 4K/30 Video Recording
Front Camera	16MP
Processor	MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G
RAM	8GB
Storage	128GB, 256GB; Expandable Storage
Battery	5,000 mAh
Charging	33W wired, 5W reverse wired
Connectivity	5G NR, 4G LTE, 3G UMTS, 2G GSM, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3
Dimensions and Weight	164 x 77 x 8 mm; 197 grams

The CMF Watch Pro 2 And CMF Buds Pro 2 Shouldn’t Be Ignored Either

Of course, that’s not the only thing that CMF showed today. The Watch Pro 2 is here as well, with the same focus on customization. You can replace not just the watch straps, but the bezel of the watch too. Besides the stylish look, you get IP68 certification, a 1.32-inch 466 x 466 AMOLED display, a 305 mAh battery, and way too many health and fitness features to name. It costs a shockingly affordable $69.

There’s also the CMF Buds Pro 2 gracing the stage today as well. These earbuds each have dual drivers: an 11mm driver for bass paired with a 6mm tweeter. You get hybrid ANC, IP55 certification, Hi-Res Audio certification, ChatGPT integration, and up to 43 hours of playback when paired with the charging case. Speaking of the charging case, the smart dial on it allows you to adjust volume, noise cancelation, manage playback, and do so many other things. I like it a lot, and it only costs $59.