Nothing’s transparent play for technology enters a new price point, as its “CMF” brand reveals new moderately priced gear.
You shouldn’t have to spend the proverbial arm or leg to get something decent in your ears or for your phones, and Nothing’s value-focused CMF is here to prove it.
That was already partly what Nothing’s phones and earphones were designed to do, delivering technology that was not only transparent about what it offered and its price, but also arrived with a transparent look, as well.
Nothing’s “CMF” is a little like that. Standing for “Colour, Material, and Finish”, it’s another similarly bare-bones take on smartphones that comes with a unique style focused on the colour, material, and finish primarily, along with mid-range technology and a price to match.
Previously, CMF gear has been found in small amounts in Australia, but it appears Nothing’s CMF is about to get a bigger launch locally, as a new phone and some accompanying earbuds arrive in Australia.
First there’s the phone: the CMF Phone 2 Pro, a handset with its own style that almost looks handmade, complete with obvious screws on the back and a thumbscrew you can remove to attach a strap all too easily.
The phone measures 7.8mm thin, making it thinner than even Nothing’s Phone 3a Pro, and weighs 185 grams, arriving with IP54 water resistance and a 6.77 inch Full HD+ AMOLED screen. There’s also a sizeable 5000mAh battery inside, support for NFC for Google Pay, up to 256GB storage, 8GB RAM, and a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chip, the same chip Oppo used in the Reno 12 5G.
Cameras are also a big focus, covering three in a neat little design on the back not unlike how Apple designed the three camera setup of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, just a little tighter.
The Phone 2 Pro includes a 50 megapixel F1.88 main camera a 50 megapixel 2X optical F1.85 camera, and an 8 megapixel ultra-wide F2.2 camera, too. You can use an accessory to change that big wide 50 megapixel camera to a fisheye or macro, simply by covering the lens with one of CMF’s interchangeable lens accessories.
Priced from $449 in Australia, the CMF Phone 2 Pro also comes with a mid-range price for what reads like more than a mid-range phone would normally come with. At $449, there’s 128GB inside, while the 256GB option costs a little more at $509, and really seems like it challenges the status quo for the mid-range.
It’s a similar picture for what Nothing and CMF have planned for the audio space, with three pairs of noise cancelling earphones for not a lot of money.
There are the CMF Buds 2 for $89, the CMF Buds 2a for $79, and the CMF Buds 2 Plus for $109, similar pairs of earbuds that come with various levels of noise cancellation technology in compact designs for low-end prices.
In the Buds 2a, it’s a bit of the basics, while the Buds 2 up the ANC support for a hybrid method, as well a support for spatial audio.
With the Buds 2 Plus, the earphones support high-res LDAC alongside spatial, complete with equaliser customisation and hearing compensation, all sitting in a case that seems like it has a light fidget spinner of sorts in the top corner.
While we’ve seen active noise cancellation trickle down to more price points over the years, three pairs of truly wireless ANC buds for just around (and more likely under) the $100 mark is definitely interesting, providing a compelling option or three for people looking to keep the prices down. Namely parents of teens.
We’re reminded of the Nothing earphones models we’ve seen over the years, but in a less transparent case.
What’s more, the selection is being ranged locally in Australia, available from JB HiFi locally. May 6 is when the range will land, alongside Nothing’s other phones, which also can be found in the same place.
