CMF by Nothing’s Phone 1, Watch Pro 2 and Buds Pro 2 is proof you can pay less for more in good, quality design.

Today’s tech climate is dominated by just a handful of tech giants, and their rankings only change ever so slightly with the country they are measured in. But while the ever-increasing manpower and public support has helped to speed up their technological advancements by multifold, so too have numbers on their price tags — making it hard for some, though willing, to keep up.

It’s an inevitable phenomenon that the desire (and thus demand) for the latest gadgets will increase when access to information becomes easier. That’s by all means a good thing; the world spinning faster keeps the entire tech eco-system healthy. But when this speed generates a gap in affordability that comes at the expense of functionality and design, that’s when things get problematic. At least, the folks behind Nothing feel so, and have decided to take it upon themselves to come up with a smart and well-designed solution. After shaking up the rather static personal gadget scene with Nothing, Nothing CEO Carl Pei and his crew are back with a new form of defiance via affordable sub-brand CMF — which stands for colour, material and finish — in a phone (for the first time) as well as upgraded versions of both their earbuds and watch.

CMF Phone 1

Clearly different from its transparent Nothing cousins is the more playful, solid-backed CMF Phone 1 (retailing at 369 SGD), adorned by exposed screws and a cheeky little round attachment at the bottom right corner (that will prove to be an accessory game-changer in a bit). Built around a new MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G processor and equipped with a 5000 mAh battery, the phone has — after a week of use — lived up to the purported impressive two-day battery life, complete with an 8 GB RAM (that can be expanded with external storage if needed) and a Sony 50 MP rear camera (reinforced by a metal frame). The 16.9cm Super AMOLED screen refreshes at up to 120 Hz, which gifts both existing and new Android users a swift experience of the latest, sleek Nothing OS 2.6, but that’s just half of what makes the Phone 1 truly an engineering feat.

They say design is intelligence made visible, and the Phone 1 is no exception. The back of this device is not just made of slip-free materials that come in four different colours: black, light teal, bright blue and orange. Each adds a different touch and feel to the phone — the first two colours come with a subtly silky finish, while the latter are vegan leather — while all being fingerprint-free, which allows the Phone 1 to stay indefinitely perfect even when held or prodded at for a long time.

The round node mentioned earlier, officially known as the accessory point, lets the phone be hooked up to a CMF fold out stand, cardholder or a corded lanyard (19 SGD each). The phone essentially will always look whole and intentional no matter the accessory attached, and we think this is a highlight of owning anything from the Nothing family — an impressively fluid train of thought materialised throughout their repertoire. Best part? Having this modular design actually makes it easier for both internal and external repairs should there be a need, increasing the lifespan of the phone. Beautifully made, with the most efficient form of accessibility in mind.

As for the Nothing OS 2.6 itself, its employment of colour theory to reduce branding distractions (colourful apps) finesses Nothing’s user-first design-thinking to a tee. Not only are you able to mute the visual noise, you are able to customise how all the widgets look on the phone as well — like all Androids but with the added service of an in-built Chat GPT. It might take some getting used to for Apple users who wish to convert, but the learning curve for this is barely a hump. It’s a more intuitive an experience than you would expect, and that alone already speaks for how well the IKEA of smartphones will fair with the crowd when it reaches them in due time.

Watch Pro 2

While not as comparably feature-filled as offerings from the top names of the smart watch category, Watch Pro 2 (119 SGD) is particularly impressive with its 11-day battery life — a promise that has since been kept after a first-hand trial of the team. It is well-catered to physical activities, with a library of about 120 different kinds saved and ready for selection, pre-equipped with 100 watch faces right out of the packaging. It may not support Android’s Wear OS and hence not allow any third party apps, but you can still perform all the basic smart watch functions with ease, some tasks including track steps, your heart rate, the weather and more. There’s no data or Wifi option, but you can make calls, control the music player and camera via Bluetooth connection to your Phone 1. All in all, a great smart watch candidate for those looking to try one out without breaking the bank.

It also comes with a choice of two interchangeable bezels, one angled and one with a softer, rounded edge; making it easy to shuffle between sleek and sportier looks with a complementary Watch Pro 2 to go with (same also applied to their leather and rubber straps, 29 SGD each). Those who have tried the Apple Watch before will probably think that the interface of the Watch Pro 2 is the perfect size, slightly bigger than its competitor for easier viewing and swiping, but overwhelming enough to weigh down slender wrists.

Buds Pro 2

As for the Buds Pro 2 (99 SGD), those familiar with the predecessor can expect to see the same ‘dark’, ‘light’ and ‘orange’ colour ways, save for the addition of a new ‘blue’. With a first-of-its-kind charging case that includes a “Smart Dial” — not unlike the accessory point on the Phone 1 — that lets users customise and control most of their settings, users get a deep and powerful bespoke 11mm bass driver, as well as a 6mm micro planar tweeter. The sound quality is not dissimilar to the pro-version (Nothing Ear 2), so it’s really a score in — again — the price to quality ratio.

The buds also feature six high-definition microphones that are coupled with Clear Voice Technology 2.0 and Wind-Noise Reduction 2.0, making sure calls are clear on top of the active noise-canceling function.