The Lowdown
Nothing’s CMF Phone 2 Pro is all the phone you’ll ever need. It makes you forget about flagships and even question why mid-rangers cost $500. And that’s what really makes it so unique.
Overall
Pros
- Outstanding value
- Gorgeous display
- Excellent cameras
- Solid performance and battery life
- NFC and microSD
- Delightful software
Cons
- Mono speaker
- No charger in the box
What if I told you that for just $279, you can get a stylish Android phone with a flagship-grade display, proper quad camera system, mid-range chip, two-day battery life, great software, and only one real compromise (no stereo speakers)? And, what if I told you this handset is available in the US and has microSD support for additional storage? Behold CMF Phone 2 Pro – Nothing’s successor to last year’s awesome $239 CMF Phone 1.
Phone 2 Pro takes everything everyone loved about Phone 1 – the playful design, gorgeous screen, capable processor, generous battery, and wonderful software – but adds telephoto and ultrawide shooters, NFC for Android Pay (which was previously missing), and double the storage (256GB) for just $40 more.
So, what’s Phone 2 Pro like on a day-to-day basis? Are there any gotchas here, or is this the real deal? Read my review to find out.
Hardware and Design
Nothing is known for its design chops and superb attention to detail. Last year’s CMF Phone 1 featured exposed screws in the back alongside a circular knob in the bottom right corner. These screws could be removed to swap the phone’s rear cover, and the knob could be replaced with accessories like a kickstand, lanyard, and card holder. With Phone 2 Pro, you still get the screws and the knob, but the plastic rear cover is no longer removable.
Instead, Nothing is selling plates that attach to the handset’s back. Like last year’s covers, these plates come in different colors, but unlike before, they have embedded MagSafe-like magnets and accept optional, removable fisheye and macro lenses that snap over the main shooter. Keep in mind that Phone 2 Pro doesn’t have wireless charging, so these magnets let you attach MagSafe accessories, but not charge the phone.
Last year’s lanyard and kickstand accessories fit Phone 2 Pro just fine, but Phone 1’s card holder isn’t compatible. Nothing now offers a magnetic card holder / kickstand combo instead. In all, Phone 2 Pro’s design matches Phone 1’s, with similar colorways, like White, Black, Orange, and Light Green. One of the benefits of losing the removable rear cover is that Phone 2 Pro is now IP54 water and dust resistant (vs. IP52).
Phone 2 Pro’s FHD+ (2392 x 1080 pixel) AMOLED display is slightly larger (6.77 vs. 6.67 inches) and brighter (3000 vs. 2000 nits), but still refreshes at up to 120Hz and features even, narrow bezels. But it’s in the camera department that Phone 2 Pro differs from Phone 1 the most. Gone is Phone 1’s simple silver vertical pill protruding from the top left corner of the rear cover, replaced with three individual silver-rimmed lenses.
That’s because instead of a basic 50MP main shooter and 2MP depth sensor, Phone 2 Pro cranks things two full notches with a 50MP f/1.9 1.0-micron main camera with dual-pixel PDAF, a 50MP f/1.9 2x telephoto with PDAF, and an 8MP f/2.2 1.12-micron 120-degree ultrawide. Lack of OIS (optical image stabilization) aside, these shooter specs would be impressive on a $500 handset, never mind one that costs just $279.
Haptics are much improved on Phone 2 Pro thanks to a linear vibration motor, and it benefits from NFC for Android Pay, which was missing on Phone 1. It also gets a slight processor bump from MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300 to the 7300 Pro. The 16MP f/2.0 selfie camera, optical in-display fingerprint sensor, mono speaker, 8GB of RAM, microSD support, 5000mAh battery, and 33W charging all carry over from last year’s Phone 1.
The controls and port layout are similar to Phone 1, and consist of a power/lock key on the right side, volume rocker on the left, secondary mic on top, plus a speaker, USB Type-C port, primary mic, and SIM tray along the bottom. In addition, on the right side below the power/lock button, you’ll find the Essential Key – first introduced on Nothing’s Phone (3a) series – which lets you launch Essential Space, Nothing’s AI-powered hub.
In all, Phone 2 Pro retains most of Phone 1’s unique design while gaining telephoto and ultrawide shooters, NFC, and twice the storage (256GB) for just $40 more. That’s truly remarkable.
Software and User Experience
Excellent, affordable hardware isn’t complete without great software. With CMF Phone 2 Pro, Nothing provides a clean and responsive user experience that remains close to stock Android. Nothing OS 3.2, which is based on Android 15, focuses on simplicity, purpose, and beauty. It offers useful customizations and smart design choices, like a monochrome icon theme and fun dot-matrix widgets for both the home and lock screen.
It’s 2025, so even affordable phones get a generous dusting of AI features. Phone 2 Pro follows in the footsteps of Nothing’s mid-range Phone (3a) series by featuring an AI button – the Essential Key – which can be used to launch Essential Space. This AI hub lets you log and recall ideas, notes, and inspirations. It’s designed to reduce friction by capturing, processing, and remembering content for you, acting like a second memory.
Simply press the Essential Key to capture a screenshot and store it in Essential Space alongside a note, long-press to record a voice memo, and double-press to see everything you’ve captured and logged. You can also press the Essential Key within the camera app to store images in Essential Space. Nothing then uses AI to organize your content, surface reminders/to-dos, and make suggestions.
Essential Space is pretty cool, but is it really useful? That depends on what your priorities are and whether you’re already using AI tools. I prefer Gemini because it’s cross-platform, but your mileage may vary. Plus, it’s unclear what happens to the personal data Essential Space gathers, what gets processed on the device and in the cloud, and what content is preserved when you switch handsets or move away from Nothing.
Overall, Phone 2 Pro delivers a wonderful user experience. This phone comes with zero preinstalled bloatware, and Nothing promises three years of OS upgrades and six years of security updates. The display is bright, with vibrant colors, inky blacks, and wide viewing angles. Haptics feel significantly better than with Phone 1, and while only mono, the speaker sounds clear enough for the occasional TikTok session.
Phone 2 Pro’s cameras are surprisingly nice, especially at this price point. Photos are crisp, with accurate color and exposure, and decent dynamic range. Low-light performance suffers a little from the lack of OIS, but night mode does a good job of taking up the slack. Zoom performance is particularly impressive, with 10x images looking fine and even 20x shots remaining usable. Video recording quality is pretty solid as well.
When it comes to performance, Phone 2 Pro is no slouch. MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300 Pro handled everything I threw at it like a champ, from communications and productivity apps to entertainment apps and games. Obviously, it won’t match today’s best flagships when it comes to hardcore gaming, but it’s pleasantly quick and smooth running day-to-day tasks, faster than some $500 handsets I’ve recently tested.
Thanks to a large 5000mAh cell and an efficient 4nm processor, battery life is top-notch. Phone 2 Pro will easily last two days with light use, and a day or more with heavy use. It supports 33W wired charging (USB PD), making refills relatively painless (a full charge takes about one hour). As I already mentioned, Phone 2 Pro doesn’t have wireless charging, and like Nothing’s other phones, there’s no charger included in the box.
Phone 2 Pro is available in the US through Nothing’s Beta Program, so it’s not officially certified by US carriers and is missing some sub-6GHz 5G bands for the US. Regardless, I used it without issues on T-Mobile and AT&T in and around San Francisco. According to Nothing, Phone 2 Pro also works on Verizon, but I didn’t test this. This is a dual-SIM handset with VoLTE support, but it lacks eSIM and mmWave 5G capabilities.
Verdict
With CMF Phone 2 Pro, Nothing is delivering something truly special: a well-rounded, highly capable mid-ranger with a budget price tag. Mono speaker aside, there are no cut corners here, no unpleasant surprises. You’re getting a fun design, beautiful screen, great shooters, solid performance and battery life, excellent software, plus a friendly sprinkling of AI for just $279. That’s the definition of outstanding value.
Nothing’s CMF Phone 2 Pro is all the phone you’ll ever need. It makes you forget about flagships and even question why mid-rangers cost $500. And that’s what really makes it so unique.
Nothing’s CMF Phone 2 Pro retails for $279; it is available in the US directly from the manufacturer.
Source: Manufacturer-supplied review sample
What I like: Outstanding value; Gorgeous display; Excellent cameras; Solid performance and battery life; NFC and microSD; Delightful software
What needs improvement: Mono speaker; No charger in the box
We need an option like this to get out of the ridiculous flagship phone cycle. Nice to see they didn’t disappoint with the new version.
I definitely will look into this when I need a replacement. It’s insane to pay a small fortune for a phone especially since I do everything with my laptop and not my phone.
Love the industrial look of the phone