CMF Phone 2 Pro Review: For The Gen-Z

The CMF Phone 2 Pro stands out with its bold design, clean software, and vibrant display, making it ideal for Gen Z users. While it misses out on stereo speakers and top-tier performance, it nails the essentials at its price, offering solid value with a unique personality.

CMF Phone 2 Pro Review: It’s wild to think that Nothing has only been around since 2022. In just three years, they’ve gone from quirky startup to one of the most exciting phone brands in India, and their sub-brand CMF, which was launched just last year, also made waves for all the right reasons. And now, the brand is back with another smartphone to extend the lineup.  The CMF Phone 2 Pro isn’t just a new budget phone; it’s a bold, Gen Z-friendly gadget that blends fashion, function, and fun. Priced at just Rs 18,999, it’s trying to do a lot with custom looks, solid performance, clean UI, and more. So, how does it stack up in real life? Let’s dive in.

CMF-like Design, But You Need to Know This

The CMF Phone 2 Pro doesn’t come with a removable back panel like the CMF Phone 1. It does have a similar look with the screws. But despite that, the Phone 2 Pro is eye-catching in the best way possible. Whether you grab the bright Orange or the subtle Black, this phone turns heads. 

The design is loud, yes, but there is one major impracticality. The screws on the back won’t let you open the back this time. The only purpose they serve is to help tighten the ‘Universal Cover’ of the CMF Phone 2 Pro that the brand has launched with the smartphone. I mean, wouldn’t it be easier if I could just put the back on in the traditional way – a simple put on!

Regarding accessories, CMF offers a wallet/stand, universal cover, lanyard, and interchangeable camera lenses. All these items come at a price of Rs 999 each, except the Lanyard. We tried reaching out to CMF for its pricing, but couldn’t get a response. So, if you want to purchase all of these accessories along with the Phone 2 Pro (excluding the Lanyard), the total cost would be Rs 21,999.

Honestly, I haven’t found any good use for these accessories except for the wallet/stand. This not only gives support to your phone, but can also carry a card or two, and also saves the smartphone’s camera lenses from scratches by not letting the smartphone touch the surface. But here’s a bummer – it doesn’t stick to the phone’s back panel without the Universal Cover, so you would need that. 

Build-wise, it’s slim (7.8mm), light (185g), and surprisingly solid with a plastic body that doesn’t feel cheap. You also get IP54 water resistance and Panda Glass (not Gorilla, but good enough). Also, you get the Essential Key on the side.

CMF Phone 2 Pro Display: Close to Real-World Colours!

The CMF Phone 2 Pro packs a 6.77-inch AMOLED panel. It offers up to 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, and 3000 nits of peak brightness. And honestly, the screen is decent for the price. 

The best thing that you get with this display is its brightness. Visually, the CMF Phone 2 Pro is significantly brighter than its competitors, such as the Vivo T4, iQOO Z10, and the Oppo K13. Use it under direct sunlight or in complete darkness, this smartphone won’t disappoint. In our testing, the CMF Phone 2 Pro scored 2240 nits of peak brightness in auto mode, which is really nice for this price range. 

If you consume a lot of content, then this display is sharp and vibrant as well. It supports FHD+ resolution, 10-bit colour, and HDR10+. In simple words, the visuals look crisp and the colours look a bit over-enhanced, but only in a good way. Although there is one very major turn-off when you watch something on this phone. While the display quality is great, the speakers don’t match up to that. Today, almost every other smartphone comes with a stereo speaker setup, which gives you a surround sound effect and is significantly better. But, with the CMF Phone 2 Pro, you get a Mono Speaker setup, which means it has speakers only at the bottom.  

According to our display tests using Portrait’s Calman and C6 Colorimeter, the CMF Phone 2 Pro got an Average Delta E of 1.5, which means what you see on the screen very closely matches the real-world colors.

Solid Performance But Not The Best

The CMF Phone 2 Pro runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset, which is paired with 8GB RAM and comes in two storage variants- 128GB and 256GB. However, if you need more storage on your smartphone, it comes with a hybrid SIM tray, where you can put either 2 SIM cards or one SIM card and one memory card. 

Now, about its performance, the CMF Phone 2 Pro scored almost seven lakh points in AnTuTu. This number is what we expect from sub-Rs 20,000 smartphones. On the Geekbench 6 test, the smartphone scored 1016 on the single-core test and 2938 on the multi-core test.

Next, we did a 15-minute stress test on this smartphone, where again it scored brilliantly. During these 15 minutes, the CMF Phone 2 Pro kept its performance stable with a few negligible dips. 

So overall, in benchmarks, the CMF Phone 2 Pro is solid but not the best. Phones like Oppo K13 and iQOO Z10 edge it out on paper. But again, it doesn’t feel slow or weak, it’s just numbers, unless you’re gaming hard.

Speaking of gaming, the CMF Phone 2 Pro claims 120 FPS support in BGMI, but only if this claim is true. While I was playing BGMI on this smartphone, we recorded an average of 80 FPS of gameplay, which even went down to 60 FPS during a heavy gunfight. So you can purchase this smartphone if you are a casual gamer, but if you game hard, there are other options in the market as well.

CMF Phone 2 Pro Software: Clean, Minimalistic, Unique

The CMF Phone 2 Pro runs on the Nothing OS 3.2, the clean, minimalist UI you get on the Nothing phones. It’s fast, bloat-free, and super smooth. You can even choose between a stock Android feel or the funky Nothing UI during setup.

You get two years of Android updates (could’ve been more), and Google’s AI suite is onboard too, like Circle to Search. CMF also adds Essential Space, which is triggered with the help of Essential Key on the right side of the frame, where you can save ideas, voice notes, and screenshots instantly. 

Social Media-Ready Cameras

Unlike last year’s CMF Phone 1, you get three cameras with the CMF Phone 2 Pro  – a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel telephoto sensor with 2x optical zoom, and an 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor. 

In daylight, this smartphone captures social media-ready photos. Colors like the bright magenta in the bougainvillea and lush greens really pop without looking unnatural. This will appeal to users who prefer a slightly saturated look, for it captures bright and punchy pictures. 

The best use case of its telephoto for me is clicking portraits. Portraits have excellent edge detection and creamy background blur. Although the skin tones could be better, as it seems over-saturated and a bit smooth. 

And lastly, low-light shots. The CMF Phone 2 Pro performs well in low light for its price. The main sensor captures warm, detailed shots with good noise control. It highlights a clip in tricky lighting, and the dynamic range could be better. The colours lean warm, and finer textures sometimes get smudged, but in some pictures, we get to see good details in textures as well. This means, while clicking low-light shots, you need to keep your hands really steady. 

In short, cameras are fine. Not amazing, not bad. Perfectly serviceable for your Instagram Stories or late-night cafe reels.

What About The Battery?

Although the 5000mAh battery on the CMF Phone 2 Pro is reliable, the battery capacity could have been at least 5500mAh, following the latest trend of big batteries. But with this 5000mAh battery, you can easily get through a full day with 10-20% left in the tank. During our test:

• 1 hour of Google Maps consumed 7% of its battery.
  
• 15 minutes of BGMI consumed 5% of its battery.
  
• 30 minutes of high-quality video streaming consumed 5% of its battery.

Charging this smartphone from 0 to 100 percent takes about 70 – 74 minutes with its 33-watt fast charger that is, yes, included in the box. 

Final Verdict

The CMF Phone 2 Pro isn’t here to win spec wars. It’s here to make a statement. It’s definitely for the Gen Z crowd or anyone who wants a phone that looks different, feels fresh, and does all the essentials well.

Yes, the camera is average, the performance isn’t top-tier, and a stereo speaker setup would have been ideal. But in exchange, you get style, modular fun, clean software, and one of the best displays in the segment. And if that’s your vibe, then with this price, the CMF Phone 2 Pro is hard to ignore! 

CMF Phone 2 Pro Key Specs, Price and Launch Date

Release Date:	05 May, 2025
Market Status:	Launched

Key Specifications

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Mustafa Khan

Mustafa is a young tech journalist who tells it like it is, cutting through buzzwords to deliver straightforward smartphone reviews. He’s the office go-to for insider tips and quick demos, and his video content doesn’t waste anyone’s time. When he’s off the clock, he geeks out over cars, photography, and hunting down the best spot for Indian food. View Full Profile