CMF Phone 1 review: Look beyond the screws

livemint.com:

₹20,000 price segment. I thoroughly tested out the Phone 1for over 10 days and here's my take on how the first phone from Nothing's sub-brand performed in terms of day-to-day usage.Inside the box of CMF Phone 1, you get the device itself, some paperwork, a USB type C to type C cable, and an orange coloured SIM ejector tool.

For those who aren't aware, CMF/ Nothing does not provide a charger with its devices and a supported 33W fast charger can be bought separately from Flipkart by paying ₹1,299.Let's start with the star of the show, design. The phone is available in four colourways: Black, Light Green, Blue and Orange, the latter come with vegan leather back.

I received the Black colour variant of the Phone 1 which isn't a head turner and honestly feels a little cheap but that's kind of expected for the price range I guess.There is a pill shaped camera cutout to the back followed by a light coloured CMF branding down, four screws and a knob. The best part of CMF Phone 1 is the options it offers, four screws can be opened in order to change the back case to a colour of your liking while the knob can be opened to attach accessories like card holder, lanyard cable and a phone stand.While users have to rely on Nothing to get the accessories and the back cases, I am desperately hoping that there will 3rd party accessories in the future as well which will enhance the user experience by a lot.

For now though, the interchangeable back cases can be bought for a price of ₹1,199 on Flipkart and CMF's website.Design innovations aside, there were two major issues with CMF Phone 1's design that are a deal breaker for me. One, the back of Phone 1 has got these sharp edges which make the device uncomfortable to hold for long durations