Nothing CMF Phone 2 Pro review
Nothing OS on top of Android 15
The CMF Phone 2 Pro embraces may sit under a sub-brand, but its UI is identical to the Nothing phones. It runs on Nothing OS - specifically, version 3.2 layered over Android 15. Nothing commits to delivering up to three major Android updates to the CMF Phone 2 Pro.
Nothing OS remains minimalist in terms of functionality and stays close to stock Android (AOSP), but it carries a distinct visual identity. The UI is heavily styled with Nothing's characteristic dot matrix font and design language. Users can access 24 custom widgets, covering essentials like clocks, calendars, contacts, and weather, all designed to maintain a cohesive aesthetic.
The notification shade and quick settings strike a balance between stock Android and Nothing's customizations. Starting with Nothing OS 2.5, the top two large quick toggles switched from circular to rounded-square designs, a change retained in version 3.2.
Another recent feature is the custom icon pack, which sticks to a uniform monochrome style, in line with Nothing's design ethos.
Nothing OS 3.2
The CMF Phone 1 lacked always-on display support, but the Phone 2 Pro rectifies this. It is as basic as they come, though, with only a clock and a few notification icons, and no customization options.
Always On display
Nothing OS includes a Monochrome UI mode for users seeking an even more distinctive interface. While it ties into features like Do Not Disturb and Bedtime, it can be configured independently. Importantly, this is a visual effect only - screenshots and photos will still appear in full color.
The Nothing X app provides seamless integration with several audio products, including the Ear (1), Ear (stick), Ear (2), CMF Buds, Neckband Pro, and Buds Pro.
The CMF Phone 2 Pro is refreshingly clean of bloatware, provided you don't count the standard suite of Google apps. The only pre-installed apps from Nothing include Camera, Weather, and Recorder, all featuring a unified design. The Nothing X app was also preloaded on our review unit, but it can be downloaded from the Play Store if it's missing.
Benchmarks and performance
A Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset powers the Pro phone. It's a variant of the silicon that powered the first CMF Phone, but now with a 10% faster CPU and 5% faster GPU. The MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro is a 4nm, pretty modern part.
It has four Cortex-A78 cores clocked at up to 2.5 GHz, and another four Cortex-A55 cores, working at up to 2.0 GHz. The onboard GPU is a Mali-G615 MC2. The CMF Phone 2 Pro comes with 8GB of RAM; you can get it with 128GB or 256GB of built-in storage that can be further expanded via the microSD slot. Our speed testing indicates that the phone uses UFS 2.2 or perhaps 3.0 chips. Our review unit is the 8GB/256GB one.
Let's start with CPU benchmarks and Geekbench first. The burst performance of the Dimensity 7300 Pro inside the CMF Phone 2 Pro is similar to that of the regular Dimensity 7300 inside the CMF Phone 1. That's solid for this price range. Still, if you are after slightly bigger numbers, you can also find a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 inside, the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ and the heavy hitter in this price segment - the Poco X7 Pro with its Dimensity 8400 Ultra.
AnTuTu and 3DMark tend to paint a pretty similar picture. That is to say that the CMF Phone 2 Pro is competitive in terms of performance, but won't be topping any charts.
GeekBench 6
- Multi-core
- Single-core
Poco X7 Pro
Nothing phone (3a) Pro
Nothing phone (3a)
Redmi Note 14 Pro+
Nothing Phone (1)
CMF Phone 2 Pro
Nothing CMF Phone 1
AnTuTu 10
Poco X7 Pro
Nothing Phone (2a) Plus
Redmi Note 14 Pro+
Nothing Phone (2a)
Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G
CMF Phone 2 Pro
Poco X7
3DMark - Wild Life Extreme (2160p)
Poco X7 Pro
Nothing phone (3a)
Nothing phone (3a) Pro
Redmi Note 14 Pro+
Galaxy A36
CMF Phone 2 Pro
Nothing CMF Phone 1
Thermal-throttling
The CMF Phone 2 Pro handles heat very well. We put it through its paces and subjected it to quite a bit of torture testing. Even so, it managed to maintain a large chunk of its performance without exhibiting sudden and jarring dips.
Thermal-throttling
The phone's surface never got too hot either, which is great.
Reader comments
- atichko
- 13 hours ago
- M{V
I've bought this phone a good week ago now and I can easily say that I'm very, very satisfied with it till now. It's fast and smooth enough, it's very well made with no hollowness, no creaks what so ever, it's much smoother t...
- Anonymous
- 18 May 2025
- 0p}
Mali g615 mc2 CMF Pro, yeah sure 😆😆😆
- Anonymous
- 16 May 2025
- CbG
No. And you have no power to change my decision.