A USD1,000 phone against a USD199 phone? Are you crazy to compare these two, Adam?!
Yeap, because in this video, we will together find out if it’s really worth spending so much to get a pricey flagship phone in this extreme comparison video.
Design
Let’s start with the design because this year’s S24 Plus was the saving grace because of its newer boxy design and the frosted glass at the back, which made this phone feel way better compared to the S23 Plus.
Then, the CMF Phone 1, on the other hand, not only has a unique look but honestly feels more premium, not only from an aesthetic point of view but also in how it felt in the hands.
Even though the rear panel is not glass like the S24 Plus, the matte finish at the back totally repels fingerprints like a champ. While this does come down to personal preference, to me, this new CMF Phone 1’s design at the back was really refreshing.
How refreshing? Well, this is all thanks to the modular form factor at the back with all the interchangeable options for the phone’s rear panel, with dedicated screws surrounding the phone and other additional accessories that integrate well with this Circular Accessory Point at the back, as seen in my previous review of this phone.
So, I would give a point to the CMF Phone 1 for this category.
Display
Now, we all know that Samsung has been producing the world’s best screens for almost every smartphone, and the flagship S24 Plus obviously has the best of the best.
The screen’s brightness and vibrancy not only beat this CMF Phone 1 but probably any other smartphone out right now. The bezels on the CMF Phone 1 are also thicker, hence it did look a little outdated.
But the thicker bezels on this particular screen are to be expected since their parent brand, Nothing, is using a way more expensive-to-produce stretchable OLED screen, which, if inserted in this CMF phone, there’s no way that it would be this affordable.
However, by itself, if you’re not comparing both phones side by side, the CMF Phone 1 screen doesn’t look like a cheap display. Trust me, there are many phones like the baseline Redmi or even realme phones that talk about having a high-quality display but not really looking like a high-quality display.
Another thing to note is the refresh rate. Like smartphone displays mentioned, not every high refresh rate is created equal. While the CMF Phone 1 does go up to 120Hz, it’s not as fluid and adaptive as the S24 Plus. But once again, this is only apparent if you compare both phones side by side.
So, obviously, this category goes to the S24 Plus.
Cameras
Before we compare the cameras, the S24 Plus has a bigger advantage when it comes to the number of lenses and, of course, the video recording capabilities.
So let’s see how exactly the specs and the lenses perform. Now, since both have a 50MP camera, we shall start with that high-megapixel mode.
Yes, to our surprise, it looks the same. Believe it or not, the color accuracy on the brown building on the left was more accurate on the CMF Phone 1’s image than the S24 Plus.
In this second high-megapixel mode image, the details are the same, but you would see a little more detail if you punch in about 4x on this mode. But yeah, only if you punch in close to the image.
For me, color accuracy is a better thing to have compared to having a very crazy amount of details since you’re posting this up on social media.
Since the CMF Phone 1 has just one lens and a digital zoom of up to 2x, when comparing side by side, the main lens looks once again very similar to each other. Color accuracy once again goes to the CMF Phone 1, and as usual, the images on Samsung phones have always been a bit more saturated.
The same could be said for the 2x zoom image too. The color consistency on the CMF Phone 1 when changing between the 1x and the 2x zoom also performed surprisingly well. The dynamic range of the skies was equally as good.
As for the portrait mode, once again, they match each other when it comes to objects. While the S24 Plus does look like it has a more shallow depth of field in the background blur, that could be adjusted accordingly.
There is also the 2x zoom option in this particular portrait mode if you want to punch in more. Once again, the CMF Phone 1 still looks great with more natural-colored skin tones.
For regular selfie shots, the CMF Phone 1’s image processing gives a bit more of a smoother tone to my wrinkly face. Since I don’t mind my wrinkly face, I prefer the less soft look that the S24 Plus has.
When switching to the portrait selfie, the subject-to-background blur on both was equally as good, enhanced more by the smoother skin on the CMF Phone 1. If you prefer the smoother skin look, you would prefer the CMF Phone 1, but it’s not really for me.
Another surprising area that did very well on the CMF Phone 1 was the nighttime shots. As seen in this main lens, it handled the shadows and highlights on the lamp post like a champ. You do see a tiny bit of loss in quality on the 2x zoom at night, but only a very tiny bit.
The nighttime portrait did a way better job on the S24 Plus for people with a nicer contrast of skin tones, but the subject-to-background blur on both phones was equally as good.
Interestingly, when it comes to objects, the CMF Phone 1 does a better job in terms of details and edge detection.
The nighttime selfie photos were good on the CMF Phone 1, but the color accuracy was a little better on the S24 Plus, and both performed great on edge detection.
Video
[Sample video footage is available in my YouTube video]
For video, as mentioned, the specs are obviously higher on the S24 Plus, allowing recording up to 8K 30 FPS. For this case, let’s just compare the 4K 30 FPS instead.
First, looking at the daytime video quality side by side for the main lenses, it was on par with the quality of the images I saw earlier, and so was the 2x zoom video as well. Image stabilization-wise, the S24 Plus does a better job but only just slightly. This was also the case for the 2x zoom video.
The front camera on the CMF Phone 1 can only go up to 1080p, but the image stabilization is equally as good.
When it comes to dynamic range, the front camera on the CMF Phone 1 was overexposed, and I would say that this area is the most obvious win for the S24 Plus at this particular moment.
For nighttime video recording for the rear, it had the same results as the images, and the front video recording quality was degraded on the CMF Phone 1.
[Check out the audio and video recording footage, aka vlogging test, in my YouTube video]
Gaming
As for gaming, the CMF Phone 1 uses the same chipset (Dimensity 7300) as the OPPO Reno12 Pro, which I have just recently reviewed. The gaming performance on the OPPO Reno12 Pro just sucked, seriously. Did it suck on the CMF Phone 1?
Well, the good news is that it didn’t. This is because of its dedicated Game Mode, which boosts the phone’s gaming performance from a software and hardware perspective.
When this Game Mode is turned on, Genshin Impact is very playable at high settings, 60 FPS with motion blur turned on. Considering a phone with this price factor, I would say that is mind-blowing, to say the least. There was a significant battery drain in this mode, but the good news is there was no overheating.
If you turn off the game mode on the CMF Phone 1, you can still game comfortably at medium settings, 60 FPS with motion blur turned off.
On the S24 Plus, it performs best at the highest settings with motion blur turned on. The battery drain was less significant compared to the CMF Phone 1 when it comes to gaming at these settings, but the device did get quite warm after 15 minutes of continuous gameplay.
It is exciting because even with a lower-quality chipset on the CMF Phone 1, in this gaming department, the CMF Phone 1 performed very well. I would call this a draw when it comes to gaming performance because the software magic on the CMF Phone 1 was really great, especially in Game Mode, making it on par with flagship phones like this. This is why, my friends, software plays a huge role in everything, which brings us to our next topic: the software.
Software
In every single review of my Samsung phones, I’ve always said that OneUI is my favorite Android skin because of how it navigates through the phone nicely with very thoughtful UI and overall navigation.
But with Nothing OS version 2.6? I’m starting to see CMF’s team really pushing their boundaries to make this OS the best, and I can already see that they are doing a fantastic job since its first release.
Besides the game mode, as mentioned earlier, the new updated icons and the signature Nothing OS software give that sort of character like you’re holding a phone which has a nice and refreshed look. This nice, refreshed look to the UI also has no bloatware at all.
While the S24 Plus has very little bloatware, mainly their own software or even Google’s, it is nowhere near what Xiaomi and OPPO do with their smartphones, having tons of it.
At this point in time, the Galaxy AI on the S24 Plus is surely an amazing software feature to beat, with plenty of user-centric features for all of us to use.
While the CMF Phone 1 carries some of the ChatGPT-related integrations from the Nothing OS, I personally feel that Galaxy AI has more advanced features for the overall usage of the phone, making it more reliable for my daily experience.
Here’s where I would give 2 points to the S24 Plus but 1.5 points to the CMF Phone 1 for its refreshing look once again on the overall UI.
Battery
Now, if you want to know what’s the biggest surprise of this whole review, well, it is this battery category, my friends!
Yeap, because the 4,900 mAh battery on the S24 Plus gave me an average of 6 hours of screen-on time at 10% battery with dark mode turned on.
But the 5,000 mAh battery of CMF Phone 1, only 100 mAh more, gave me an average of 9 hours of screen-on time at 10% battery with dark mode turned on, which was massive!
It was really great to know because, with only 100 mAh more, it gave us a massive screen-on time. When you compare spec to spec, the S24 Plus wins with a higher 45W compared to 33W charging. Of course, the S24 Plus also has wireless charging.
Conclusion
That’s it, my overall extreme comparison between the CMF Phone 1 and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus. I hope this video gave you an answer on whether or not it’s really worth spending so much on the S24 Plus or other flagships compared to this CMF Phone 1.