Does Nothing’s new CMF phone bend or break in durability test?

Nothing’s new CMF Phone 2 Pro has been very warmly received since its launch last month, with many loving it for its fun design and decent specs for a handset costing just $279.

A new Android phone like this was always going to attract the attention of YouTuber Zack Nelson — he of JerryRigEverything — who’s just dropped a new durability video featuring Nothing’s latest budget device.

His infamous test subjects phones to an unrealistic amount of scratching, scraping, burning, and bending, but offers viewers a good idea of just how robust a handset is in the face of extreme pressure.

The display on the CMF Phone 2 Pro, it turns out, offers a decent amount of scratch resistance, with Nelson noting that it’s made of Panda Glass, which is similar to Corning’s Gorilla Glass in that it’s designed to offer not only scratch resistance but also drop protection and decent touch sensitivity. 

Next, out comes the box cutter, which the tech YouTuber then happily drags down the side of the device. It’s no surprise that the CMF Phone 2 Pro’s frame doesn’t come out well here, with the plastic frame unable to offer any real protection against the bladed onslaught. So, you know, keep your box cutter away from this device.

Nelson, who now has more than nine million followers, then uses the blade to carve out a drawing of a carrot on the phone’s plastic orange back, demonstrating that the back is also plastic, and that he can draw a carrot. 

The naked flame test does what it says on the tin, testing the phone’s 6.77-inch AMOLED display against the heat of a naked flame, and it actually holds up surprisingly well in the face of prolonged burning. 

Finally, the bend test. It’s not scientific — Nelson simply bends it with his bare hands — but it gives you some idea of a phone’s structural integrity. There have been handsets that have broken clean in two, but the CMF Phone 2 Pro suffers nothing more than a little flexing, and continues to operate normally. It’s all very impressive.

Commenting on the handset at the end, Nelson says: “I’m a big fan of the innovation, and an extra big fan of the price point, and I’m looking forward to seeing what CMF comes out with next.”