Tech Reviews May 3, 2025

Deals: CMF Phone 2 Pro goes on pre-order as we look at alternatives, plus some Pixel 9 offers

The CMF Phone 2 Pro was unveiled on Monday and is currently on pre-order with sales starting on May 12 (Monday two weeks from now). We will look at some alternatives in the meantime, plus some Pixel deals and Galaxy Watch offers.

The CMF Phone 2 Pro starts at £220, which is pretty cheap already. But you can get the original CMF Phone 1 for £50 less. Is it worth it? You get a slightly smaller display (6.67” vs. 6.77”) and though it is a 1080p+ 120Hz OLED, it has a lower peak brightness (2,000 nits vs. 3,000 nits) and doesn’t have HDR10+ support like the Pro. It has basically the same Dimensity 7300 chipset, though, with expandable storage and the same 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging.

The real reason to get the Pro is for the cameras – the Phone 1 has a 50MP main on the back and that’s it. The Pro has a 50MP main with a fairly large 1/1.57” sensor (but no OIS), a 50MP 50mm telephoto and an 8MP ultra-wide. A new attachable back adds MagSafe magnets (there’s no wireless charging, but it’s nice for a car dock and to attach accessories) and serves as a mounting point for two lenses, macro and fisheye. Oh, and the Pro has NFC!

We’ve seen some commenters wish for features like OIS, for example. For that, you have to get the Nothing Phone (3a), but that costs 50% more. Compared to the CMF Phone 2 Pro, you get the same screen and cameras (now with OIS on the main) and a better Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset. Charging is boosted to 50W, but it’s still wired only. You do get the Glyph lights on the back, though.

Okay, 50% more is maybe a bit much and you still don’t get things like eSIM (only the 3a Pro has that). What about the previous generation – the Nothing Phone (2a) is still around and is actually cheaper than the CMF Phone 2 Pro. You get a comparable 6.7” OLED display, HDR and all, plus Glyph lights and 45W charging for the 5,000mAh battery. There’s no telephoto camera, but how useful is a 50mm lens anyway? Plus, the 50MP main on this one has OIS and there is a high-resolution 50MP ultra-wide. The Dimensity 7200 Pro is only a bit slower, but you do lose the microSD slot.

The Poco X7 is powered by basically the same Dimensity 7300 chipset as the CMF Phone 2 Pro and you can get more RAM and a lot more storage (12/512GB) for just £10 more than the CMF. There’s no microSD slot, but with 512GB built-in that’s not as necessary. The Poco has proper water resistance (IP69 vs. IP54) and a better 6.67” 12-bit 1220p+ display with Dolby Vision. The 50MP main camera does have OIS, but it uses a smaller 1/1.95” sensor and is only joined by an 8MP ultra-wide – there’s no tele lens here. The battery is a bit larger and faster at 5,110mAh capacity and 45W charging.

If you have more money to spend, the Poco X7 Pro upgrades to a Dimensity 8400 Ultra (with all big Cortex-A725 cores) and a 6,000mAh battery with 90W charging. The cameras are the same as on the X7, though, i.e. not as good as the CMF.

A couple of weeks ago, we shared some Pixel 9-series deals. The Pixel 9a offer is the same as it was then, a free pair of Pixel Buds A-Series.

The rest of the Pixel 9 models (the non-foldable ones) have the same deals as before with a couple of tweaks – first, you get a £100 coupon that you can use to buy a Pixel Watch 3, and second, the vanilla Pixel 9 is £50 more than it was a couple of weeks ago. Check out our Pixel 9 vs. 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro vs. 9 Pro XL articles for detailed comparisons.

As for the Google Pixel Watch 3 itself, it’s £70 off at the moment and that can go up to £170 if you buy it alongside a Pixel 9, 9 Pro or 9 Pro XL.

If you prefer Samsung watches, the Galaxy Watch Ultra, Watch7 and Watch6 Classic (with a rotating bezel) are up to £150 off if you have an active Prime subscription. Prime Students get an extra discounts on the latter two watches as well.