When the CMF phone 1 was gearing up for launch. There was all this hype about the knob on the bottom right side of the phone. Speculations were high, people thought that it would contribute to the camera zoom or would be used for scrolling apps or increasing/decreasing the volume. When the phone was revealed it turned out to be nothing more than an accessory point used for removing/attaching not so useful accessories. This was a giant disappointment.
I feel like Nothing/CMF cares way too much about their design to the point where they want people to constantly talk about the design aspect of the phone, but not the actual feature set. People with 3d printers will probably have a field day with the CMF phone 1 but really at the end of the day what exactly is the point ? Fun customisation will only last so long.
If the Knob would actually be beneficial to the everyday user it would have really made a difference in that market segment. It would be a cool and actually useful feature that no premium phone would have. It would have helped differentiate the phone nicely.
Would this raise the cost ? Yes ? But as it is a lot of corners were already cut for this phone. No NFC. No dual speakers. Large asymmetrical bezels. No charger in box (a requirement for this segment).
Did no one from the design team ever think “hey we have a removable back panel for the phone why don’t we go the extra mile and also give the user the ability to replace the phone’s battery if needed ?”
Again my point comes down to the same thing. Nothing/CMF both in my opinion focus too heavily on how their phone looks but they are yet to make something design wise that actually adds value to end customer.
Just my two cents. I want the brand to do well. I love the Nothing OS. But I feel like instead of developing the already great software experience and marketing that. The brand relies on gimmicks to promote their products. I feel like more users would want to try the Nothing phones only if they actually marketed their software.