The CMF Phone 2 Pro was recently launched in the market. It is not the direct successor to the CMF Phone 1, but it does bring several improvements over it. One of the most talked-about features of it is the camera.

CMF Phone 2 Pro packs solid camera hardware for its price. First and foremost, it features a 50-megapixel 23mm primary lens with a sensor size of 1/1.57” and an aperture of f/1.88.

The secondary camera is a 50-megapixel 2X optical zoom telephoto lens with an equivalent focal length of 50mm, a sensor size of 1/2.88”, and an aperture of f/1.85. Then there’s an 8-megapixel 15mm ultrawide lens with an aperture of f/2.2.

It packs a 16-megapixel selfie shooter on the front with an f/2.45 aperture. The hardware sure looks very good on paper, but one major miss is the lack of OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), and I’ll talk more about it later.

Primary Camera

Starting with the main lens, the sensor used here is Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN9, which is quite good for the price. Now, talking about the processing, the primary camera captures decent shots. I won’t call it the absolute best, but it gets the job done. Colors tend to lean a bit warm, though they stay fairly natural.

The images look good at a glance, but there’s a big issue here. Even with strong hardware, I noticed the colors aren’t always consistent. The default exposure is also cranked up too high, and most of the time, I had to manually set it down to -0.3 just to get photos that look closer to real life. That said, skin tones and natural background blur are handled nicely. It’s rare to find a budget phone that gets skin tones right, but the CMF Phone 2 Pro does a decent job here.

HDR performance is inconsistent. Sometimes it blows out the brighter areas, making the whole shot look unnatural. Highlights are controlled well, though. The lack of OIS is another letdown. If you’re like me and don’t have the steadiest hands, capturing moving subjects or keeping shots steady is tough, and it only gets worse in low light or when using digital zoom.

Speaking of low light, nighttime performance is just okay. If there’s enough light, the photos turn out fine. But in darker scenes, the processing feels rough – highlights and finer details get lost, even though the colors still look decent. Just for comparison, I tried shooting night shots with GCam, and the difference was noticeable. That pretty much confirms the problem isn’t the lens itself but the software processing.

My Rating: 3.7/5

Telephoto Camera

Now talking about the Telephoto lens – the most hyped and talked about feature of the gadget. The CMF Phone 2 Pro is among the rare ones in the segment that offers a dedicated telephoto lens. It has a 50-megapixel resolution and is optically zoomed at 2X or 50mm.

There is a very slight color shift between the main lens and the telephoto. However, the performance of telephoto is great in terms of managing colours, highlights and dynamic range. It sometimes outperforms the main lens in overall image quality.

You can zoom upto 20X, however, I’d say that the pictures are usable upto 5X zoom. After 5X, the images become like oil paintings and lack depth; to be honest, this was expected, given the price of the gadget. However, the telephoto does not have OIS either, so your hands need to be very stable.

My Rating 4/5

Ultrawide Camera

It comes with a standard 8-megapixel ultrawide lens, which is decent for the price. Daylight photos turn out okay, but low-light shots… well, let’s just say they’re not its strong suit. On the plus side, the colors are pretty accurate. As for highlights, detail, and HDR performance, they’re nothing special, just average overall.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Selfie Camera

The 16-megapixel selfie camera does a decent job for its price. The images have a decent amount of details and colours. HDR and highlight control are decent as well. However, there’s one issue with the selfie camera. It tends to apply slight beautification to the face even if the beauty mode is turned off. This may be a trick by the brand to attract the mass market, but it is what it is.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Videography

The CMF Phone 2 Pro can record at upto 4K 30FPS from the main and telephoto lenses. The ultrawide lens can shoot at upto 1080 30FPS. The selfie camera can shoot at 1080P resolution at 30FPS and 60FPS.

The main camera shoots solid videos with nice detail and accurate colors. The ultrawide does its job, though it’s nothing extraordinary. As for the telephoto, it takes okay photos, but videos tend to be shaky and soft since the lens struggles with focus (no OIS means EIS has to do all the work, and it’s just not enough). Nighttime videos turn out pretty good, but only if you stick with the primary lens.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Final Verdict

The CMF Phone 2 Pro packs impressive camera hardware for its price point, but its potential is limited by questionable software processing and the noticeable absence of optical image stabilization (OIS). This leaves the device in an odd position – it’s not quite polished enough for photography enthusiasts, yet it offers more versatility than typical budget options.

While the telephoto lens adds welcome flexibility, I can’t help but think prioritising a better primary sensor with OIS would have been the wiser choice. That said, in a segment where options are limited, the Phone 2 Pro remains a viable choice for users who value camera versatility and can live without stabilization – just don’t expect flawless performance in every shooting scenario.

The device ultimately feels like a compromise, offering more camera options than most competitors at this price, but falling short of delivering consistently excellent results from any of them.

FINAL RATING: 3.6/5

Explore More:

CMF Phone 2 Pro Camera Review: It’s Not What You Are Expecting

Primary Camera

Telephoto Camera

Ultrawide Camera

Selfie Camera

Final Verdict

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