Nothing's new budget phone could get a weirdly premium accessory

Nothing is preparing to launch its next phone today, the CMF Phone 2 Pro, and we’re expecting that device to have a slightly upgraded camera, while keeping the modular approach of the CMF Phone 1.

That means you’re going to be able to switch the back cover over, as well as attach various accessories, like lanyards or stands, thanks to the thumb screw in the corner than can be easily removed.

But Nothing has stepped things up a little in its latest tease, showing not the phone, but a completely new accessory that no one expected. Sharing the details on X, the company has shown what appears to be a camera lens that could attach to the rear of the device.

No details are given, but the barrel of the lens is presented in a vibrant orange colour, one of the hues that we expect the phone to be available in.

The scale is hard to determine, but if this lens is designed to clip over the camera on the rear of the phone, then it will be quite small.

However, it’s likely to contain another glass element to convert the camera either for macro photography or it’s a fish-eye lens. Fish-eye lenses have a characteristic look, because they’re super wide, often with the images heavily distorted.

Fish-eye has been used in things like action cameras because it’s great at fitting in all everything that’s happening around the action.

By the looks of the accessory, it will simply clip into some sort of case. There’s a ridge towards the bottom of the barrel that looks like it will just push in, so it’s likely that there will be a special cover or case that you’ll need in place before you can use it.

What to expect from the CMF Phone 2 Pro

Apart from this new camera accessory, we already know that the CMF Phone 2 Pro is going to get software features from the Nothing Phone (3a), including Essential Space, the area you can use as a second memory on the go.

We’re expecting the phone to be powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro, so not a huge upgrade from the previous model, but said to be capable of 120fps gaming.

There should be a 6.67-inch AMOLED display on the front, while the cameras on the back are expected to be a 50-megapixel main, 50-megapixel telephoto and 8-megapixel ultrawide. Somewhere in this mix you can now add an accessory to convert the features of one of those cameras.

It’s intriguing, but there’s not long to wait to discover what it’s all about.