The Nothing CMF Phone 1 recently launched with a whole lot of features considering its low $199 / £179 / AU$399 price tag. These include a 6.67-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen, a 50MP main camera, a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset, a 5,000mAh battery, and even a swappable back cover. But perhaps its most interesting feature wasn’t advertised by the company.
You see, YouTuber @purely_maxwell found that the phone’s 2MP depth sensor can double as an X-ray-like camera, being able to see through certain objects. For example, he was able to see the batteries inside a remote control.
This feature isn’t natively available on the Nothing CMF Phone 1, as you can’t actually use the depth sensor on its own – or not without the help of a third-party app anyway. Still, it’s a cool party trick.
But it’s also a trick that has since got the attention of Nothing, with Akis Evangelidis (the company’s co-founder) explaining what’s happening in a post on X.
According to Evangelidis, the depth sensor doesn’t have an infrared light filter, in order to enhance its light capturing capabilities. However, the result of this is that the depth sensor can function like an infrared camera, which as Evangelidis explains “can sometimes reveal the internal structure of thin or semi-transparent objects, especially when it's black acrylic material.”
Unintentional and soon to be inaccessible
But this functionality was never intended to be accessible, which is why it requires a third-party app. And sadly, the company will now “restrict third-party apps from accessing the depth sensor output through a software update expected within a week.” So you soon won’t even be able to access this feature with a third-party workaround.
It seems a shame that Nothing would block such a fun feature, but the company is doing this because it understands the feature could “raise some concerns”. So if you have a Nothing Phone CMF 1, you’ll have to act fast if you want to give this camera trick a try.
You might also like
- Best cheap phones: top budget smartphones in the US
- Nothing Phone 2a review: Distinctive design meets mid-range magic
- The OnePlus Nord 4 and OnePlus Pad 2 have landed
