Sim & Customisable NFC E-Ink display cover for CMF Phone 2 Pro (+2.3mm thickness!)

! This is a delicate project, especially when harvesting the E-Ink module!

Hearing that NFC is a new feature added to the value-packed budget CMF Phone 2 Pro was a delight. This immediately brought my interest to existing cases with customisable built in NFC E-Ink displays for the IPhone, S23 & S24. Why not bring this nifty feature to the CMF phone?  

Through testing, I was glad to find out that the NFC E-Ink display modules inside these cases were “Universal”, where as long as you have NFC and the provided app, the display can be updated regardless of phone model. This is besides the fact that its locked in a specific case for its specific phone.

Hence, I decided to harvest the module from the case and adapt it to the Universal back plate for the CMF Phone!

.f3d files for Fusion360 provided!

Materials needed:

• S24/23 NFC E-Ink display phone case here (same display module for both models)
• 0.5mm thick Acrylic sheet

Requirements:

• 3D printer with the ability to stop and resume at a set layer. (For printing straight onto clear acrylic)
• Proficient in using a heatgun/hairdryer to soften adhesive in order to seperate glass panels.

Tools needed:

• Heatgun/Hairdryer
• Spatula/Seperating tool
• Soldering Iron
• Pliers
• Screwdrivers (To screw in the case)
• Doublesided tape

Build Instructions:

Operation of the NFC E-Ink display is rather simple:

1. Download the Android app here

2. Make sure NFC is on. No account is needed. Upload your pictures in the app 

3. Place the coil (see below) of the case onto your phones NFC coil as close as possible. ( It might take a few tries for the app to auto detect the coil )

4. Once detected, the app will initiate an upload sequence, pausing for a short while to refresh the screen at 100%

Case Teardown:

Pull off the back felt lining to reveal the electronics and adhesive behind the glass.

Cut the soft plastic around the camera region on this area of the case

Using a pair of pliers, grab and use a moderate amount of force to roll off the tightly secured plastic from the glass.

Use a heatgun/hairdryer to apply heat as sparingly as possible. The adhesive on both sides of the glass will soften and you can use a spatula to seperate them. If you find that a lot of force is needed, apply more heat! 

Take care to avoid heating up the area with the E-Ink display too much. Take note of where the adhesive by observing from the back.

With a lot of heat, some effort and patience, the two halves of the glass should seperate like this.

Use the spatula to carefully dislodge the E-Ink display from the glass panel by cutting the blob of adhesive holding it on.

Make sure extra care is taken so as not to break the display!

Use a pair of tweezers to carefully seperate the NFC coil from the adhesive holding it onto the glass.

Flatten out the coil and protect it by sealing it in some tape. I used Kapton tape here but regular scotch/clear tape works fine too.

The display is rather fragile and scratches easily, hence you may protect the E-Ink display temporarily by taping it over with some clear tape. 

This is what the final seperated module looks like. Do test it out with a phone to ensure that it is still working.

Assembly:

1- Cut out a 89x54mm sheet of 0.5mm acrylic

2- Print Mainbody.3mf with a print pause @ ~0.5mm layer height and place the acrylic sheet at the window in the center and resume printing. The printer should print directly onto the acrylic sheet on the next layer, sealing it into the print itself to act as a protector for the display.

3- Print out Backpanel.3mf and double side tape the E-Ink display module onto it while folding the coil to the back of the module.

4- Slot in the Back panel + E-Ink display module assembly into the Main body and use tape/glue to secure it in place. 

5- Align and secure the NFC coil with tape within the indented region (the NFC coil of the CMF phone is here when closed). Do adjust accordingly if the app on the phone does not detect the coil. 

6- And you're done!