Nothing is on a roll, launching new audio products at a rapid pace. Last year, the London-based tech outfit released the ‘Buds Pro’ (check out our review here) under its new ‘CMF’ banner. Now, the company has added a more affordable TWS to the series. If you don’t want to splurge Rs 12,000 on Nothing’s latest flagship TWS, the CMF Buds are a worthy alternative. Features like ANC, dual device connection, and in-ear detection make the Rs 2,500 price tag quite attractive. But does the soundstage set it apart from the plethora of earbuds in this price category? Find out in our review of the CMF Buds.
Read Also: Top 5 Ways to Fix Vertical Lines on a Computer Screen (2024)
In This Article
CMF Buds Review: Design
The unboxing experience of the CMF Buds is notably different from the Buds Pro. CMF has ditched the sleek cardboard box with large cutouts for a regular box with a flimsy plastic tray that houses the charging case (with earbuds inside) and the extra ear tips. There is a user guide inside the box as well, but the USB Type-C cable is nowhere to be found.
The charging case sports a square form factor with round corners, a sharp contrast to the hockey-puck design of the Buds Pro. There is a silver rotating dial in the top left corner. You can hook a lanyard to this dial. While it doesn’t serve any other functional purpose, it is fun to fidget with. The case and the earbuds are made out of plastic but the matte finish gives them a premium feel.
The charging case hinge is strong but makes a croaky sound every time you flip it open. There is a small notification light on the front edge while the right edge houses the USB Type-C port and the pairing button. The CMF branding is engraved on the lid.
The earbuds are locked magnetically into two individual cutouts inside the case. They rock a traditional in-ear design with glossy inner panels and a matte finish on the stems. A glossy ring highlights the touch-sensitive area on the stems. The CMF branding can be found on the two earbuds.
The lightweight design of the earbuds ensures that you don’t experience ear fatigue even after wearing them for multiple hours. The fit is snug and comfortable. There are two extra pairs of ear tips inside the box to accommodate varying ear sizes. The touch controls are tuned nicely and the chances of accidentally triggering them are very slim.
The earbuds are rated IP54 for dust and water resistance. This means they can handle minor water splashes with ease. We were happy with the sweat resistance after working out while wearing the earbuds. The fit remained secure despite the earbuds’ glossy inner panels.
CMF Buds Review: Performance
Delivering the audio output on the CMF Buds are two 12.4mm bio-fibre drivers. The TWS supports Ultra Bass 2.0 tech and also receives Direc Opteo tuning. There are two audio codecs on offer – SBC and AAC. There’s Bluetooth 5.3 on board along with BLE, SPP, HFP, A2DP, and AVRCP Bluetooth profiles. Google Fast Pair support ensures that once you’ve linked the earbuds to your Google account, you can seamlessly pair them with other devices.
Let’s talk about the most important aspect of the earbuds – the soundstage. By default, the CMF Buds produce the Dirac Opteo tuned output. You can change it using the equaliser in the Nothing X app. We didn’t feel the need to switch to any other tuning since Dirac brings a whole lot of personality to the soundstage. The output is undeniably bass-heavy but the mid and highs are also well represented in the mix. If you’re looking for a neutral soundstage, these earbuds are not for you.
We played everything from post-punk to bubblegum pop on these earbuds and they did not disappoint. The enveloping bass made the listening experience quite fun. At the same time, it did not shroud the crunching guitar riffs and the subtle hits of the hi-hat in the background. Pushing the volume to the maximum level distorts the output a little. Staying within the 30-70% range yielded the most composed output. The ‘Ultra Bass’ option in the Nothing X app lets you choose from 5 levels of bass, but we kept this feature turned off because it felt overkill on an already bass-oriented soundstage.
You can toggle between the noise cancellation and transparency modes using the Nothing X app and the touch controls, but there’s no option to set them to a certain level. To give credit to CMF, they’ve managed to execute ANC on these earbuds quite well. It isn’t just another feature to fill up the spec sheet. The earbuds can cancel up to 42dB of surrounding noise. This is just 3dB lower than the Buds Pro. We found ourselves using this feature a lot, especially while using public transport.
The dual connection feature needs to be enabled from the Nothing X app. Every time you toggle this feature, the earbuds are rebooted. You can also choose which devices you want to pair with the earbuds at any given time. If you’re watching a movie on your laptop and get a call on your phone, you can easily answer it without having to go through the unpairing and pairing process. Strangely enough, playing any media on the second device does not automatically pause the media playing on the primary device.
You also get a low lag mode and in-ear detection with these earbuds. Both features work seamlessly and are excellent additions to the device. The call quality of the CMF Buds is also quite satisfactory, even though it struggles in a noisy outdoor environment.
Moving on, the earbuds are equipped with a 45mAh battery pack with an additional 460mAh inside the case. CMF claims that you can get 8 hours of playtime on the earbuds alone with ANC turned off and 35.5 hours of total battery life. With ANC or transparency mode in effect, this battery life is reduced to 5.6 hours and 24 hours. During the week-long review period, the CMF Buds ran out of charge only once. We used the earbuds for around 2-4 hours each day. While we did not keep ANC turned on at all times, we did use it consistently. It took us just over an hour to fully charge the case.
Read Also: OnePlus Nord CE 3 5G price reduced by Rs 2,000 in India
Verdict
If you enjoy a bass-heavy output, the CMF Buds is a very easy recommendation from us in this price category. Apart from a sublime audio output you get premium features like ANC, in-ear detection, dual connection, and low lag mode for just Rs 2,500. The design and build of the case is also something that CMF has put a lot of thought into. The rotating wheel is a nice touch. However, if you’re looking for a neutral-sounding pair of earbuds, this is not the TWS for you.
CMF Buds: Pros
- Fun soundstage
- Cool design
- Great set of additional features
CMF Buds: Cons
- Won’t appeal to audiophiles looking for a neutral soundstage
- USB Type-C cable not present in the retail package
