CMF Buds 2

Introduction

Through its budget line of products, Nothing has created something truly special in the CMF Buds 2 that’s an instant winner for consumers after next level value.

In the short time that Nothing’s CMF line has been around, the brand has already made quite a name for itself in the tech industry. Plenty has been said about the recent CMF Phone 2 Pro, not just for its eye-catching design (particularly with the orange colourway), but also for the amount of features it’s able to ship to users at a price that significantly undercuts the competition.

The CMF buds line has attempted to offer a similar value proposition to consumers, with last year’s CMF Buds 2 Pro providing solid audio quality for a price that doesn’t make people wince. Well, CMF has now released the even cheaper standard CMF Buds 2, and after using the earbuds for just over two weeks, I think it’s clear that Nothing has struck gold here.

Price

The CMF Buds 2 are priced at just £39/$59 which isn’t only cheap in itself, it’s also the same RRP as the original CMF Buds, so you don’t have to pay more for all of the upgrades that have been included.

Design

• Nothing’s signature CMF style returns
• Honestly one of the best looking earbuds I’ve tested
• Every bit of the design feels intentional

Part of the reason why the CMF line has managed to make such a splash is because it’s been infused with Nothing’s clear sense of style, so even though you aren’t handing over flagship level sums of cash, you’re still benefiting from an aesthetic that’s sure to turn heads as you move throughout your day. This all rings true for the CMF Buds 2.

Right off the bat, the square charging case, with its moving circular component that hides a section to loop through a strap, looks so much more appealing to the eye than almost every case I’ve come across, and I’m including the AirPods Pro 2 in that comparison.

Every minute detail here feels very intentional, and that continues once you open up the case and see how the earbuds are nestled within it. Instead of having the earbuds mostly disappear within the recesses of the interior, they’re largely exposed which makes them feel accessible, and as if they are something to be shown off.

The orange colourway does do a decent amount of heavy lifting in helping the CMF Buds 2 to stand out, which is why I’d definitely recommend going for that option (or the Light Green model) as opposed to the more generic Dark Grey.

Even though the case has been made to look high-end, the illusion doesn’t quite hold up once it’s placed in your hand. You can feel just how plasticky the thing is, and the material used for the chassis doesn’t quite hold up under much scrutiny. After an accidental drop, the case did pick up a few scratches that can be seen from certain angles. Still, it’s hard to berate the design too much given that it’s able to stand out at all within the budget market.

Features

• Plenty of customisation options via the Nothing X app
• Very long-lasting battery life
• Takes almost no time at all to charge up the buds

Extending the value proposition of the CMF Buds 2, they also pair with the rather brilliant Nothing X app. This bit of companion software adheres to much of the design philosophy that makes the Buds so appealing in the first place, with a simple yet futuristic style where every feature is clearly labelled.

For instance, you can set independent control inputs for both the left and the right earbud, so you could have volume control set entirely to the left bud, while the right can skip or rewind through a playlist. You can even toggle multi-pairing to connect to two devices at once – always handy if you regularly switch between a smartphone and a laptop or tablet. The Buds will also auto-pause if you take them out.

Spatial Audio tries to create a similar experience to Apple’s feature of the same name. Instead of making it feel like you’re surrounded by various instruments, it does a better job of elevating the bass, percussion and vocals from the mix. It’s a fun feature to have, and I did find myself using it on occasion, but what’s sure to appeal to fans of Beats’ signature bass-heavy style is the Ultra Bass toggle.

This mode lets you move between five different levels of bass intensity, ending in a degree of rumble that had me headbanging almost instinctively. It does a solid job of making sure that the rest of the song doesn’t get lost behind that weight either. As you might expect, there are also various equaliser modes, each designed for specific genres such as pop and classical, although I think most people would agree that the default Dirac Opteo mode does the trick just fine.

If you’re taking a call whilst out and about, then the person on the other end of the line should be able to hear you clearly enough with the CMF Buds 2. Mic quality is fairly average but clear, and it manages to do a good job of keeping most external sounds at bay, although if you do get too close to the source of a loud noise (as I tested with my Sonos Ray soundbar), then the Buds will pick up snippets of that sound.

When it comes to battery life, you’ll be more than covered if you have a long-haul flight on the horizon. Not only can you get up to 13.5 hours of listening time from the buds themselves, but that extends to a total of 55 hours when you factor in the charging case. That’s more than double the 24-hour cap from the high-end Sony WF-1000XM5. After 30 minutes of playback at 50% volume without ANC, the Buds 2 still had a reported 100% battery in each bud, so I don’t think you’ll have much of an issue hitting those claimed reports of longevity.

In the two and a bit weeks that I’ve been testing the CMF Buds 2, I’ve only had to top up the case once beyond the first charge, and there has been plenty of podcast and music playback in that time, plus a bit of gaming.

The buds are also very quick to top up. In my charging test, the buds leapt from 15% to 80% in just 20 minutes.

When it came to the charging case, it took just over an over of charging before it got from 5% to a full battery, but all of this means that you’ll be more than covered for a day if you only have a small window of time to plug them in. As you might expect at the CMF Buds 2’s price point, there’s no wireless charging here.

Noise Cancellation

• Performs admirably for its price point
• You can tweak the intensity of the ANC
• Transparency mode works really well

Given that the CMF Buds 2 have such an affordable asking price, I was expecting that the majority of Nothing’s attention would be paid towards the design and the sound quality, with the noise cancelling being something of an afterthought as a result. I’m glad to report that I was way off the mark here.

I’ve now taken the CMF Buds 2 for a spin on the London Underground, overground trains, when out for a lunchtime walk and when putting together dinner in the kitchen. Having become accustomed to the excellent noise cancellation on the AirPods Pro 2, I was anticipating a steep drop in ANC proficiency, and while yes, it doesn’t reach the same heights as more premium earbuds, I was still impressed to see how well the CMF Buds 2 performed in real-world testing.

The key takeaway here is that, when the ANC is set to ‘high’, you don’t need to crank up the volume to hear what you want to listen to. Even when using the Buds 2 at the gym, whilst the radio was blaring in the background, I was still able to hear my desired playlist as I went through my workout routine.

It’s definitely not enough to fully fight back against the screeching of the London Underground, but it does dampen its effects which, at the very least, feels like a bit of necessary safeguarding for your ears whenever you do decide to use London’s public transport.

I also want to give Nothing credit for the transparency mode on the CMF Buds 2. There isn’t a hint of the crackle that I’ve found in similar budget earbuds and headphones over the years, so I found myself using it more often than not to pay closer attention to something happening around me.

Sound quality

• Great attention payed to all instruments
• Some EQ tweaks help to improve certain songs
• Vocals sound great at every turn

The efficiency of the ANC was a nice surprise when using the CMF Buds 2, but what completely floored me, more than anything else, is the sound quality that’s on offer here for such a budget-friendly price.

Taking a more chaotic piece as an example, Refused’s New Noise, with its mash-up of hard-strung guitar chords, weighty bass and screaming vocals, can feel like a bit of a mess without the right detail given to each instrument. The song starts out with a guitar riff before everything else kicks in, but what’s incredible is that you can follow that riff closely even amidst the song’s progression, so you never lose track of the tune.

In Tommy Richman’s Devil is a Lie, there’s a nice separation at play between the percussion and the keyboard touches that permeate the track, although for the song to really hit the sweet spot, I found it better to turn up the Ultra Bass mode to about level three, but the fact that you can get there at all with just a quick toggle on these earbuds is fantastic.

Don’t think that the Buds 2 drop the ball where vocals are concerned, far from it. Popping on Olympus by Blondshell, the earbuds did a great job of conveying the haunting echo that pairs with the song’s sombre tone. It’s a similar case for José Gonzalez’s Crosses, another vocal-led song, so those classic indie-style campfire guitar tracks feel right at home here (if that’s your thing).

Should you buy it?

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