Right out of the box, the Headphone Pro sets the tone. CMF is Nothing’s “accessible” brand, but the house DNA is there: clean lines, a no-fuss design and an impression of solidity that is immediately reassuring. The helmet is entirely made of plastic, of course, but good quality plastic, with no creaking or play in the hinges. The hulls pivot flexibly, the structure exudes seriousness – we are far from the low-end models which squeak at the slightest twist.
CMF Headphone Pro at the best Price
Base price: €99
With its 283 grams, it is classified in the category of lightweight helmets, which makes it particularly pleasant to wear on a daily basis. The headband squeezes a little, especially during the first uses, but the memory foam compensates for this pressure well. After an hour of listening, you feel a slight desire to relax your ears, but nothing dramatic. Those with large ears may find the earpads a little narrow, but overall, the comfort remains very good for this price.
The helmet is available in several colors: light gray, dark gray or a bolder light green. Nothing flashy, but a real aesthetic coherence – typically Nothing. We also appreciate a small detail that makes the difference: the pads are replaceable. Nothing exotic from Sony or Bose, but at 99 euros, it’s a rarity. Better yet, CMF offers other colors (orange, in particular) for those who like to personalize their helmet. A good point for durability and the personal touch.
An old-school wheel, but so much more practical
At a time when the majority of headsets swear by capricious tactile surfaces, CMF is making a choice against the grain – and frankly, it feels good. On the right earcup, a multifunction dial allows you to control everything: volume, track change, play/pause and activation of noise reduction. It turns with a very flexible little click, pleasant under the finger and above all, it avoids the false manipulations that we too often experience with overly sensitive tactile surfaces.
On the left earpiece, we find a power button coupled with Bluetooth, a “bass boost” switch to reinforce the bass (we’ll come back to that) and a button to activate the smartphone’s voice assistant. Nothing extravagant, but everything is well thought out, accessible and above all intuitive.
Small downside: the headset does not have wearing detection. Clearly, if you remove the headphones, the music continues. Too bad, because this function has become almost standard, even on mid-range models. That said, for 99 euros, it’s hard to blame it too much.
The headset folds flat, comes with a soft cover and a 3.5mm jack cable, practical for wired use. However, no USB-C cable in the box.
A clear and complete app, but an equalizer a little too timid
To manage the headset, you have to go through Nothing X, the in-house application available on Android and iOS. The interface is faithful to the Nothing universe: minimalist, readable and fast. We find all the options we expect from a modern helmet:
- the choice between ANC, transparency or normal modes;
- several predefined sound profiles (Pop, Rock, Electronic, Classical, Vocal);
- a three-band manual equalizer;
- a low latency mode for gaming or video;
- the ability to customize wheel and button controls.
It’s clean and smooth, but a little frustrating in terms of sound settings. The three-band equalizer does not finely correct headphone imbalances. Three sliders are not enough when you want to adjust a sound reproduction that is a little too pronounced on certain frequencies. It remains functional, but those who like to refine their audio signature will be left a little hungry.
In terms of connectivity, nothing to complain about: Bluetooth 5.4 ensures a stable connection and the headset manages multipoint, practical for juggling between a smartphone and a laptop. It also supports Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair, which makes pairing much easier. In short, it’s simple, quick and it works the first time.
Effective noise reduction… as long as you stay in the bass
CMF promises noise reduction “up to 99%”. We might as well say it right away: no. But for a headset costing less than 100 euros, the Headphone Pro does respectably.
On serious noises – bus engine, train hum, ventilation – the masking effect is real and rather convincing. We feel a clear difference when we activate the ANC: the outside world partially fades away, listening becomes more comfortable.
On the other hand, on higher pitched sounds or conversations, the magic fades. The headset lets voices and keyboard clicks through, sometimes distorting them a bit. The ANC therefore remains useful in transport, but much less effective in the office.
The transparency mode does the job without shining. Ambient noises are audible, but the rendering lacks naturalness: the voices seem metallic, compressed, a little artificial. Enough to cross the street safely, but not clear enough to hold a real conversation without removing the headset.
As for calls, this is clearly the Achilles heel of the Headphone Pro. The microphones – supposed to isolate the voice – struggle to clearly distinguish your tone in the ambient noise. In a cafe or a busy street, your interlocutor will have the impression that you are speaking from a tunnel. In a quiet environment, it’s okay, but for professional videos or long conversations, it’s better to avoid it.
A sound that does the job, but without magic
The CMF Headphone Pro features 40mm drivers with composite polymer diaphragm, said to provide greater clarity and precision. In practice, the result is correct, even pleasant, but far from stunning.
The bass is present, sometimes too much. With the “bass boost” mode, they become downright dominant — a real wall of sound on certain electro or hip-hop tracks. The effect is pleasant at first, but over time, the mids fade behind the bass, the vocals lose clarity and the soundstage closes. We quickly find ourselves with a round but confused sound, lacking air.
The treble is good. No aggression, no shrill sibilance, but a small hint of sibilance on the cymbals or strings, a sign that the precision remains limited. We feel that the headset seeks to flatter the general public’s ears, with a warm and energetic sound, to the detriment of fidelity.
The app allows you to tune things out a bit via the equalizer. By playing with the “Rock” or “Electronic” profiles, you gain a little punch, but the headset does not transform. The “concert/theater spatialization” mode, supposed to widen the stage, mainly provides artificial reverberation, more gadget than anything else.
Result: to listen to Spotify playlists, podcasts or YouTube videos, the Headphone Pro does the job without flinching. But if you are an audiophile, you will quickly feel its limits. At this price, it’s more of an everyday companion than a headset for enjoying a mix or rediscovering your favorite albums.
Monstrous autonomy, which ridicules the competition
This is THE strong point of the CMF Headphone Pro, and the one on which Nothing can boast: autonomy. The brand promises 100 hours of listening time without ANC and 50 hours with noise reduction activated. Figures that seem crazy… until we test them. In mixed use, with ANC active part of the time and a volume around 50%, the headphones lasted almost 80 hours before giving up. It’s colossal.
For comparison, most headsets around 150-200 euros max out at 40-50 hours. Here you can literally go on vacation without bringing the charger. And if you ever run out of juice, fast charging saves the day: 5 minutes of plugging in provides around 6 hours of listening time. Fully charging takes just over two hours, via USB-C. Clearly, it is in this area that the CMF Headphone Pro blows away the competition. This is the strong argument which alone justifies its existence.
CMF Headphone Pro at the best price
Base price: €99
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