CMF by Nothing debuted the CMF Buds 2 a couple of weeks back as the successor to the original CMF Buds which came back in early 2024. A year later, with a price tag of Rs 2,699, are the CMF Buds 2 worth considering and do they pack any improvements over their predecessors? We’ll answer all these questions in our CMF Buds 2 review.
CMF Buds 2 Review: Design and Comfort
When it comes to design, CMF stuck to the old saying: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ The case keeps a familiar look, much like the earlier CMF Buds, but with a twist — the plastic dial now has a transparent finish and features two holes for attaching a lanyard.
Aside from that, the dial is also prone to scratches so you might want to keep it with care. The rest of the case has that matte plastic finish which doesn’t feel the most premium but the quality is still decent given the price.
The case opens with a spring mechanism and isn’t flimsy at all. There’s a button inside for pairing while an LED light on the front tells you the charge and battery status of the buds and the case both.
The buds are nearly identical in terms of shape and design, which also means that they are as comfortable as their predecessors. They fit well in my ear and I didn’t face any fatigue while wearing them for extended periods. The black coloured buds look average and ordinary and won’t turn any heads but the signature orange shade definitely will.
The customisable touch controls work well without any issues. However, I still miss the single tap gesture that’s missing for some reason and you’ll have to choose between one of the earbuds to play/pause the music using one of the gestures, which in my case was the double tap one as the rest of the gestures were taken up for other useful actions. Due to that limitation, I had to use the double tap gesture on the right earbud for play/pause and use it for skipping forward to the next song on the left one.
On the durability front, the earbuds are IP55 rated for dust and water resistance, while the case is splash-resistant with an IPX2 rating.
CMF Buds 2 Review: Audio, App Features, ANC Performance
The CMF Buds 2 pack 11mm custom drivers tuned with Dirac Opteo and Nothing’s Ultra Bass Technology 2.0. They also come with upgraded Bluetooth 5.4 for better connectivity, dual device pairing, and support for both Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair.
Speaking of audio quality, you get a balanced sound signature with no frequencies overpowering the other which was the case with the CMF Buds which mainly focused on the bass and the mid-range. The vocals sound crisp on the CMF Buds 2 and so does the bass and mid-range frequencies. You can hear each beat vibrate in your ear while the treble is maintained with clarity at the same time. Even the instrument separation was handled much better than what I expected.
Note that my entire testing took place with the Dirac Opteo equaliser which did a great job at handling my music and giving me a satisfactory experience. However, if you want more control, you can choose the custom equaliser and adjust the bass, treble, and mid frequencies accordingly, through the Nothing X app. Further, if you want more thumping bass, you can turn on the Ultra Bass option and cycle through a 5-level intensity slider with level 5 offering the most bass-heavy experience.
Overall, the CMF Buds 2 sound drastically better than their predecessors and offer a crisp and clear experience which exceeded my expectations.
Coming to the Nothing X app, with it, you can enable or disable the low lag mode which works the best if you have a Nothing or a CMF Phone and in my experience, it did a good job while gaming. There’s support for in-ear detection and multi-device connectivity, both of which worked optimally.
You can also use the Find my Earbuds feature through the app or do a ear tip fit test so you know you are wearing the earbuds right and with the correct size of ear tips.
It also lets you set one of the touch controls to trigger ChatGPT for voice assistance through a single tap but I didn’t find myself using it much and stuck to the traditional settings including volume control, skip forward or back, and the ability to cycle through ANC and Transparency modes.
Read More: CMF Phone 2 Pro Review: Hitting The Right Spots (Mostly)
The app also lets you switch between ANC and transparency modes. Talking about the ANC performance, CMF claims that the hybrid ANC can block out up to 48dB of ambient noise, covering a wide 5,200Hz range that adapts in real time based on your environment.
While I mostly used the High ANC mode, the buds didn’t disappoint in this area either. They cancel out a good amount of noise while the music is playing and handle high pitched noises surprisingly well. Other regular noises like those of people talking around you, car horns, etc., are again nicely cancelled out even at lower volumes.
The transparency mode, however, feels a bit muddy. It does amplify ambient sounds, but not as much as you’d expect from a good transparency mode. That said, for this price, I haven’t come across any earbuds that do it better.
Next, the Nothing X app also offers a Spatial Sound feature which creates an echo chamber effect to make it sound as if the music is coming from different locations. The feature works fine for movies as it creates an immersive effect but for music, it may not sit well with most.
CMF Buds 2 Review: Call Quality, Battery Backup
Coming to call quality, each bud has three mics and there’s support for Clear Voice Technology 3.0 and Wind Reduction Technology 3.0. However, the call quality still remains average at best. The wearer’s voice isn’t the most clear to the person on the other end and some amount of background noise is always picked up by the buds.
Finally, for battery life, the brand claims that you can get up to 13.5 hours of playback on a single charge, and a total playback time of up to 55 hours with the charging case with ANC off.
I didn’t go for such long sessions at a time but what I can confirm is that the buds offer exceptional backup even if you listen to music at high volumes and use ANC most of the time. I could easily get more than a week of use when coupled with the case. My usage included daily sessions of about two hours at 70 – 80% volume and ANC turner on, and at the end of the week, I had about 55% left in the case which is great.
The CMF Buds 2 offer great value, delivering impressive sound quality and effective ANC for the price. Though the call quality and transparency mode could be better, the long battery life and a solid set of features make them a strong choice for most users.