CMF by Nothing Buds Pro 2
At a glance, a four-star rating might seem generous for a product that makes a bit of a pig’s ear of midrange reproduction and doesn’t really put the ‘NC’ into ‘ANC’. But the Buds Pro 2 are a likeable and engaging product nonetheless, and if you’re operating on a strict budget you could do a lot worse…
Pros
- Lively, punchy and engaging sound
- Remarkable specification at the money
- Reasonably stylish and nicely finished
Cons
- Rather thick and indistinct midrange reproduction
- ANC doesn’t really do the ‘NC’ bit
- Struggles to achieve quoted battery life
Key Features
- ConnectivityBluetooth 5.3 with LDAC codec compatibility
- Sound11mm bass driver with 6mm micro planar tweeter
- DurabilityIP55 water and dust resistance
Introduction
Colour, material, finish. These aren’t the only things you need to consider when creating or, for that matter, buying some audio equipment – but they’re a good place to start.
CMF in this instance is a sub-brand of Nothing, created with the explicit intention of bringing a bit of the British brand’s off-beat design to an even more accessible price-point.
There’s no denying the price of the Buds Pro 2 is pretty accessible. But, of course, a pair of true wireless in-ear headphones only represents value for money (no matter how much it costs) if the performance is a match for the colour, material and finish…
Availability
The CMF by Nothing Buds Pro 2 true wireless in-ear headphones are on sale now, and in the United Kingdom they’re yours for £59. They sell for $59 in the United States and will set you back around AU$99 in Australia.
Obviously this is a keen price for a pair of well-specified TWS, but the Buds Pro 2 are by no means the only game in town. Our current budget-orientated favourites, the Sony WF-C500, are even more affordable – so what can the CMF bring to the table? Apart from a big selection of colours, I mean?
Design
- More control options than usual
- Choice of four finishes
- 4.9g per earbud; 46g charging case
Fundamentally, there’s nothing about the way Buds Pro 2 are designed that’s going to startle anyone. Early on, a company has to decide if its true wireless in-ear headphones are going to be the twisty pebble type or the dangly stem alternative – CMF has decided to go with the latter.
At 33 x 20 x 24mm and 4.9g each, they’re small, light and quite easy to get comfortable in the ear. The charging case in which they travel (and charge) is an equally manageable 53 x 53 x 22mm and 46g – so as a package the Buds Pro 2 are no kind of burden. An IP55 rating against moisture and dust means that not only are they convenient to transport and use, they can be transported to and used in any realistic environment.
There are three sizes of silicone earbuds included in the package, and they’re the same colour as the charging case and earbuds themselves. You can choose between dark grey or light grey (which is this close to being a choice between black or white), a quite deep blue or a very lively orange finish.
The design of the earbuds includes a small capacitive touch-surface at the top of each stem, which is pretty standard. What’s not pretty standard is the inclusion of a turn/push dial on the charging case itself – it’s neatly integrated and makes a lot of sense on those occasions when your hands might be buried in your pockets against the chill of the typical British summer.
The specific function of each set of controls can be dictated in the Nothing X control app that’s free for iOS and Android – and in addition, the app includes EQ adjustment, noise-cancellation, activation of multi-point connectivity, firmware upgrade notifications and all the other usual options.
Features
- Bluetooth 5.3 with LDAC codec compatibility
- 11mm bass driver, 6mm micro planar tweeter
- Adaptive active noise-cancellation
You’ve got to hand it to CMF: there’s nothing about the feature-set of the Buds Pro 2 that indicates they’ve been in any way built down to a price.
Wireless connectivity, for instance, is via Bluetooth 5.3 and as well as the usual SBC and AAC codec compatibility, these earbuds are compatible with LDAC too. Which means that (when connected to an appropriate source player) lossy 24-bit/96kHz content can be streamed.
And once on board, it’s delivered to your ears by a dual-driver arrangement consisting of an 11mm titanium-coated polyurethane bass driver and a 6mm micro-planar tweeter of titanium-coated polyethylene terephthalate. We are far from entry-level territory here.
Within the control app there’s a defeatable low lag mode to optimise you gaming experience, an ear-tip fit test (never a bad thing) and the facility to enable or disable the spatial audio effect. You can also switch Ultra Bass on or off, as well as investigate some EQ presets (including DIRAC Opteo) or create one of your own.
Active noise-cancellation, meanwhile, can be turned off or specified for one of four positions (High, Mid, Low and Adaptive). There’s also a Transparency position.
And where active noise-cancellation is concerned. Its effect is mild in the extreme, to the point that I find myself checking the app to confirm it’s activated more than once during the course of this review. Its effect on external sounds is not even remotely pronounced, which makes the fact that the Transparency setting is quite effective seem frustrating. No one buys earbuds primarily to block out ambient sound, of course – well, almost no one – but when a spec-sheet includes ANC you’re entitled to expect a bit more noise-cancelling than is available here.
Battery life is quoted at 11 hours (with ANC off) or 6.5 hours (with it on), with another three full charges in the case – obviously if you like to listen loud, or constantly use LDAC (or both), those numbers need to be revised downwards. In all honesty, you need to revise them downwards a little, regardless – in my time with the Pro Buds 2 I was never quite able to get within touching distance of any of these figures. What I can confirm, though, is that a ten-minute charge should be enough for another two or three hours of action.
There are three mics in each earbud. They take care of ANC and telephony, of course, as well as voice-assistant interaction. And there’s Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair available to those with the appropriate source devices.
Sound Quality
- Punchy and forthright sound
- Slightly vague midrange reproduction
- Ineffective noise-cancellation
If it’s vigour and a palpable sense of excitement you want from your affordable true wireless in-ear headphones, you’ve come to the right place. A good time is what the Pro Buds 2 sound like they’re interested in, and it’s an attitude that’s quite infectious.
So treat them to something with a bit of verve about it (Boys in the Band by Lambrini Girls, say, or Jalen Ngonda’s If You Don’t Want My Love) and the CMF fairly lap it up. With EQs left alone, and Ultra Bass switched off, the earbuds conjure a robust, punchy and quite attacking sound, driving forward on a solid foundation of solid low-frequency presence.
Bass is varied and well controlled as well as being full-figured, so rhythmic expression is very decent and there’s undeniable momentum to the presentation. Dynamic headroom is considerable too, so the Buds Pro 2 can describe changes in intensity and volume confidently. All of which goes a long way towards an engaging and energetic delivery.
At the opposite end of the frequency range there’s a similar level of enthusiasm, a similar level of detail retrieval and a similar sense of enthusiasm. Treble sounds attack crisply but never get carried away, and there’s plenty of light and shade where detail levels are concerned.
Other undeniable positives include the solid and fairly expansive soundstage the CMF can create, the attention to low-level harmonic variations they display, the convincingly natural tonality at either end of the frequency range, and the unmistakable sense of engagement the Buds Pro 2 can generate.
Step down in tempo and intensity to a digital audio file of Sam Morton’s Kaleidoscope and all of the above remains true – except, of course, for the gleeful levels of attack the Buds Pro 2 previously demonstrated. Detail levels stay high, soundstaging stays coherent, and each end of the frequency range remains balanced and confident.
It’s in between that the problems lurk. As I’ve mentioned, the CMF spec-sheet reveals an 11mm bass driver and a 6mm micro-planar tweeter – but there’s no explicit mention of the midrange. It’s the bigger driver that’s responsible for midrange reproduction, I’m sure – but it’s not especially good at it. The midrange here is slightly vague and indistinct where the rest of the frequency information is crisply focused, and it’s not quite as detailed as the stuff happening on either side of it either.
Which means that voices aren’t as explicit as they might be, and the eloquence and positivity the Buds Pro 2 demonstrate elsewhere becomes rather hazy and approximate. It’s here, more than anywhere else, that the CMF sound like they don’t cost all that much money.
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
Cheap excitement
You fancy some wireless hi-res audio excitement on a budget
You want better ANC
You’re interested in hearing midrange fidelity in a noisy-ish environment
Final Thoughts
The CMF by Nothing Buds Pro 2 are not perfect – but I will confess to being quite surprised at just how lucid and enjoyable a listen they are, in many ways, in the context of the asking price.
I had rather foolishly assumed they’d get nowhere near the Sony WF-C500 – so I can only learn not to make assumptions…
How we test
We test every pair of headphones we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry-standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Tested with real world use
Tested for a week
You might like…
FAQs
There’s no wireless charging support for these buds, but you do get fast charging.
Full specs
The post CMF by Nothing Buds Pro 2 appeared first on Trusted Reviews.
Source Trusted Reviews ,Home Appliances Reviews
About Products Reviews
No comments