1 month ago
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These budget earbuds boast of features that one generally doesn’t expect at this price point read more
 "The sub-5K segment of TWS earbuds in India got more interesting")
Image Credit: Firstpost | Ameya Dalvi
Pros:
- Energetic sound output after a few tweaks
- Configurable sound and controls
- Configurable Smart Dial is a cool addition
- Dual-drivers, LDAC codec support
- Lightweight, comfortable in the ears
- Wear detection, dual pairing support
- Good battery backup on AAC codecs, fast charging
- Good value for money
Cons:
- Average ANC and Transparency performance
- Battery life on LDAC codec needs to improve
- Dirac Opteo EQ doesn’t work with LDAC codec
Price: Rs 4,299
Rating: 4/5
Nothing’s sub-brand CMF has been steadily expanding its product portfolio in India. It recently launched its first smartphone, and along with it, the newer variants of its TWS (true wireless) earbuds and fitness watch. The CMF Buds Pro 2 boasts of an impressive feature list that’s probably better than anything selling at this price point. Can it translate into performance that makes it the best TWS earbuds under Rs 5,000 in India? Let’s find out.
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Design and Comfort (8/10)
CMF earbuds do not have the transparent design of Nothing’s more expensive audio products, but the squarish charging case does have shades of its design language. The smooth velvety matte finish makes the case nice to hold. It is fairly lightweight but I wouldn’t exactly call it pocketable because of its thickness. It does have a very interesting element - a Smart Dial, which is a metal dial the size of a 5-rupee coin. I will tell you more about it in the next section.
You get a power and status LED at the front, a Bluetooth pairing/reset button inside the case and a USB-C charging port on the right side. The product is available in mellow shades like dark grey and (very) light grey - the one we got for review, or if you like to jazz things up a couple of notches, you also have a blue or orange option to choose from. I liked the light grey variant the best but it is a matter of individual taste.
While the build of the case feels polished, the earbuds look distinctly plasticky, but they are light and feel extremely comfortable in the ears. The fit is snug and the buds do not pop out even during jogs. The silicone tips sit well in the ear canals and provide good passive noise isolation. Three pairs of eartips are bundled, and choosing the right-sized pair provides a good seal and better active noise cancellation (ANC). The buds sport IP55-rated ingress protection and can be taken along for workouts and jogs without worry.
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Features and Specifications (9/10)
These Hi-Res Audio certified Bluetooth 5.3 earbuds don’t just support AAC and SBC codecs but also the higher-end LDAC codecs for better throughput. If that wasn’t enough, CMF Buds Pro 2 brags about something that even the most expensive Nothing earbuds do not have - dual drivers. Each earbud is fitted with an 11 mm bass driver and a 6 mm tweeter for cleaner frequency response (in theory). In addition, you get three microphones for calling and ANC.
You get three ANC modes to switch between — ANC on, ANC off and Transparency mode that lets ambient noise through. You get three varying degrees of noise cancellation (low, mid, high) and adaptive ANC to switch between the three automatically depending on the quantum of ambient noise. The company claims these buds can cancel up to 50 dB of background noise across a 5000 Hz frequency range. You get wear detection sensors to pause the audio when you remove a bud from the ear and resume when you put it back in; they work well.
You get touch controls at the back of the earbuds and you can assign various functions to double tap, triple tap, touch & hold and double tap & hold gesture through the Nothing X app which is available on Android and iOS both. You can assign different tasks like Play/Pause, switch tracks, ANC toggle, volume control and more, but certain functions can be assigned only to specific gestures.
If you prefer mechanical buttons over touch, the Smart Dial is your friend. The metal dial on the charging case has excellent tactile feedback and you can assign the aforementioned functions to single press, double press, triple press, press & hold gestures and of course, rotate. Rotating the dial to alter the volume feels so much better and natural than using the convoluted double tap-and-hold gesture.
The latency is fairly low and there was no perceptible delay between video and audio when watching videos. There is a Low Lag Mode you can enable from the app that can drop it further up to 50 ms, which can be handy in gaming. These TWS earbuds support dual pairing and can be paired with two devices simultaneously. It works smoothly and you can use LDAC codec on both devices if you wish to.
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Performance (8/10)
The default sound signature of these CMF buds is distinctly V-shaped with boosted lows and highs, probably with extra emphasis on the lows. The good part is, you can tweak it to your liking using the Nothing X app. Having said that, if you like a bit of extra bass, you will like the Pop audio preset. Rock, Classical and Electronic presets just make up the numbers and offer no real value. Enhance Vocals is useful in voice-heavy content like podcasts.
The Dirac Opteo preset is easily the best of the lot and offers a nicely balanced sound with a broader sound stage. However, for some strange reason, it is only available when using AAC codec and cannot be used with LDAC. If you use the usual streaming services like Gaana or Amazon Music or even Spotify, you won’t find much of a difference between AAC and LDAC output. The difference is noticeable when listening to a high bit rate (320 kbps and above) or lossless audio content.
Sticking to AAC codec will also give you a significantly longer battery backup as you can check in the Battery section below. Coming back to audio presets and sound tweaks, these are probably the fourth Nothing earbuds I have tested, and the tweaks seem a little different for each of the products. You do not have the advanced equaliser here that you get with the Nothing Ear or Nothing Ear (2), nor the same presets as the ones on Nothing Ear (a). You do get a basic 3-band EQ to alter the sound, and it is handy.
After adjusting the EQ, you get a better balance in the sound, and though it remains a shade on the warmer side, the bass feels tighter, the midrange frequencies get more breathing space and it enhances the instrument separation too. The highs are well tempered and they retain ample sparkle without sounding sibilant. The overall detail can be termed as above average for the segment, but not in the same league as something selling at one and a half times its price.
The default soundstage is not too broad but enabling Spacial Audio from the app significantly broadens it and makes the whole experience better. I would advise you to leave it on all the time as it brings the best out of these earphones even when not using the Dirac Opteo EQ. The earbuds are perfectly loud in the 50 to 60 per cent volume range and we faced no issues with its wireless range either with the earphones retaining a strong connection at 10 metres with no obstructions in between.
Moving on to ANC, it is functional but not the best in the segment. It is effective at cutting down low-frequency ambient sounds like the whirr of a fan or the buzz of an AC or even car engines when outdoors but cannot eliminate them entirely. It isn’t that effective against midrange sounds like human voices but does dampen them a bit. And all this at the highest available level of ANC. The Transparency mode is average, and though usable, it doesn’t amplify vocal frequencies enough to facilitate a quick chat with the person around without taking the buds off and without straining your ears.
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Call quality (7.5/10)
The call quality is more than decent on these earbuds. In quieter areas, people on the line were perfectly audible to each other with good voice clarity. Even when outdoors, the microphone array eliminates a lot of low and mid-frequency ambient sounds, though not all, without impacting the voice clarity much. The only minor issue I noticed is the caller’s voice feels bassier, making it less sharp than usual. Having said that, these earbuds are still pretty good for calling.
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Battery life (7.5/10)
Each earbud hosts a substantial 60 mAh battery, while the case packs 460 mAh of reserves. The buds claim to last for 11 hours with ANC off and for 6.5 hours with ANC on. Along with the case they claim to deliver 43 hours and 26 hours of playback with ANC off and on respectively. However, these figures are applicable when using AAC codec. The numbers are significantly lower on the LDAC codec, which we used for the majority of our test process.
During our testing, with ANC turned on at all times and loudness between 50 to 60 per cent, the buds lasted close to 4 hours, which is average at best. With ANC switched off, the buds last just a shade over 5 hours on LDAC codec. The case can recharge them thrice over, which takes the overall battery backup in the range of 16 to 20 hours depending on the quantum of ANC usage, which is below par. I hope the company can rectify this in a future firmware update.
When we switched to AAC codec, the figures were significantly better and closer to the company’s claims. There, we got close to 38 hours with ANC off and 23 hours with ANC on, which is quite impressive. The CMF Buds Pro 2 also supports fast charging. A 10-minute charge gives you approximately 7 hours of playtime (buds and case combined) with ANC off and on AAC codecs, which is more than handy. The battery level of each earbud and the charging case can be seen in the phone’s settings and in the companion app.
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Price, verdict and alternatives
The CMF Buds Pro 2 is priced at Rs 4,299 with a one-year warranty, which makes it arguably the most affordable TWS earbuds with dual drivers at the moment. But just because it has the extra drive doesn’t mean it can sound better than everything with a single driver; case in point it’s more premium siblings. Having said that despite a few shortcomings, the experience was largely positive with a strong feature set, lively sound output and pretty good battery backup when using AAC codec, making it a very good option around the Rs 5,000 mark.
With what it offers, the CMF Buds Pro 2 would have been a runaway winner in certain geographies, but in India, the competition is quite stiff in this segment. For a few hundred Rupees extra, you can opt for the Realme Buds Air 5 Pro or 6 Pro or the OnePlus Buds 3, all with dual drivers and matching features (barring the Smart Dial) and slightly better sound output and ANC. And then you also have the lesser-known Earfun Free Pro 3; a tiny package that packs a serious punch with support for aptX adaptive codec and wireless charging. Check our reviews of each of them and choose one that best addresses your needs.
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English (US) ·