These very inexpensive headphones have excellent sound quality and impeccable design

CMF, the sub-brand of Nothing, to start up co-founded by Carl Pei and Spaniard David Sanmartín, arrived in Europe at the end of last year. And since then, the company has launched a few products, like the Buds Pro, wireless earbuds, and the Watch Pro, an inexpensive smartwatch. Some items that stand out for their affordable price and which now have a new companion: the CMF Buds, more modest headphones that They offer excellent sound quality for less than 40 dollars.

The CMF Buds are interesting wireless headphones, since they offer a lot for only 39 dollars. Inexpensive helmets available in light gray or a bright orange version; and combine excellent audio quality with a special design and an attractive technical sheetsuch as noise cancellation (ANC) with dedicated transparency mode, Bluetooth 5.3 with pairing of two devices at the same time and a battery life of 35 hours of playback.

Its charging case even stands out, which is different from what we usually see in the industry, since it is square in shape. All this at an incredibly low price. In SPANISH – El Android Libre we went several weeks of use of CMF Buds of the Nothing sub-brand. Headphones that leave a good taste in the mouth and show that currently it is really difficult to find an alternative on the market offering this quality for so little money.

Attractive design

Design is one of the keys to Nothing, which stands out for the transparency of its devices. A pillar that the company has also transferred to the CMF range, as evidenced by its new Buds headphones. But before going into details, we must start by talking about charging case, completely different from what we see in the sector: It is a square-shaped box with rounded edges, rather than an oval.

[He probado el Nothing Phone (2a): este móvil va a poner patas arriba la gama media por menos de 330 dollars]

A charging case also made of plastic that weighs just over 43 grams and measures 54.7 millimeters in length and width and 22.9 mm in height; so it is comfortable to carry. This one comes with a lid that seems sturdy and closes easily, brand logos, a USB-C charging port, a quick connect buttonan LED status light that indicates pairing mode and two holes for attaching the case to a keychain or putting on a lanyard for comfortable carrying.

Some holes are inserted into a wheel which can be transformed into a spinning toy when bored. However, It would have been nice to take advantage of this wheel to add some functions. The case also has a few “buts”, in fact it has two, although they don’t tarnish the experience: the box scratches easily, so you have to be careful if you put it in the same pocket as your keys of house, and in gray color gets dirty quite easily.

For their part, the headphones have a design of short branches with a tactile finish prime, two HD microphones each and touch controls with single, double and triple gestures, customizable in Nothing that you can forget that you are wearing them, and they come with different sizes of pads. Some headsets that They are very comfortable and fit the ear perfectly.; and they are water and dust resistant, just like the box.

Excellent sound quality

The CMF Buds are cheap headphones, but they offer excellent sound quality to listen to any style of music, leaving vibrant sound and powerful bass. They come with some Drivers 12.4mm tuned by Dirac, a well-known audio brand, which provide decent sound output by default, although thanks to the Nothing X app you can create a custom EQ and opt for a more balanced sound.

Headphones also feature an audible bandwidth of 2,900 Hz, which indicates that there is enough detail in their audio to deliver good quality. Another of the main characteristics of the CMF Buds is that they sound great, that is to say They are loud and with the volume at maximum they can be heard very loudly.. Something that, in our case, we love. They also have active noise cancellation, which can be adjusted in the app. It reaches 42 decibels and is compliant, but it lacks a little more insulation.

With ANC turned off, you get the most out of the sound, as it improves bass and midrange clarity. The CMF Buds also support a transparency mode, which sounds dull and doesn’t amplify nearby sounds very well; and have two holes at the bottom of each earphone, which are designed to reduce wind interference. Something he does really well. The headphones feature Ultra Bass 2.0 technology that allows you to set five bass levels from the app.

While call quality is pretty good in quieter environments, but on the street, in busy areas, they do not completely isolate the voice. Another detail to highlight is that the headphones have ear detection, that is, they automatically pause and resume music playback when you remove the headphones from your ears.

One of the best sections of the new CMF headphones is their battery. Each headset comes with a battery with a capacity of 45 mAh and offers autonomy that lasts perfectly for a working day, or 8 hours of music playback; and 5 hours if calls are made or ANC is activated. A figure that goes up to 35.5 hours thanks to the charging case. Additionally, it’s worth noting that with just 10 minutes of charging, you can get around 4 hours of use.

In terms of connectivity, the CMF Buds have Bluetooth 5.3, so can be easily connected to any device. In addition, the company has chosen to use the same application as Nothing for its main products, and which is available both on Android via the Google Play Store and on iPhone; so you can get the most out of it regardless of the operating system you use.

An application that displays the battery level of the headset and case and allows you to perform different actions. From Turn noise cancellation or transparency mode on or off to customize Ultra Bass technology for bass, equalizer to choose a sound to your liking or touch controls, such as double tap to answer or end a call or control noise by touching and holding the pin . Touch controls that work perfectly.

Should I buy them?

The buds of Los CMF These are the headphones to recommend to those looking for good sound at an affordable price.; And for 39 dollars, it is currently difficult to find better on the market. Wireless headphones from the Nothing sub-brand offer more than their price suggests: from an attractive design, which highlights its square-shaped body and comfort, to great sound, compliant noise cancellation and a enough battery life to last 8 hours.

It’s also a comfortable wireless headset that holds up to calls and is compatible with the Nothing X application, quite complete and easy to use, allows you to personalize the sound according to individual tastes, thanks to its different modes. Of course, it also has its points to improve, such as the case which gets dirty and scratched easily or even lacks a little more insulation when the ANC is activated. Nevertheless, the CMF Buds are headphones with excellent quality/price ratio.