Nothing has been on a red-hot stripe lately . Itreleasedtwo phoneswithin four months , and its unbelievable Ear ( a ) bud lately won a spot in ourBest Gadgets of the Monthlist . institute by Carl Pei , the humans behind Nothing , CMF is the companionship ’s poor boy - brand primarily for radical - low - cost earbuds and smartwatches . In June , CMF free its Flagship buds and thesuccessor to the Buds Pro , the Buds Pro 2 .
I knew I had to get my hands on these as soon as I saw the striking orangish tincture on the charging case , a customizable smart dial , and a retail price of just $ 60 . These earbuds wait like they came direct out of a Teenage Engineering studio . The parallel dial on the charging case adds to the retro flavour that alotofproductsare going for these days .
CMF by Nothing Buds Pro 2
Photo:© Artem Golub
There are much adept offering by Samsung and OnePlus for the same price point .
Pros
Cons
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Design
The dial is a nice addition.
I guess bright orange is the color of the year . Sorry , Peach Fuzz . The orange on the charging case of theBuds Pro 2looks as sensational as it did on theRabbit R1and theSamsung Galaxy Watch Ultra . There ’s also a Dark Grey , Light Grey , and a navy racy kind of Blue on these bud . The instance is an unassuming 46 g charge card box that neither looks nor feels expensive . Though the bud look cheap , the case does n’t feel fragile . It is well - made and without any moving parts ( throwing shade atSamsung ’s recent budshere ) . My only struggle with the charging case was turn up the pairing clitoris . It take me a while to look for it because of how well it was camouflaged inside the case .
A dull gray dial grace the top remaining street corner of the charge case , which you could very well misidentify for an aesthetic addition . It is a movable customizable smart dial that you’re able to assign action at law to on the Nothing X app , and it pretty much carries out any job on the earbuds .
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Controls
The on-bud gestures aren’t very well thought out.
Even though the charge eccentric is belittled enough to check in my medallion and light enough not to matter it down , at the end of the twenty-four hour period , it ’s still an extra particular to lodge in your hands . I ’m typically engross in some task during a long call with a champion or running an errand while listening to a podcast and ca n’t afford to occupy one of my hands with the excite display case . I rant about this in nearly all of my reviews , but women ’s dungaree pockets are n’t deep enough to in good order domiciliate the items men ’s jeans can easily carry . When I slue the case into one of my pockets , it lead to a big , ugly protuberance .
The telephone dial on the charging sense like just a folderal . It ’s something that would only be useful if I ’m in bed watching YouTube on my sound . Unless that ’s how you plan on using it , in which shell , it ’s a very efficient way to control your bud . It ’s fully customizable on the companion app , Nothing X. you’re able to single , double , triplex press , press , time lag , and circumvolve it for volume control . I customized it on the app to set off all these action from the case alone : play / pause , answer calls , sour the low lag musical mode on / off , enable voice assistance , and tweak volume .
Sadly , the mastery on the buds themselves are n’t that gravid . There is n’t a single tap gesture at all . The fellow traveler app , Nothing X , permit you to take between dual tap , threefold water faucet , spigot and keep , and double tap and detention . I ’m so used to a exclusive dab for pause / play that I recover myself repeatedly doing that , only to realize it wo n’t trigger a response .
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
If the volume controls were better , I could ’ve go with double - tapping for playback . doubly tap and contain is the only means to tweak volume … which is a lot of piece of work . The not - so - sensitive touch user interface does n’t help either . I would ’ve much rather favourite sliding up and down for volume restraint .
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: ChatGPT Integration
Occasionally glitchy and not entirely hands-free.
A $ 60 yoke of buds offer ChatGPT integration is impressive , but I wish it did a better job . You commence with download the ChatGPT app on the equipment the bud are link to and then head up to the Nothing X app to prepare the voice assistant to ChatGPT ( it ’s set to your earpiece ’s aboriginal assistant by default ) . Then , you do the action you ’ve assigned voice assistance to . I define mine to doubly - beg and holding the rightfulness bud , but that never go . So , I changed it to double - tapping the remaining bud , which was slenderly better .
On the first few attempt , the buds kept triggering the Google Assistant on the Nothing Phone ( 2a ) Plus that I used these bud with throughout the follow-up period . I made sure it was set to ChatGPT on the app multiple times and went back and forth between the two digital assistants to no avail . It was n’t until I rebooted the app and the buds that it finally power the ChatGPT on a double tap .
I asked ChatGPT a crew of questions , including what the 10 Commandments are and whether it make out me . The response time was appropriate and tight to what you ’d get typing on the app or web app . I did n’t care how I could n’t interrupt the voice by speaking over it or tapping somewhere on the bud interface , which kill the purpose of give an LLM integrated directly into your buds . The only manner to interrupt Breezy ( the voice I picked ) was to tap on my earphone ’s screen . The only other option is to listen to its entire response before you’re able to ask a observe - up question .
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
Breezy also glitched out quite a few time , result in a bit of a stammer pretty often . It was solely out of sync on some occasions , so the same reaction play in both ears at dissimilar times , and I could n’t make anything out . You ’d probably be okay now and then turning to ChatGPT on these bud , but regularly using it will reveal its repugnance .
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Sound and ANC
Painfully average.
The buds gasconade an 11 millimetre bass driver and a 6 millimetre tweeter for dual . The frequency range goes from 20 to 40KHz , which exceeds the 20 to 20KHz found on most received audio peripherals . However , since the human listening range lies between 20 and 20KHz , the additional 20 K is more often than not a selling stunt . The Nothing X app provides the standard pre - tuned presets and an option to customize your sound profile . Even at $ 60 , it is still a pretty barebones audio experience .
Listening to Black Spur by Ooyy , I ab initio mat the phone was more bass part - laboured and lacked brightness . I also feel the vocal music were n’t stress enough . Overall , there was not much space in the orchestra , and I often could n’t tell the elements apart . I played around on the custom EQ setting and turned the dual and mids ( where vocals live ) up and the low - end down . The tweaking helped , and the increased twofold helped add smartness to the sound profile . As expected , it did n’t come in the orchestra with enough infinite .
I was n’t a massive fan of the Buds Pro 2 ’s ANC . It slightly still my AC windowpane unit , but the phone of my garish and clicky keyboard typing still passed through . I did n’t get to test these out at the Subway station , but give how gently it was capable to damp my AC and my air purifier on Turbo Mode , I am pretty sure it wo n’t be sufficient for the roaring 6 train .
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
CMF Buds Pro 2 Review: Battery
Enough to last you more than a week.
I have n’t had the opportunity to try out out the 43 - time of day battery life on these in full , but I ’ve done some spry math on my usage so far , and the claim is n’t overstated . During my almost three - day/10 - hour exercise , which involved a fair mix of birdsong and music playback , the charging case drop by 30 % .
The buds alone anticipate 11 minute if you ’re mind to euphony and 6 hours of talking time . Turning ANC on will reduce those figure to 6.5 and 4.5 hours , severally . Wireless charging is n’t supported , but warm charging is . A 10 - moment recharge bring home the bacon them with enough juice to last seven hours .
Multipoint connectivity for up to two devices allowed me to test these with my laptop and telephone at the same time . The frame-up was simple , and there were no stutters . The Buds Pro 2 are rated IP55 , so I would n’t trust on them if I ’m around a pool or a drop in a pool . Mono - listening is n’t hold up , but wear detection is , so they pause playback when you take them out of your ears and resume it when you plug them back in .
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
CMF Buds Pro 2 Verdict
If the only flaw on the CMF Buds Pro 2 was ordinary sound , I could ’ve still recommended them as introduction - level buds for kids or folk who do n’t care much about audio calibre and are on a close budget . But these buds are n’t great in any department except for battery spirit . It ’s a task and a one-half to navigate the on - bud controls , and the telephone dial on the charge pillowcase can only help in circumscribed situations . The ANC is underwhelming , and the $ 60 price is n’t an self-justification . Samsung ’s Galaxy Buds FEoffersfarbetter ANC for $ 80 ( the new , discounted price at the time of reviewing ) . The ChatGPT integration could have been the star of the show , but that was glitchy and irritating to practice .
If you ’re seem for splendid auditory sensation imaging and a productive , airy visibility for cheap , theOnePlus Buds 3is a nifty option for $ 70 . The Galaxy Buds atomic number 26 excels if your biggest priorities are a untroubled fit and simple control . Both these budget alternatives bid excellent ANC and a long - lasting barrage life .
audioCMF Nothing Buds Pro 2Nothing
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
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