CMF Buds 2 Plus Review: The 69 Dollar Earbuds I Keep Reaching For

I own more earbuds than any reasonable person should. Review habit, occupational hazard. And yet for the past month the pair that keeps ending up in my pocket costs 69 dollars. The CMF Buds 2 Plus, from Nothing's budget sub-brand, are quietly one of the best value purchases in audio right now.

The noise canceling is the story

Measured tests put the ANC at around 83 percent noise reduction, which is a number I would have believed came from earbuds three times the price. In practice, the drone of my ceiling fan and most of the coffee shop chatter around me just disappears. Where they stumble is deep engine rumble. On a bus or a plane, low frequencies leak through more than a Bose or Sony flagship would allow. For city life though, they are more than enough.

Battery is the other shock. CMF claims over 10 hours per charge from the buds alone, and my real usage backs that up. I charge the case maybe once a week. There is also LDAC support for higher quality streaming on Android, plus an in-app hearing test that builds a personal sound profile. I was ready to call that last one a gimmick, but the tuned profile genuinely sounded clearer to me in an A B comparison, especially in the vocal range.

What you give up

Controls are pinch based and fine, but there is no volume dial like some rivals have, and the case feels light in a way that reads budget rather than premium. Call quality is acceptable, not great, in windy conditions.

The obvious rival is the EarFun Air Pro 4+ at 99 dollars, which counters with Bluetooth 6.0, a dual driver setup and aptX Lossless support. If you are an audio spec person, the EarFun is the better toy. For everyone else the extra 30 dollars buys features you will mostly never toggle.