The only budget CMF worth buying earbuds

There are many wireless earbuds in the world today. Actually, at this exact moment, when I type these words, I have no less than (count ’em) in my jacket pocket. For one person, it’s a lot of earbuds, and that number only becomes even more ridiculous when you consider that all three pairs of the above wireless earbuds are from one company, and they’re all released at the same time.

The company in question is CMF, which is a sub-brand of audio-turned-phone companies, with nothing. Last month, CMF released a pair of three pairs of wireless earbuds: bud 2a, bud 2 and bud 2 Plus. If you say to yourself, “It seems too much”, then I agree with you, but stick to the judgment until the end, because things will become more complicated.

See buds on Amazon 2a

See buds on Amazon 2

Check out Buds 2 Plus on Amazon

All three wireless earbuds are priced differently. All three have different levels of active noise cancellation (ANC); all three have different drivers. This means that when you’re about to learn, all three offer different listening experiences, which means you should know what you’re entering before rolling the dice and buying a pair. But where do you start? The specification sheets are helpful, but they will only take you that far. This is the experience of using them – a truly discernible experience on the chart may not be portrayed, which is really important. If only one person takes the time to try all three tell you which pair you need and which ones you might forget…

If you don’t get my not too subtle tips, I tried all three pairs of wireless earbuds from CMF to bring you the answer to your burning question: Which pair of buds do you deserve? The answer may not surprise you, but before we gain my experience and comparison, let’s start from the beginning. What’s going on with these wireless earbuds?

First, at the lowest end, there are buds 2a, I got 2 pluss in this attractive orange unfortunately. Naturally, these wireless earbuds have the lowest level of everything in the spec department, and are also the lowest price. Bud 2a has 42 Cancel the noise of decibels, 12.4mm biofiber driver and 5 hours of battery life with ANC and 8 hours off with ANC. Their retail price is very reasonable, at $49.

Then, there is a kid in the middle: bud 2, which, if you keep paying attention, has slightly higher specs and a slightly higher price, although there is actually a big warning in that aspect that I will get in a moment. Bud 2 has 48 dB noise cancellation decibels, enhanced the 11mm PMI driver with tuning of Dirac Opteo, while ANC turns on 7.5 hours of battery life, while ANC OFC can be used for 13.5 hours. This is where things get interesting; they usually retail for $10 ($59) compared to the Buds 2A, but at the time of writing they are discounted at $10, which makes them the same price as $49.

Finally, there is the Buds 2 Plus, the well-known Crème Dela Crème of CMF, the latest lineup of Nothing (forget the Buds 2 Pro that came out for a moment last year), and that’s what I’m with – the highest price. The Buds 2 Plus has 50 dB adaptive noise cancellation (just slightly above Bud 2, but opposite the former’s 5200Hz range with a frequency of 5400Hz), a 12 mm LCD polymer driver and 7.5 hours of ANC playback and 7.5 hours of playback in the case and 14 hours of non-tilt release. I mentioned that they are the most expensive of the three pairs, at $69.

OK, got all of it? Now with me! The lineup has similar slight changes in name, appearance and features and price, which is confusing and cannot solve the problem. But for everyone’s sake, don’t worry (myself included), we’re going to put all of this aside and put it on the brass nail: What do these things actually look like? I have good news and bad news in this regard.

I’ve been using CMF’s budget wireless buds for the past few weeks and honestly, I don’t know what to expect. Sometimes you do get what you pay for (see: these sleeve-sized earbuds I reviewed from JLABS), and sometimes the cheapest option is actually the best (see: Nothing’s Ear (A) Wireless Earbuds). Due to this variability, I entered the CMF Wireless Bud trio with an open mind, but in the end, I was surprised by what I found.

During the test, I listened to each pair, back-to-back, and in the same conditions – a rather quiet Gizmodo office area (“Only shallow” of my bleeding Valentine’s Day). Starting from the top end pair, Buds 2 Plus, I kept falling until I hit Buds 2a.

So let’s start from the top: CMF Buds 2 plus sounds great. There is dynamic range, though not world-class noise reduction, enough to get your subway commute (I have also tested the environment for all three buds). Frankly, I think they are almost as good as Nothing Ear(a), which is probably my favorite pair of wireless earbuds to value and design. All in all, I’m a fan of CMF Buds 2 Plus. So to say, I wouldn’t choose them as my “everyday driver” simply because I like the ceramic drivers of Nothing’s wireless earbuds and their transparent design, but if I were forced to use them I wouldn’t be angry about the quality.

Next, I tried the CMF Buds 2 for the middle kid and while pleasant, it didn’t sing like the Buds 2 Plus. They do just as good at analog bass, but they are certainly a bit muddy compared to their high-priced peers. As I suspect, the noise difference between the ANC and the 2 Plus is roughly the same, according to the noise cancellation level described in the CMF spec sheet, which is good, but if you are looking for the highest fidelity, the 2 Plus will win this round.

Then comes the baby-CMF bud 2a. This is where I noticed the biggest drop. While the price is very approachable, these buds sound the tiniest of the lineup and bring the lowest levels of noise cancellation. When I commute in the morning, I have a hard time noticing anecdotes and random tests of wireless buds, but I am not a big fan of dynamic range or noise cancellation on buds 2A. I would say you get what you pay for, but now these buds are priced the same as buds 2, while the mid-range pairs have a better leap and boundaries.

Therefore, these are unscientific conclusions. In this case, the Buds 2 Plus can justify the premium price, and although the Buds 2 can be used, they absolutely won’t offer the same quality. You can forget everything about bud 2a The same damn price. But to make sure I didn’t let price knowledge affect my judgment, I did a blind test to see if I could actually hear the difference, and mainly my impression stayed the same.

In a blindfolded listening test, I was able to correctly identify three different wireless buds six times in a row on two different songs (rock and hip-hop), although on some frequencies it was hard to notice the differences, such as more “Cinematic” music, less frequency, less frequency. The Buds 2a is a dead giveaway with subtle, almost hollow sounds, and the Buds 2 and Buds 2 Plus are absolutely indistinguishable, but there are still enough differences in most genres – the Buds 2 Plus usually has better bass and a fuller sound profile.

While I don’t like paying for nothing, sometimes in this world you get what you pay for and CMF wireless earbuds are no exception. My advice is if you can afford a $20 premium over the Buds 2 and Buds 2a, you should pay – get a Buds 2 Plus. From an ANC standpoint, there isn’t much difference, but from pure sound quality, the Buds 2 Plus wins a high-sounding name, and they’re still (if we have the spirit of comparison) than Nothing Nothing Ear and $50 cheaper than Ear(a).

See buds on Amazon 2a

See buds on Amazon 2

Check out Buds 2 Plus on Amazon