For a limited time, the CMF Buds 2 Plus are available for $55 (30% off).
Nothing! CMF Buds 2 Plus The CMF sit above the Buds Pro 2 in the price hierarchy and offer similar sound, better call quality, and longer battery life. They fit well, and there’s not much to fault at that $79 price point, and there’s even less to complain about when they’re often discounted to $55. Soon after launch, I shifted to the CMF Buds 2 Plus as my daily driver for music and calls.
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Apart from one minor annoyance, there’s a lot to like. These might be my new recommendations for budget earbuds.
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The CMF Buds 2 Plus have a square-ish case, similar to the Buds Pro 2. Although the dial is still present, it is not functional and exists only as a signature CMF design element. The absence of the Smart Dial feature doesn’t bother me as I rarely use it on the Pro model.
The overall case build has a textured but slightly slippery finish. I have dropped it several times as it kept slipping out of my hands, but I have not seen any wear and tear due to accidental drops.
The buds themselves are light and fit me well. They have a small touch control area that recognizes taps. You can double-tap, triple-tap, tap-and-hold, and double-tap-and-hold to control music playback, volume, and ANC.
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While I find the swipe gestures more intuitive, the controls on the CMF Buds 2 Plus earbuds work well… unless you’re a side sleeper. The only annoying part of these earbuds is that they register fake touch inputs from clothes/pillow covers. As a result, you constantly hear ANC on and off through your music while lying on your side.
If you can look past that, the CMF Buds 2 Plus are one of the most feature-rich and good-sounding earbuds out there for under $80.
Setting up a personalized sound profile within the NothingX app.
Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET
The new Personal Sound Profile really helped improve the experience with my earbuds. You can add it by doing a 3 minute test in the NothingX app. The company says the Personal Sound Profile “creates a dynamic compensation solution based on your unique hearing and keeping your music clear.” I prefer this to out-of-the-box tuning.
The app also allows you to adjust the equalizer or create your own custom one with the extremely intuitive spherical tri-band equalizer. EQ presets like Pop, Rock, Electronic, Enhance and Classical should be good for people who know what type of songs they like to listen to. For example, it is great for classical orchestral music because it reduces the bass and makes the sound neutral.
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Other features include Ultra Bass, Spatial Audio, Dual Connection, In-Ear Detection, ANC, Ear Tip Fit Test, Low Lag Mode, and Find My Earbuds functionality. If you toggle on Ultra Bass, the Buds 2 Plus will sound heavy. You can adjust the levels from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). For me, anything above 2 was a bit much, and 4 or 5 was too much.
The CMF Buds 2 Plus sound great for the price. By default, the earbuds support SBC and AAC codecs, but the app identifies whether your source device supports LDAC or not, and then you can choose the codec of your choice. They deliver a wide soundstage, clear instrument separation, seamless transitions between frequencies, and better bass response than before. Vocals were clear even in bass-heavy tracks.
CMF Buds 2 Plus Earbuds
Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET
Turning on spatial audio made music sound more artificial than expected – you could tell it was software fiddling rather than immersive fine-tuning. I preferred to listen to my music with spatial audio off, which sounded more immersive.
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The ANC of the CMF Buds 2 Plus is on par with the Buds 2 Pro. I found the default eartips to fit very well, so passive noise cancellation was a good thing to start with. The Buds 2 Plus effectively reduce ambient noise from fans, air conditioners, and general public conversation. I set my ANC priority to High, but you can choose Smart Adaptive mode to adjust ANC based on your environment.
I used the CMF Buds 2 Plus with ANC on most of the time, and in my 10 days of use, I’ve charged them twice. They are a long lasting pair of earbuds. My usage includes music playback while I’m working and on calls. This reminds me, the callers on the other end said my voice was clear and they didn’t notice the wind in the background.
ZDNET’s shopping advice
CMF Buds 2 Plus Offers an excellent feature set, including options to personalize the sound and adjust the equalizer, a full suite of playback and volume controls, clear call quality, good ANC performance, and long-lasting battery life. For a pair under $100 this is a very impressive overall package. Right now, take advantage of 30% off for a limited time and purchase a pair for $55.
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However, if you are a side sleeper and like to fall asleep while listening to quiet music, then these earbuds are not for you. They do tend to detect false touch from clothing, so if that’s a specific use case you’re looking for in your next pair of earbuds you might be better off buying something else.
That said, the CMF Buds 2 Plus are an easy recommendation for most people. And if you don’t care about LDAC or the Personal Sound Profile feature, cmf buds 2 Another value-for-money earbud, the price of which has also been reduced currently.
