I tested the CMF Buds 2 Plus — they cost $79 but sound like $200+ rivals

I’d go so far as to proclaim the CMF Buds 2 Plus as an essential purchase for Android users. “Why?” I hear you cry. “What about us mere iPhone users?” Alas, the audio codecs have struck you down once more. But that doesn’t stop these from being some of the best cheap wireless earbuds you can buy.

The CMF Buds 2 Plus are an affordable way to get hi-res, LDAC audio and excellent ANC. With up to 61.5 hours of battery life, you won’t be caught out needing to charge. The ultra-long battery life comes in handy, especially because you’ll want to wear these buds all the time, considering how comfortable they are.

Unfortunately, without LDAC, the Buds 2 Plus sound quality drops off sharply. That means iPhone users in particular are left with some pretty static, flat audio. If you want to find out more about why they may still be a great budget option, keep reading this full CMF Buds 2 Plus review.

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: Cheat sheet

• What are they? Budget earbuds that tick all the right boxes
• How much do they cost? $79 / £49
• What do we like? LDAC compatibility, impressive ANC, excellent battery life, and a comfortable fit
• What don’t we like? Audio struggles without LDAC

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: Specs

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: Price & availability

The CMF Buds 2 Plus are $79 on Amazon U.S., and in the U.K., the buds can be purchased directly from Nothing’s online store for £49.

This small price tag pits the buds against the JLab JBuds Pods ANC, which cost $69. These buds offer effective ANC and an impressive 31 hours of battery life with ANC on, but you get two extra hours with the CMF Buds 2 Plus.

Other budget buds are the EarFun Air Pro 4+ for just $99. They’re $20 more than the CMF buds but pack a serious punch with amazing sound and a whopping 54 hours of battery life.

If you care about sound quality, and bass in particular, but want to stay in the world of budget buds, then the CMF Buds 2 Pro could be the right choice. These buds are just $69 and give a bass performance even big-name brands should be envious of.

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: Design & controls

• Simple but sleek design
• IP55 durability rating for buds
• Responsive touch controls

The CMF Buds 2 Plus have a very simple yet sleek design. They feel a little more plasticky than the premium buds they resemble, such as the Apple Airpods Pro 3 and the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 4 ($249), but they’re a lot cheaper.

CMF’s buds measure 1.3 x 0.9 x 0.8 inches and weigh just 0.2 ounces each, so they’re not bulky at all and are comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. The design is also a big step up from the CMF Buds Pro 2 ($69) earbuds, which come in a bright red colour that I think cheapens the look.

The charging case has a slightly more interesting design. It’s a square shape with a lid that flips up to expose the buds. It measures 2.1 x 2.1 x 0.9 inches and weighs 1.5 ounces, so it remains lightweight. In the top left corner, there’s a spinning disc with holes to attach a loop strap if you want. But this spinning disc became a bit of a fidget toy for me.

If you like to put their audio gear through its paces, you’ll be glad to hear the earbuds have a durability rating of IP55, meaning they can withstand splashes of water from any direction and have some protection from dust. This means they’re great for using at the gym, and you can still listen to your music if you get caught out in the rain (which I did, and they still work great).

However, the charging case doesn’t benefit from much waterproofing, with an IP rating of just IPX2. This will be fine if the case faces some condensation, for example, but anything more than that will likely cause damage.

The CMF Buds 2 Plus have touch controls on the stem, just like AirPods. The stem has flat edges, mimicking the look of Samsung Galaxy Buds, making the touch controls very tactile, easy to use, and responsive. The functions of the controls can be easily changed in the Nothing X app.

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: Features & connectivity

• Enhanced bass
• Dual connectivity
• Missing Dirac Opteo EQ

You probably wouldn’t expect much from $79 earbuds, but the CMF Buds 2 Plus actually pack a punch. They have some in-depth customization options in the app, including EQ settings, bass alteration (which enhances bass performance), and ANC settings.

They offer multipoint connectivity, which is named Dual Connection in the app. To try this out, I connected the buds to my phone and my laptop to switch between music and work calls seamlessly. They also have in-ear detection, which is often missed on a lot of cheaper, budget earbuds, like the Soundcore P20i ($20) or the JLab Go Air Pop ($20) earbuds.

The CMF Buds Pro 2 and the CMF Buds 2 feature Dirac Opteo EQ, which enhances sound in headphones, so it’s a shame to see that missing from this newer model.

The buds use Bluetooth 5.4 for connectivity and are compatible with iOS 13 and above, and Android 6.0 and above. They can be used with AAC, SBC or LDAC audio codecs.

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: App

• Easy to use
• Lots of EQ customization
• ANC settings easily accessible

The CMF Buds 2 Plus use the Nothing X app, which I found easy to navigate, and it made me feel like I have heaps of customization with the earbuds. I was able to easily access the ANC settings, as they are the first thing you see in the app.

You can customize the EQ of the buds with the app, but this was unlike the 9-band frequency controls I’m used to with every other customization app. The Equaliser for the Nothing X app is circular with spikes for Bass, Mids, and Treble. This is still easy to use, but it took me a second to wrap my head around it.

You’re also able to take a test in the app based on your hearing to make a personalized EQ. It’s great to see this feature in a cheaper set of earbuds, as it’s something I love in the Sony Connect app when I use the Sony WF-1000XM6 ($329) earbuds. I personally find the apps from Earfun and JBL much easier to navigate though, I think the futuristic style CMF is going for can be a little confusing.

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: Sound quality

• Sounds better on Android devices
• Struggles with iPhone AAC
• Impressive sound at a cheap price

Although the design and functionality of the CMF Buds 2 Plus are impressive for the price tag, the budget-related cracks start to show when you press play — but primarily on iPhone.

When I was testing the buds, I used my iPhone 17 and our office Samsung Galaxy S25+. iPhones don’t have LDAC, so I could only test the hi-res playback on the Galaxy.

To try out LDAC on earbuds, I streamed Awake by Djo. It starts as an acoustic track with soft, deep vocals before breaking into a heavy explosion that you’d be forgiven for thinking was Turnstile. Every aspect of the song was clear and well-balanced, with the whiny guitar riffs cutting through the rhythm guitar’s fuzziness.

I then listened to She’s American by The 1975 with LDAC enabled. This is a synth pop track, so I used the Pop EQ preset. This preset gave me the most balanced sound results and enhanced the mids on the lead guitar. The vocals and backing track all sounded great, and the bassline stood out. This song has a lot of working parts, including percussion and a saxophone, but the clarity and instrument separation were really great here. This EQ setting worked well with a variety of genres and is the one I think suits the buds best.

Unfortunately, the buds don’t seem to handle other codecs well at all. In particular, the AAC codec, used by iOS devices. When using my iPhone, I first listened to In My Room by Julia Wolf. This song has delicate vocals and an angsty electric guitar, which usually provides a rich soundscape.

I used the Enhance Vocals EQ setting with this song. While the vocals were clear, the guitar sounded static and muffled in some areas. The bass also struggled in this song, which is a shame given how well the CMF Buds 2 Pro handle the low-end otherwise.

With Electronic EQ enabled, I listened to On Melancholy Hill by the Gorillaz. The buds struggled with static again here, although the vocals helped create a dynamic, spacious soundscape.

The difference between using these buds with and without LDAC is seriously night and day. With LDAC enabled, they sound better than Apple AirPods Pro 3, but over AAC and SBC, quality really dropped off (even more than I was expecting). This will leave iPhone users particularly in the lurch, as iOS doesn’t support LDAC. Likewise, if you’re using another device without LDAC (like a Windows PC, Mac or older Android device), you’re also not going to get the best out of these buds. Android users are in for a treat, though.

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: ANC

• Lots of ANC customization
• Blocks out most ambient sound
• Rivals brands like Sony

ANC modes for the CMF Buds 2 Plus can be toggled in the Nothing X app, or with the touch controls. There are three modes to choose from, which range from ANC Off to Transparency to Noise cancellation. The noise cancellation option can be toggled between Low, Mid, High and Adaptive depending on the experience you want.

I tested out the earbuds on my morning commute, which is generally pretty loud. Between the noise of trains and traffic, I need a set of earbuds that can block out distracting ambient sounds but keep me aware of announcements or hazards.

The Adaptive option was great for this; it blocked out sounds like the train engine, but I could hear announcements clearly. This gave me a similar effect to the ambient sound mode that comes with the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds, but without the Sony buds’ premium price.

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: Call quality

• Clear voice
• Blocks out environmental noise
• Struggles to block competing voices

The CMF Buds 2 Plus have impressive call quality. They have six microphones, much like the Apple AirPods Pro 3 earbuds. The microphones on the CMF buds made my voice sound clear and blocked out environmental traffic noise. The earbuds also did an impressive job of reducing wind buffeting.

But when I was on the phone at a cafe, the person on the other end of the line could hear chatter around me, so the environmental noise cancellation works better for ambient sound rather than competing voices.

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: Battery

• Up to 61.5 hours playtime
• LDAC uses more battery life
• Rivals Apple and Samsung

The CMF Buds 2 Plus have battery life to blow big-name buds like the Sony WF-1000XM6 and the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro ($249) out of the water. The CMF buds have 14 hours of battery life with ANC off, which is extended to 61.5 hours with the case — that’s literally double what you get with the AirPods and Samsung buds. This is very impressive for such a cheap set of buds. If you’re using ANC, the battery life is reduced to 7.5 hours, and with the case, it's 33 hours.

Admittedly, the battery life is further lowered when listening with LDAC (which you should be doing to get the best sound quality if you have an Android phone). With LDAC enabled and ANC off, you get 8 hours in the buds and 36 hours with the case. With LDAC and ANC both enabled, you get 5.5 hours with the buds and 25 hours with the charging case.

CMF Buds 2 Plus review: Verdict

The CMF Buds 2 Plus have created a class of their own: an affordable price tag, but impeccable sound with LDAC. For just $79, you get a lot of bang for your buck with these buds. The design is sleek, and that impressive battery life means you can have days of listening without needing to charge. The ANC, meanwhile, is on par with premium rivals like the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds.

However, I would avoid them if you’re an iPhone user because, without LDAC, these buds don’t sound as good as alternatives like the EarFun Air Pro 4+.

So, while without LDAC these buds leave something to be desired, for $79, they’re literally a no-brainer for Android users needing a new pair of daily drivers.