Buying

There are a lot of wireless earbuds in the world today. In fact, at this exact moment, there are no less than (count ’em) three pairs in my coat pocket right now as I type these words. That’s a lot of earbuds for one person to have, and that figure only becomes even more ridiculous when you consider all three pairs of said wireless earbuds are from one single company—and they were all released at the same time.

That company in question is CMF, which is a sub-brand of the audio-turned-phone company, Nothing. Last month CMF released three different pairs of wireless earbuds—the Buds 2a, the Buds 2, and the Buds 2 Plus. If you’re saying to yourself, “that seems excessive,” then I’m in agreement with you, but hold your judgment until the end because things are about to get even more complicated.

See Buds 2a at Amazon

See Buds 2 at Amazon

See Buds 2 Plus at Amazon

All three of those wireless earbuds have different prices; all three of them have different levels of active noise cancellation (ANC); and all three of them have different drivers. That means, as you’re about to learn, all three of them deliver a different listening experience, and that means you ought to know what you’re getting into before you roll the dice and purchase a pair. But where do you start? Spec sheets are helpful, but they only bring you so far. It’s the experience of using them—the real discernible one that decibels on a chart might not portray—that really matters. If only there were someone who spent time trying all three to tell you just which pair you need and which you can potentially forget…

CMF by Nothing Buds 2 Plus

The CMF Buds 2 Plus may be the most expensive of the pack, but they’re still the most bang for the buck. Trust me, you’ll hear the difference—I sure did.

Pros

• Robust bass

• Good dynamic range

• Affordable

Cons

• No orange color

• Similar sound to Buds 2 at times

In case you didn’t get my not-so-subtle hint, I tried all three of CMF’s new pairs of wireless earbuds to bring you the answer to your burning question: which pair of Buds 2 should you get? The answer may not surprise you, but before we get to my experience and comparison, let’s start at the beginning. What’s going on with these wireless earbuds?

First, at the lowest end, there’s the Buds 2a, which I got in this appealing orange color that the 2 Plus unfortunately does not come in. Naturally, these wireless earbuds have the lowest level of everything in the spec department, and they also have the lowest price. The Buds 2a have 42 decibels of noise cancellation, a 12.4 mm Bio-fiber driver, and 5 hours of battery life with ANC on and 8 hours with ANC off. They retail at a very reasonable price of $49.

Then, there’s the middle child: the Buds 2, which, if you’ve been following along, have slightly elevated specs and a slightly higher price, though there’s actually one big caveat on that front that I’ll get to in a moment. The Buds 2 have 48 decibels of noise cancellation, 11mm PMI drivers enhanced by Dirac Opteo’s tuning, and 7.5 hours of battery life with ANC on and 13.5 hours with ANC off. Here’s where things get interesting; they usually retail at a $10 premium compared to the Buds 2a (that’s $59), but as of this writing, they’re $10 off, which makes them the same price of $49.

© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

Finally, there’s the Buds 2 Plus, which are the proverbial crème de la crème of CMF by Nothing’s most recent lineup (forgetting the Buds 2 Pro that came out last year for a moment) that have—say it with me now—the highest price tag. The Buds 2 Plus have 50 decibels of adaptive noise cancellation (only slightly higher than the Buds 2 but with a 5400Hz frequency range as opposed to the former’s 5200Hz range), a 12 mm liquid crystal polymer driver, and 7.5 hours of ANC playback out of the case and 14 hours of non-ANC playback. They, as I alluded to, are the most expensive of the three pairs at $69.

Okay, got all that? Stay with me, now! The lineup, with its similar names, looks, and slight variations in features and price, is confusing, and there’s no way of getting around that. Don’t worry, though, for everyone’s sake (myself included), we’re going to put all of that aside for a moment and get down to brass tacks: what do these things actually sound like? On that front, I’ve got good news and bad news.

I’ve been using CMF’s budget wireless buds for the past couple of weeks, and I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Sometimes you really get what you pay for (see: this scrappy but frankly bad pair of pocket-sized earbuds I reviewed from Jlabs) and sometimes the cheapest option is actually the best (see: Nothing’s Ear (a) wireless earbuds). Because of that variability, I came into the trio of CMF wireless buds with an open mind, but ultimately, I was surprised at what I found.

As a test, I listened to the same song (My Bloody Valentine’s “Only Shallow”) with each pair, back-to-back-to-back, and under the same conditions—a fairly quiet area of the Gizmodo office. Starting first with the highest-end pair, the Buds 2 Plus, I worked my way down until I hit the Buds 2a.

© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

So let’s start from the top: the CMF Buds 2 Plus sound great. There’s dynamic range, and the noise cancellation, though not world-class, is solid enough for your subway commute (an environment that I also tested all three buds in). Frankly, I think they’re almost as nice as Nothing’s Ear (a), which is probably my favorite pair of Nothing wireless earbuds for the value and design. All in all, I’m a fan of the CMF Buds 2 Plus. I wouldn’t choose them as my “daily driver,” so to speak, just because I love the ceramic driver on Nothing’s Ear wireless earbuds more and their transparent design, but if I were forced to use them, I wouldn’t be mad about the quality.

Next, I tried the CMF Buds 2, the middle child, which, while pleasant, didn’t quite sing like the Buds 2 Plus. They do an equally good job of simulating bass, but they definitely are a little muddier compared to their premium-priced counterparts. ANC, as I suspected, based on the level of noise cancellation stated in CMF’s spec sheets, was about the same as the 2 Plus, which is nice, but if you’re looking for the highest fidelity, the 2 Plus wins this round.

Then there’s the baby—the CMF Buds 2a. This is where I noticed the biggest dropoff. While the price is very approachable, these buds sound by far the tinniest out of the lineup and bring the lowest level of noise cancellation. It was harder to notice when I was testing the wireless buds anecdotally and randomly on my morning commute, but I’m not a big fan of the dynamic range or the noise cancellation on the Buds 2a. I’d say you get what you pay for, but these buds now cost the same as the Buds 2, and the midrange pair are leaps and bounds better.

© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

So, those are unscientific conclusions. In this case, the Buds 2 Plus justify the premium price, and while the Buds 2 are serviceable, they definitely don’t deliver the same quality. You can forget all about the Buds 2a because they don’t deliver anywhere near the sound quality of the Buds 2, which are now the same damn price. But just to be sure I wasn’t letting the knowledge of price affect my judgment, I did a blind test to see if I could really hear the difference, and mostly my impressions remained the same.

In a blindfolded listening test, I was able to identify the three different wireless buds correctly six times in a row on two different styles of songs (rock and hip-hop), though there are some frequencies where the difference is harder to notice, like more “cinematic” music with fewer frequencies to keep track of. The Buds 2a are a dead giveaway with their tinny, almost hollow sound, and the Buds 2 and Buds 2 Plus are definitely harder to differentiate but still have enough tells in most genres—the Buds 2 Plus typically have better bass and a fuller sound profile.

While I don’t love to be upsold on anything, sometimes in this world, you get what you pay for, and the CMF wireless earbuds are no different. My advice is, if you can afford the $20 premium over the Buds 2 and Buds 2a, then you should pay it—get the Buds 2 Plus. There’s not much difference from an ANC perspective, but from sheer sound quality, the Buds 2 Plus earn their premium-sounding name, and they’re still (if we’re in the spirit of comparing) $50 cheaper than the Nothing Ear and $10 cheaper than the Ear (a).

See Buds 2a at Amazon

See Buds 2 at Amazon

See Buds 2 Plus at Amazon

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