Finally we can all pretend that the fidget spinner on a CMF bud is an actual fidget spinner, at least it has the feel and click of one now, very unlike the afterthought fidget spinner on the Buds 2A or buds 2 plus.
All that’s left is to find out if the Buds 2 Pro actually fits the bill for high end at a budget or it’s still just your regular buds polished with very refined marketing.
Design
You can’t argue that this is different, I mean it looks and feels different and if the goal was to convince you that this was on the more premium side of things I’d say they got it just right.
For the first time the scroll wheel actually feels like a fidget spinner. Got of tired of pretending it was anything like a fidget spinner on the Buds 2A or Buds 2 Plus where you’d find a similar wheel. The case has an added touch of sophistication too, the matte finish is ‘mattier’ and this design element here has a bit of nothingness to it, and again for the first time I’m kinda digging the vibe.
The buds themselves are your typical CMF buds, looks practically identical to the CMF buds 2A and 2 plus only this time it’s heavier, about 0.3grams heavier than the Buds 2 Plus and you get a bit of the nothingness once more on the buds.
The design is classic, it’s unique and it’s eye-catching. Love the small round cutout on the bud’s stalk, because if anything it’s functional (that’s the touch panel for the touch control) and again it just adds a bit of sophistication to the overall design language. I’ve got mine in black, you can get these in very interesting colors, orange for instance and that’s refreshing to see.
In hand and these feel solid, almost like a rock, Probably the most solid looking and feeling earbuds I’ve tested recently. These things feel like they were chiseled out from one solid block of plastic or maybe just 3D printed.
Fit and comfortability
Being heavier than the Buds 2 plus I was concerned about the fit and how these would feel in ear. As it turns out it didn’t make too much of a difference. These sit nicely in ear even when you’re up and about.
They’re super comfortable too. If you use them for long enough you’re going to experience some ear fatigue but that’s pretty normal for an in ear bud like the Buds 2 Plus.
Features
On the Bud 2 Plus you get:
- HiRes LDAC audio, also SBC and AAC
- Active noise cancelation
- IP55 rating for water resistance
- Touch controls
- Proximity sensing
- Bluetooth 5.4
- Fast pair technology
- The scroll wheel
Noteworthy omission here is wireless charging, come on guys, what’s their official name again is it CMF or Nothing? Anyways come on, QCY the cheapskates brand now has wireless charging on their cheaper flagship. Y’all can do better.
Support for HiRes LDAC allows these buds to stream at rates of up to 990kbps which is neat if you’ve got a device that support that.
Fast pair tech
Big fan of fast pair tech and all CMF buds come with it so feathers to their cap. Basically what it does is allow these buds to pair with your device quickly and very very intuitively.
And you only need to pair once, as long as your other devices use the same Google account if you’re on Android it’ll automatically connect to those once it’s nearby.
IP55 Rating
Another standard feature is the IP55 rating which confers water resistance to an extent on these buds. They’ll survive your sweatiest workouts, a walk in light rain showers or even a few minutes in your shower. Here’s me spritzing them down for like five minutes, put them straight back in ear and they worked no issues.
Touch controls
Touch control is on point, very precise and sensitive when you need them to, I say need them to because they do a very good job of ignoring false triggers. You can map the designated inputs that’s single touch, double touch, triple touch, touch and hold to your preferred actions in the app.
The scroll wheel
So on the Buds Pro 2, the scroll wheel is actually not just cosplaying fidget spinner, turns out you can use these to control the buds. Here watch me change the track, increase the volume and pause playback with the wheel.
Nobody asked for this and I don’t think I’d be using it as often as CMF dreamed when they put it on these buds but it’s a very clever inclusion. Thumbs up.
Active noise cancellation
ANC is the same 50dB rated system you get on the Buds 2 Plus and in practice the performance is essentially the same.
So in my living room it handled all the background noise from the TV at a sub 60% volume quite well. They work good even at higher volumes but some of the audio begins to leak in. Out in the park and they did a great job of suppressing the background noise in that setting too.
Kinda hard to pick out the difference in performance between this system and the better rated 56dB system on the Melobuds N70 – felt pretty much same in terms of performance.
Sound quality
Like the Buds 2 Plus these have a very balanced soundstage with full on representation of bass, mids and trebles. Unlike the Buds 2 Plus, the detail on each component of the soundstage is impressive as well. Bass is deep and punchy with enough umph.. to rival bass tuned buds like the Melobuds N60.
Great detail on the mids means you get to experience the full extent of instrumentals on your favorite jams. Same case with trebles, these buds deliver them with such detail that vocal heavy songs sound very full if you know what I mean.
The one complaint I have which was the same complaint on the Buds 2 Plus is clarity. Somehow and especially at very high volumes these struggle with keeping all components of the soundstage separated or better put delivering them with as much detail as you’d get in the low, mid range volume. So you can hear it trying to deliver those random adlibs or guitar snares just that they kinda get caught up or muffled so to speak with other components of the soundstage.
This effect is best experienced with songs like Labour by Paris Poloma where there’s a high mix of vocals, sub vocals, instrumentals and everything else. Classically when that song gets to the hook somewhere towards the end there’s a very beautiful symphony of voices that you might miss or not experience in it’s full glory on these buds.
Like I said in my Buds 2 Plus review, many a bud struggle with that song segment including my current top pick the Melobuds N70, but surprisingly I’ve had sleeper buds like the N60, or 1More’s Q21 doing a good job of delivering it with precise clarity.
Overall, you won’t really have issues with the sound quality of these buds especially if you’re a fan of pop, rock, rap, hip hop and the likes. Still a great sounding bud just a little bit rough on some edges.
Call quality
6 mics on board the Buds Pro 2 pick up your voice with good enough detail. In noisy environments they do a good job of isolating your voice without detail loss.
Do check the YouTube vid up top for a sample of the sound quality out of the Mic of the buds.
Battery life
On average I got up to 6 hours of on time when actively using these buds for music, that’s with the ANC on too. With ANC off these can stretch to say 7 hours off active listening time. On standby you can expect to get up to 48 hours of on time.
No wireless charging. These charge with the USB A to C cable provided in the box. Again, I never really minded not having wireless charging up until I tested the Melobuds N70. Those ship with Wireless charging and cost less than most buds vying the the premium but cheap Z title. So, CMF can do better.
What’s good, what’s bad
What’s good
- Great battery life
- Awesome design and build
- Good enough sound quality
- Good enough ANC
What’s bad
- Pricing – These retail for 65-75 a pop. And that might sound like a fair deal only if you’re unaware of competition to these buds. The QCY Melobuds N70 for instance cost just $40 and that can stand toe to toe with the Buds Pro 2, even got wireless charging and these don’t.
Should you buy the CMF Buds Pro 2
Right now you can get the buds 2 Pro for about $65 so slightly cheaper than the Buds 2 Plus and this is a better TWS earbud overall in my opinion. If you’re a fan of the Nothing design language and have fallen for their superb marketing campaigns, I’d get this instead of the Buds 2 Plus.
In the market for a great TWS bud without the glitz and glamour, or lets be frank just without the scroll wheel, I’d just get the Melobuds N60 or the N70. Or, if you’re shopping for absolute value for money, there’s the 1More Q21 or the Melobuds Pro.
