WED, MAR 27
NimishAndAkriti
You might be a little tired of us saying this but the products of Nothing, the tech start up from Carl Pei (he of OnePlus fame) have got a way of catching the eye and piquing the interest. And that continues with the CMF Buds, which come under Nothing's more affordable sub-band, CMF. They are TWS with ANC and are priced at Rs 2,499. And what the heck, we cannot resist saying it - they are SO Orange that they remind us of the kid as Octopus in Love Actually!
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All of Nothing's products have been marked by some design quirks and the CMF Buds are no different. They come in a squarish case with rounded edges, but with a rotating aluminium alloy disc in one corner. The disc has holes in it allowing you to insert a lanyard into it and dangle it along if need be. It is a slightly over elaborate touch we think, but hey, it gets attention, just like that orange colour does. There are black and white variants too. Duh!
They are a sight for the eyes, but Nothing claims that the CMF Buds are also great on the ears, The buds have broadly the same design as the Ear(1) and Ear (2) but are solid coloured and are not transparent at all. They are light and comfortable enough to wear and have IP54 splash resistance so we guess they are OK for gym sessions, but not for pool (the swimming type) ones. The case has no IP rating and can easily slip into a trouser pocket.
Of course, the biggest test the CMF Buds will have to pass will be in terms of audio quality. And for a pair of Rs 2499 buds, they do make some big promises. They come with large-ish 12.4 mm drivers, and promise good quality ANC, multi device connectivity and high definition audio tuned by Dirac. Round that off with 8 hours of battery life (without ANC) on the buds and 36 hours with the case, and these seem like darned good value for not too much money.
They have the specs, the features, the price and well, a very distinct appearance. Which is pretty terrific for a pair of TWS that are priced at just Rs 2499. If they can deliver even reasonably in terms of audio quality and ANC, they could well be THE budget TWS to get. We will be trying them out, so feel free to shoot us any queries you may have. We will endeavour to answer, as always!