Do the CMF Buds Neo look cheap?
The CMF Buds Neo follows the company’s familiar design language: a square charging case, rounded corners, and a matte finish. The design is simple, but does not look universal.
In one corner of the case there is a round dial that can also be used as a strap. There’s a USB Type-C port on the side, and an LED on the front indicates charging and pairing status. The headphones sit securely inside the case thanks to the magnets, and I had no trouble taking them out or putting them back in. The headphones have a matte finish on the legs and a glossy finish around the main body, giving them a more premium appearance than expected at this price.
Still, everything you need is there, and the Buds Neo don’t feel cheap.
Are the Buds Neo comfortable enough for long-term listening?
The headphones are lightweight, and this becomes noticeable almost immediately after putting them on. I didn’t feel much pressure in my ears, and the standard silicone tips provided a fairly secure fit.
CMF comes with small, medium, and large ear tip options, so finding the right fit won’t be difficult. In my opinion, the earbuds stayed in place even while moving, which is important since a poor fit can affect both comfort and ANC performance.
I don’t usually wear headphones continuously for hours at a time, but the Buds Neo remained comfortable during one to two hours of listening. I didn’t feel the kind of pressure that can tire some in-ear headphones after extended use.
The lightweight design helps with this. Thanks to the right size of the headphones, I was comfortable using them for longer listening periods.
How do CMF Buds Neo sound?
The Buds Neo feature dynamic 12.4mm drivers and a sound profile that will appeal to people who like a little more bass. They are not designed to provide a completely balanced or neutral sound. Instead, more emphasis is placed on the bass, while vocals and other sounds remain fairly clear.
The Buds Neo can also be very loud. With regular use, I found that 40-50 percent volume was more than enough for comfortable listening. At levels around 80 percent and above, I noticed some distortion, but it didn’t affect my daily life since I rarely had to go anywhere near those levels.
Can you customize the sound of the Buds Neo?
To some extent, yes. The Nothing X app gives the Buds Neo six equalizer presets, as well as options to further customize the sound. There are also two bass boost levels to choose from.
The Nothing X app also acts as a central control hub for the headphones, bringing connectivity, audio, and other settings into one place. I found the controls easy to use, especially the ability to customize touch actions for each earbud. There is also a dual connection setting that can be turned on or off.
Another option is low latency mode. You can simply turn it on or off, although I didn’t find any noticeable difference when using it. Therefore, most users may not need to think about this setting regularly.
The headphones also support spatial audio. For first-time users, the app explains what the feature does before allowing them to enable it. Spatial audio is a fixed setting, so there are no additional settings available other than turning it on or off.
Noise reduction and transparency
The app gives users multiple options to control noise cancellation. You can turn off noise cancellation completely or use transparency mode if you want to hear what’s going on around you. For noise cancellation itself, there are levels of “Low,” “Medium,” “High,” and “Adaptive.”
I usually kept the noise cancellation on high. If I want to hear what’s going on around me, I prefer to manually switch to transparency mode rather than let the headphones automatically adjust the level in adaptive mode. This is, of course, a matter of personal preference, but having such options is useful.
Does 35dB ANC make a difference?
This is perhaps the most important question for a pair of headphones at this price. CMF rates the Buds Neo for up to 35dB of noise cancellation and offers three levels of ANC as well as an adaptive mode. In my experience, ANC does make a noticeable difference, especially with constant background noise.
I found that ANC reduced ambient noise and made the environment less intrusive. Instead of trying to eliminate every sound, it reduces background noise enough to make the sound easier to focus on.
Can Buds Neo handle phone calls?
There are four microphones in the headphones, two on each side, and CMF uses Clear Voice technology for calls. During my calls, voices came through clearly, and the person on the other end of the line usually heard me without difficulty. In a quieter environment, performance was easy.
Is the connection secure?
For the most part, yes. CMF Buds Neo supports Bluetooth 6.0, Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair. Pairing is simple, although the process is a little unusual: I had to put on the headphones, touch them both, and hold the touch controls for about five seconds to put them into pairing mode.
What I found more useful was the ability to connect two devices. I could keep the Buds Neo connected to both my phone and my desktop computer, saving me the trouble of repeatedly unplugging and pairing them every time I switched between them.
For a pair of headphones priced at Rs 1,999, the ability to connect two devices is a welcome addition and I ended up using it regularly.
The Buds Neo make some compromises. The most obvious one is the lack of a physical pairing button. Instead, you’ll have to put on your headphones and use touch controls to enter pairing mode. It works, but a physical button on the case would make pairing a new device easier.
Can the Buds Neo last a week?
Battery life is another area where CMF’s claims largely translate well to day-to-day use.
The company claims total playback time with the charging case of up to 52 hours when ANC is disabled. With ANC enabled, the claimed total playback time drops to 30 hours. The headphones themselves are designed to last up to 11 hours without ANC.
During use, I did not have to constantly think about charging them. I only charged the case once in the middle of next week, which suggests that regular users who listen to music for several hours a day won’t need to carry the charger around very often.
The fast charging feature is also useful. CMF claims that 10 minutes of charging can provide up to 5.5 hours of playback. This means that even if the headphones are almost empty before leaving home, a short charging session will provide several hours of listening time.
So, is CMF Buds Neo worth buying?
Priced at Rs 1,999, the Buds Neo gets the important things right: pleasant sound, useful ANC, a comfortable fit, reliable connectivity and good battery life. There are a few compromises, but they don’t detract from what is otherwise a budget pair of headphones suitable for everyday use.
