Even on a strictly tight budget, you can find good earbuds these days. Also true is the fact that, like with the rest of the market, earbuds are a dime a dozen, and brands have to find a way to position their product apart from others. The recently launched CMF Buds Neo’s design stood out in our first impressions piece. And on paper, it has interesting features like 35dB Active Noise Cancellation, a 12.4mm dynamic driver, Bluetooth 6.0, and a long battery life claim. The asking price is Rs 2,199, and after using it for weeks, including a long train journey to Kerala and back, I have more thoughts to share. Read on to know how these features come together in daily use in our CMF Buds Neo review.
I have already spoken about the CMF Buds Neo’s square case, circular dial, and overall design in my first impressions, so I won’t repeat that here. However, after spending more time with them, there are a few practical aspects of the design worth talking about.
Because of its light and compact build, the case was easy to carry around in pockets and handbags. It was comfy to hold in my palm, and the mechanical dial was fun to fidget with whenever I was anxious. The earbuds were also easy on the ears, even for extended periods of listening. I had it in my ears for most of my three-day, somewhat jerky train journey, and the thing securely sat there. It offered a good seal from outside commotion.
The touch gestures were thankfully responsive, as if they weren’t, that would’ve irked me more than I was already sitting in crammed train seats.
Having IP54 dust and splash resistance was reassuring during the occasional drizzles in Kerala. It allowed me to continue wearing the earbuds and listening to music. Well, who would want to stop ‘I Think I Like When It Rains’ by WILLIS while it’s raining? Though I was a little apprehensive about taking the IPX2-rated Buds Neo case to the beach, nothing happened. Just know the case offers inferior water resistance and no dust resistance.
The CMF Buds Neo’s 12.4mm dynamic driver produces a warm and energetic sound. You feel the buds’ lower-end preference right away. The opening beat of I Think I Like When It Rains is heavier on this one than on our reference device. And this bassiness stays throughout the track. It doesn’t feel distasteful to me and is something I come to expect from buds of its ilk. You can turn off the default bass enhancement or choose a different equaliser mode if you prefer less bass.
Even with the default Immersion Boost equaliser and its bassiness, the vocals were reasonably clear. So, you can enjoy Bollywood or pop tracks like C.R.E.A.M POSSE by Baggh-e SMG; the voices of all singers were strong and present.
The bass does not completely overwhelm the rest of the sound, though. Vocals remain reasonably clear, which is important because a bass-heavy tuning can otherwise make singers sound distant or muffled.
Our internal frequency response measurements echo this Buds Neo behaviour: Elevated bass, giving drums and basslines plenty of weight. Vocals have decent emphasis, and the treble portion is rolled off to take some of the crispiness and sparkle from the cymbals in tracks like Kiliye from ARM (2024) and The Little Things Give You Away by Linkin Park.
The sound isn’t neutral, but not dull either. The bass-forward treatment is good to hear, with ample presence for vocals and most instruments.
The Spatial Audio mode extends the soundstage. However, the widened presentation isn’t something I’ll miss if I turn it off or switch to a different pair of earbuds.
Also Read: iQOO Buds review: Best TWS earbuds under Rs 2000?
The CMF Buds Neo offer up to 35dB of adaptive ANC, with three levels and an Adaptive mode. I kept it on High mode only. It doesn’t make every background noise disappear, but it and the passive isolation from the eartips’ seal gave me some peace during an otherwise noisy train travel.
Sometimes, I would use the Transparency mode to be aware of my surroundings. Of course, with the music either off or at a lower volume. In an office environment, this is also pretty useful if you like listening to some focus music but still want to be aware of someone talking to you.
As for calls, the Buds Neo use four microphones, two on each earbud, along with CMF’s Clear Voice Technology. Indoor call quality was fine for both parties. When the background noise is loud and close to you, the other person can hear it. But the experience was clear enough for calls and meetings.
Changing many of these settings, like ANC level, Spatial Audio, Bass Enhancement level, Equalizer mode, and Tap controls, happens through the Nothing X app. You can also enable Dual Connection, Adaptive ANC mode, Low Lag mode, find misplaced earbuds, update the Buds Neo’s firmware, and see the current battery life of the earbuds on the app’s home screen.
The Nothing X app shares a minimal yet very functional UI. Besides the EQ presets, the app also lets you fine-tune equaliser profiles. So there are granular customisation options, which is good to get in this price range.
That said, Nothing has omitted a key feature like wear detection. So, you have to manually pause the music by tapping. And for manual pairing as well, you need to touch and hold both earbuds for a few seconds. So, there are some minor inconveniences which you may or may not find annoying. By the way, the initial pairing was smooth, and the connectivity was stable thanks to the Buds Neo supporting Bluetooth 6.0, Google Fast Pair, and Microsoft Swift Pair.
Battery life is solid. In our continuous music run test with the earbuds playing a FLAC file at 80% volume and ANC on, the CMF buds ended up at 1% charge after running for 8 hours. With ANC off, the claimed runtime is 11 hours from the buds and up to 52 hours with the case. So, these can easily last a workday, and the case can manage the longevity for a weekend trip.
Nothing says the earbuds can gain up to 5.5 hours of playback from zero with a 10-minute fast charge. The case has a USB-C port. The company has cut costs by not including a charging cable in the box.
For a budget pair costing Rs 2,100, the CMF Buds Neo cover most of the basics, including respectable noise cancellation. I was glad I carried these with me on my Kerala train journey. The comfortable fit, responsive tap-based controls, an energetic and enjoyable audio, good battery life, a functional Nothing X app with useful features like dual-device connectivity, low-lag mode, and a fine share of customisability often came in handy.
Nothing has cut some corners by not including a USB cable in the box and by not including wear detection in the buds. The treble lacks some detail and sparkle; complex tracks can sound a little congested. But the bass emphasis isn’t to the detriment of vocals and most instruments. The audio is still, like I said, enjoyable.
Now the bigger question is whether it makes sense to spend a little more. Well, you can expect better audio tuning, stronger ANC, and a lower-latency mode in a largely similar design. If you can stretch the budget, Nothing has the CMF Buds 2a and Buds 2 within the Rs 3,000 ceiling. But if you want the best value, the Buds Neo make sense. It can be a good enough purchase as your primary pair of TWS earbuds or as an affordable secondary pair for work, travel, or commuting.
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