A few weeks ago we took a look at CMF Buds 2 Plus, nothing of the premium model audio products in the new budget lineup of nothing. Today, we are reviewing Buds 2, which is the middle model in the Buds 2 series.
Buds 2 come at $ 59/the 39 or only INR 2,699. For the price, you get most of the characteristics of the plus model, but with some cutbacks across the board. You get a little small driver, slightly lower rated ANC, a few hours less battery life, and no LDAC. In this review, we must be searching whether it is worth noting some money and receiving this model or the difference to the plus model.
design
The design of CMF Buds 2 is the same as Buds 2 Plus. Both have similar dimensions for their cases, but the Finnish Bads 2 Plus on the Buds 2 case is slightly more plastic than the soft touch plastic on the case.
Buds 2 also receives a clear plastic rotating dial on the lid compared to the aluminum dial found on the plus. However, rotation is once again purely decorative until you choose to use it as a fidged spinner.
Earbuds are functionally similar in design and dimensions. This means that they are still quite small and light with a comfortable fit, but also that they come with the same cheap ear tips from the plus model.
The bottom price of Buds 2 makes it a little lower, but the uniformly priced OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro has great suggestions. Not only these tips do not look good, but also do not provide a proper fit. Ear suggestions simply slide inside and outside your ears, which do not have any friction and you just do not get a satisfactory seal with them.
software
CMF Buds 2 works with the same X app such as Balis 2 Plus and nothing else earbuds. Most features are similar between the two Buds 2 models, so I will focus on the differences here.
There are only three changes compared to everything described in the Buds 2 Plus review. Buds 2 has a Dirac Opteo, which is a default EQ preset for these earbuds. According to the support page of nothing, Opteo “appoints advanced measure-based improvement techniques to eliminate any unexpected educational or sound colors, which maximizes acoustic performance of buds”. A request for additional details on the internal functioning of the convenience was not completed at the time of writing.
Nothing X app
Buds 2 also lacks support for the individual sound feature found on the plus model, which plays you a series of tones to customize the sound for your hearing. I already said my concerns with this feature in the plus review and its absence is not a major loss here.
audio settings
The final difference is the lack of LDAC, which means that there is nothing in the X app to switch between AAC and LDAC. In addition, software experience is the same on both, for better and worse.
Display
audio quality
Buds 2 has an 11 mm PMI (polymetheclimide) driver as compared to the 12 mm LCP driver found on the plus model. As mentioned earlier, there is no LDAC and thus there is no hi-race audio support here. Instead, you get dirac-tuned audio, which can be customized using EQ.
Default audio tuning is not a million miles on two models, but there are some notable differences here with unexpected conclusions.
The Buds 2 sound balls is slightly warm and bassier than the 2 plus sound. There is already a more middle-bus heft over the powerful low-end on the plus. At the other end, Buds 2 lacks some of the high-end brightness of the Buds 2 Plus model, so the sound is not overall bright.
The major difference was in the mid-limit. Buds 2 has surprisingly full-edged mid-range, which makes the vocals sound boulder and better balanced in the mixture. In comparison, the mids on Bads 2 Plus seem cool over a worse time.
The overall sound of Buds 2 is still slightly slightly bass-forward and may be tired on some tracks with a strong bass line. If you like to listen to many different styles, then it is not the most flexible sound. But most people will use them to listen to popular styles like pop and, for this, they work perfectly. In fact, I like the overall tuning of Buds 2 on Buds 2 Plus for music.
Talking about tuning, Buds 2 default Dirac offers several EQ options apart from Opteo mode. However, switching to other presets leads to an audible break in sound and you listen to it again when you go back to the opto preset. Its only exception is Custom Preset.
It is likely that default opto and custom presets use various audio processing compared to the rest of the preset. Rather, it seems that other presets do not use too much processing. Compared to full and more spacious opto preset, other EQ preset with more congested sound with a small soundstage. The plus model was not the case where all the presets received the same treatment.
This means that if you use other presets, even if you like their tuning, you do not get the same experience as opto preset. More annoying every time you switch back and forth between Opto/Custom Preset and other presets, there is a half-second silence, which is accompanied by a sharp transient increase in the volume before the sound settles back.
The good thing is that the custom preset is based on the processing of the preset opto preset, so you can customize the sound when full processing for Opto Preset is available. The bad thing is that anything weird spherical 3-band EQ is not as terrible as always.
Microphone
Like the plus model, Buds 2 has a good microphone performance. The sounds seem clear and while some modulation occurs because the sound now calms down and then it is not very noticeable or distracted.
noise cancellation
Buds 2 has a demonstration to cancel civilized noise. You get good suppression in low frequencies, but have some high-existing sounds, thanks to cheap ear tips that make an incomplete seal. Nevertheless, for most cases on things like public transport, ANC performance is quite good.
Unfortunately, transparency performance was not very good. The sound is natural but calm and many times you cannot even tell if the mode is capable. This means that if you have to play anything, then it is going to drown the surroundings sound coming through the speakers by defeating the purpose of the mode.
battery life
The Buds 2 has a 13.5 -hour battery life during a continuous playback with ANC disabled. In my test, I found 13 hours and 17 minutes of use, which is very impressive.
After a 10 -minute charge, nothing claims anything of 4 hours playback and I managed to get 4 hours and 25 minutes, which is also impressive.
conclusion
Buds 2 is very close to Buds 2 Plus, which we reviewed earlier and I would urge you to read the review as it is in great expansion.
I was expecting the conclusion of Buds 2 how small the price difference is, given the plus model to get. However, it ended from all sides in another way and I do not see much point in taking a plus model on it.
Buds 2 Plus model inherited a lot of strength, including comfort, battery life, microphone performance and respectable ANC for value. Both also have clean-looking software and hardware designs. However, Buds 2 is just so much better, which makes them more pleasant to hear and re -proves that there is nothing better by getting better codaks automatically.
Finally, CMF Buds 2 comes out at the top and the best wireless earbuds in this price range are a strong contender.
