CMF Buds 2 Plus is a premium model between a trio of new earbuds from nothing nothing. The entry-level is part of the CMF range, all of them to be relatively inexpensive, with the most expensive Buds 2 Plus coming in $ 69. And if it is not quite low, their cost is only $ 39 (INR 3,299) in India.
Compared to Buds 2 and Buds 2A, Buds 2 Plus attempts to provide an elevated experience with the improvement in the side of the audio and ANC side. The LDAC Hi-RS is a 12 mm LCP driver with audio and a claimed 50DB noise cancellation. The rest of the specifications are mostly the same, but there is not a huge value difference between the models.
We will take a look at the cheapest Buds 2 model in a separate review, but for now, let’s go with Buds 2 Plus.
Design and comfort
The Buds 2 Plus design is the same as Custom 2 from last year. The only difference that we saw was a slightly smaller case and a new logo on the outskirts, with the company was removing the CMF with a circular logo in favor of Wordmark.
Starting with the case, fit of the exterior and finish is immaculate for such a cheap product. There is a beautiful soft-touch texture for the shell and the panel intervals are impressively tight. The lid also opens with a satisfactory stress and clake and closes. The company clearly takes its name seriously because CMF (color, material and finish) is done very well here.
The top left corner of the case has an aluminum rotating dial. Like one on Buds 2, dial rotation is purely ornamental and best can be used as a fidgate spinner. You can attach a cord to it but no one has been provided in the box. It would have been good if there was a dial, there would have been a function, such as Buds was one on Pro 2, but perhaps anything is not saving it for a Buds 2 Pro model in the future.
For the inner buds, they once again have the same design as CMF buds since last year, but without circular logo. The rear of the stalk is capacitive and supports tap-based gestures.
The overall design of earbuds is comfortable, but I was not affected by the material used for ear tips. They use tackiers, plastic-pinged silicone that find you on very inexpensive earbuds. Not only does it look great in your ears, but the material does not conform to the size of more premium and soft content with your inner ear size.
This leaves some gaps that leave the noise until you fast adjust them every few minutes or if you move your head or jaw, even if you choose the right size for your ears. A similar price OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro uses very good tips that feel and do much better work and it would be good to see that those people on the plus model have nothing, at least.
Software and features
Nothing on your Android or iOS device with Buds 2 Plus Interface with X app. From here, you can accommodate things like ANC, audio parameters, touch gestures and updated firmware. Like the software of nothing, nothing is cleaned and there is an air to operate, some can learn from other audio manufacturers.
The app offers an option of transparency mode on ANC, off, off and a transparency mode. ANC on mode has three manually controlgic levels and an adaptive mode that automatically adjusts levels based on ambient noise.
The app has a group of audio options for Buds 2 Plus. The most prominent is the spatial audio feature, which I found at the least impressive because it was a common surround sound feature that lacks the nuances of the professional mastery audio that you get from the Dolby Atomos track. There is also no head-tracking support on this model.
Nothing X app
There is nothing on ultra bass mode on these CMF buds and it is capable by default by default by default. You can change it up to 5 if you hate good sound (and your ears), but I all disabled with all the tests because there are lots of bass without it.
The next is a personal sound feature, which we have seen first on other models. It plays a series of tones and you can choose whether you hear it or not and finally it produces a custom audio profile for each individual ear.
audio settings
To work firmly for this feature, you have to live in a dead silent environment, which is not always easy to come. Otherwise, you will not just listen to the test tones on the surrounding noise, even if your ears are able to hear them, otherwise, which greatly affects the usefulness of the test.
In addition, these trials have a lot of confidence in the quality of drivers and audio processing, so that you could hear the right test tone, and I cannot say that I have so much confidence in a pair of budget earbuds. This means that I am definitely certainly certain that I am not hearing a tone because my ears are not enough or because the driver is not enough to produce it properly. For example, I do not put too much stock in these tests, but if the end result is according to your choice you can give them a shot.
Finally, there is equalist. You have some options with pop, which are default tuning for earbuds (also what you hear if you set the custom preset on 0 values). Presets show you very little visualization to show you normal types of tuning, which you can expect but they do not always understand; The electronic preset shows that there is more bass than the pop, even if the pop has audible more bass.
Equalizer
Talking about Custom EQ, we once again have nothing, incredibly basic and high-clouded 3-band EQ which is arranged in an asymmetrical pattern. It is impossible to achieve any value because due to comprehensive broad changes it does without control or nuances. When you adjust anything, it also drops the amount of sound too much.
This is high time. Anything leaves this waste which is no doubt chosen for its aesthetic appeal in favor of a functional EQ with at least 5 bands. Better yet, it cannot provide the 8-band parametric EQ at nothing more expensive, as it is nothing available to all models as it is just a software feature that is already present in the X app, but is hidden from the cheap model.
Display
audio quality
The Buds 2 Plus has a 12 mm single dynamic driver with LCP (liquid crystal polymer) and polyurethane diaphragm. You get your standard SBC and AAC Codecs with LDAC with a maximum bitrate of 990kbps. However, there is no LC3 support.
Audio tuning is done at home by nothing, it is too much that we expect from consumer audio products these days. There is a strong emphasis on the bass, even with ultra bass feature, as well as sweet mids and high.
Starting with a low end, I overbier the bass several times on Buds 2 Plus. It was especially true that the kind of music that was designed for the pop preset, for which I am assessing here because it is a default. In other styles, the bass paint a layer of meat on the rest of the sound, which reduces overall clarity and makes it slightly marki.
The mid-range mixture has a good appearance and is not buried all the way in the back with a typical V-shaped tuning. However, the vocals are slightly condensed and sometimes compressed for them. However, it is quite subtle and not easily noticeable.
High-end is infallible. Default tuning is tripled enough to not have darkness, but it does not stand in its presence or expansion.
When the first time is seen from the buyer’s lens, which is likely to be the target audience of 2 plus of buds, the audio tuning is fine. In this segment, a buyer is likely to be inexperienced and undivided and should find the audio pleasant. When using earbuds without paying attention to the sound or working without working, I found the sound happy with pleasing, only a few tracks were distracted due to heavy bass appearance.
Unfortunately, the EQ reference is useless to get anything close to the audio and your best bet is to use classical predetermined, which is not right, it is quite close. I found a combination of classical preset and Level 2 on Ultra Bass as compared to the default pop preset.
In comparison, the Nord Buds 3 Pro has an equally stale sound, but the mids have a better time and the overall ton is slightly more pleasing. CMF Buds 2 Plus also does not get any points to be LDAC because you do not listen to the added resolution in the sound.
Microphone
Buds 2 Plus has good microphone performance. The voices looked natural without too much garbling. Your voice level will go up slightly and down as if you were moving beyond the mic, even if the mic was on your ear. On one hand, the overall microphone quality for voice calls is very good.
Microphone performance is also better than Nord Buds 3 Pro, which continues a guard noise for them months after the launch.
noise cancellation
The Buds 2 Plus contains active noise cancellation using a microphone on a six ship. Nothing claims cancellation of up to 50DB in 5400mHz frequency range.
The performance of the noise is good for the price. You become satisfactory attentive in a low-frequency range and decent into middle-ranges. High frequencies have not been tuned as well, and a part of it is due to cheap ear tips that do not always make an ideal seal. Sometimes the sound of some high-existing also comes more prominently, which may be distracted. However, for the most part, the ANC performance is decent.
Similarly, the performance of transparency was also found to be sufficient, with a natural natural rendering of ambient sounds.
There is some difference in sound between the ANC and between closed modes. I found that the ANC of Sound is a little less bass. With a combination of ambient sound, the earbuds make the sound less crowded and more balanced. When at home, I would like to close ANC instead of keeping it all the time.
Delay
The Buds 2 Plus has decent delayed performance. When nothing is tested with the phone (2), some titles had good delayed performance while others did not. Nothing did not do a lot of low leg mode in the X app, as the apps also disabled the well -working option with low delay and those who had poor delays saw no improvement with the option.
relationship
The Buds 2 Plus had reliable connectivity performance. I only saw some warfare while using 990kbps on a non-phone phone, but nothing was solid on the phone (2).
battery life
The Buds 2 Plus has a 14 -hour battery life with using ANC disabled and AAC. With LDAC, this number falls to 8 hours.
In my test, I got 14 hours and 23 minutes when using AAC and 8 hours and 34 minutes when using LDAC, so the company’s figures are accurate.
The AAC also does not claim 4.5 hours of continuous playback with AAC after a 10 -minute charge. I got 4 hours 35 minutes, which was once again covering the distance of the claimed figures. And while nothing mentions the LDAC figure, I get 2 hours and 51 minutes, which is respectable.
conclusion
The CMF Buds 2 Plus offers good overall performance for the price. Designs and build quality are good, earbuds are comfortable, battery life is excellent, microphone performance is commendable, and nothing X app is clean and easy to use.
Downsides include a limited and clumsy custom equipment as well as uncontrolled audio quality in combination with cheap-finge and underperforming year tips. For the price, it is easy to see the past, especially since the target customer is unlikely to know any better. Nevertheless, it would have been good if the plus model does not have these shortcomings to justify its high price on their brothers and sisters.
Buds 2 Plus also cannot stand out with equally priced options from the crowd, such as OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro, which performs more or less equal. However, they are a competent all-rounder and if you prefer the design of hardware and software in the competition, it will be a good enough reason to take them to the rest.
