The CMF Headphone Pro headphones aren’t as eye-catching as Nothing’s other offerings, but if you’re after a solid pair of over-ear headphones at an affordable price, they’re an excellent option.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Good battery life | Energy Slider is a bit redundant |
| Attractive price | Plastic feel |
| ANC works quite well for this price | Lacks Nothing’s usual design flair |
Score: 4/5
 |
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In this review
CMF Headphone Pro Specifications
CMF Headphone Pro Design
CMF Headphone Pro Performance
CMF Headphone Pro Battery
CMF Headphone Pro Verdict
Ethical disclaimer: The CMF Headphone Pro headphones used in this review were sent to me by Nothing’s representatives in Australia, and, like most headphones I’m not expecting that I’ll have to return them for simple hygiene reasons. I mention this before getting into the review properly because we’re living in an online world where so very many reviews have the perception issue of trustworthiness, whether that’s around paid “reviews”, AI-based slop reviews or grifters.
I don’t fit into any of those designations; I’m an old-school journalist that believes the value in a review and reviewer is absolutely based on audience trust, and that has to be maintained with transparency and honesty.
For more on ART’s Ethics position, see here.
Design
The last set of headphones developed by Nothing that I reviewed were the somewhat-contentiously-designed Nothing Headphone (1) set. I think it’s safe to say that they have a design that won’t suit everybody, very much in line with the way that Nothing produces most of its gear.
Also read:
Nothing Headphone (1) Review
CMF is Nothing’s budget brand – an interesting position in itself, given Nothing is better known in the lower-cost space already – and the CMF Headphone Pro set could have had an equally zany design metric in mind… but that’s not what Nothing has done.
Instead, the CMF Headphone Pro’s design is quite sedate, almost as if the designers at Nothing had a meeting and decided that maybe they went too far with the Nothing Headphone (1) and needed to swing back hard to the other side of the equation.
The CMF Headphone Pro design is unabashedly plastic and a little cheaper looking than the Nothing Headphone (1) variants, and they’re available in just three colours; Light Green, Light Grey and Dark Grey. The earcups are removable and replaceable, with a spare set costing you $39.
Branding is almost subtle. Almost.
One interesting colour note here is that (as of the time of writing), Nothing only sells earcups in a Light Green or Orange Colour; you can’t buy the Light Grey or Dark Grey variant cups unless you buy a set of those headphones outright. Nothing sent me a Dark Grey set, and the effect there is rather generic. These don’t look all that fancy at all, but that’s not necessarily a bad design move; for those who don’t want flashy headphones they could be just what you want.
The CMF Headphone Pros are rather busy in terms of controls.
On the left hand cup you’ll find the power/pairing button, 3.5mm input socket for if you fancy a little wired headphone action and a sliding control that Nothing calls the “Energy Slider”, but that a less marketing-names-inclined person (like, say, me) would call a bass control.
On the right hand side there’s USB-C for power, a customisable button for voice assistants and audio control and a roller for audio levels, rather similar to the one on the Nothing Headphone (1) set, but with a somewhat cheaper feel. That’s very much a consequence of being a cheaper build and as a result a less expensive set of headphones.
I do sometimes see people exercising with full over-ear headphones on – I’ve never quite got the appeal here, my head gets way too hot that way – and if you do, you’d want to keep your sweating to a minimum as the CMF Headphone Pro headphone are only rated as IPX2; by way of comparison most sets that do think around sports activities tend to start at IPX4. If you’re not au fait with water resistance ratings, I’ve got a full written and video guide here.
Outside the headphones themselves, Nothing also provides a CMF by Nothing logo bag for transportation; these headphones do not fold down all that much so they’ll take up some space in your carry-on luggage if you were thinking of using them in-flight, as well as 3.5mm audio cable in a white colour. It certainly stands out when plugged into the headphones if that’s your audio style.
Performance
The bass level on the CMF Headphone Pro has made me look like an entirely different person, somehow.
The CMF Headphone Pro headphones use Bluetooth 5.4, which means that technically all you need to do to get them up and running is power them up and pair them to your Bluetooth device of choice, but of course, there’s an app that you’re encouraged to download and use as well.
That’s the Nothing X app, Nothing’s all-in audio control application for Android and iOS that allows you to run firmware updates, change audio settings and customise the onboard controls to suit your listening style. There’s nothing really all that different here for the CMF Headphone Pro set from most other Nothing efforts, and the app itself is at least nicely logically laid out for when you need it.
The Nothing Headphone Pro headphones support active noise cancelling with three set levels (Low/Mid/High) as well as an adaptive setting. They’re aided, as all over-ear headphones are by the fact that the cups isolate your ears and provide very good ANC for the asking price, especially if you are actually listening to anything through them with ANC enabled. Transparency mode kicks in the microphones to let you hear the outside world with nice clarity as well.
One very tiny upside here compared to Nothing’s more recent own-brand headphone efforts; when you switch to transparency mode you just get a simple high pitch beep to indicate that it’s active, instead of the weird exasperated sigh that Nothing uses on models such as the Nothing Ear (3) headphones. That always bugs me with other Nothing headphones, but I can accept that maybe that’s just a personal quirk.
Also Read
On the audio front, the CMF Headphone Pro headphones present with a strong focus on bass, which makes the inclusion of the “Energy Slider” a curious one; there’s already a lot of bass in play with these headphones without adding more. It’s also somewhat disappointing as a slider, because while that brings with it the theoretical analog levelling of bass, it’s really more on an on/off switch, with the most noticeable gains or drops only at the top and bottom of the slider itself.
Still, for their asking price, the CMF Headphone Pro headphones are a bit of a bargain. Listening to some of my standard test tracks such as Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” saw decent separation between instruments and Armstrong’s impressive voice.
Staying on the vocal side with Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner” picks up her wonderfuly breathless tones at the start of that track well too. Putting the CMF Headphone Pro through their pop trials with the Spice Girls “Wannabe” presented enough treble to give that song the kick it needs, while Taylor Swift’s likewise sounds good.
Still, the presentation best suits bass-centric tracks, but I did find that I didn’t use the Energy Slider all that much; on tracks like Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” or Dr Dre’s “Still D.R.E” having it fully pumping certainly brought the thump, but with the cost of some clarity.
Audio pickup from the CMF Headphone Pro’s microphones is acceptable, but not spectacular, with that rather predictable Bluetooth audio signature where it sounds like you’re perhaps standing some distance away from the microphone when you talk. They’re clear enough to be heard for matters like phone calls, but you wouldn’t want to record anything for permanent clear presentation from them.
Battery
One of the bigger advantages that over-ear headphones have compared to bud-style approaches is that you get a lot more space to pack in batteries, and that typically equates to much longer battery life for this style of headphone.
Nothing’s claims around the CMF Headphone Pro headphones are that they’re suitable for up to 100 hours of non-ANC listening, or up to 50 hours with ANC enabled. Once again I’m befuddled; who are all these people buying ANC-capable headphones and not using them with ANC enabled pretty much all of the time?
What is interesting here is that claimed battery life is one single area where the CMF Headphone Pro headphones can claim some superiority over the pricier Nothing Headphone (1). Nothing’s pricier pair claims 35 hours of battery life, quite a bit less than the 50 hours of the CMF Headphone Pro.
Battery life is always rather relative to your usage and volume levels, but based on my testing that 50 hour figure, or at least approachably close to it should be feasible for most people with the CMF Headphone Pro set. I won’t comment on the 100 hour figure, because while that’s a nice long listening time, I’m not really willing to go without ANC for that long when it’s right there.
CMF Headphone Pro: Alex’s Verdict
The CMF Headphone Pro headphones aren’t the flashiest set on the market, which is a little surprising given Nothing’s general strong focus on “different’ design ideas, but that kind of evaluation is always subjective. For everyone who loves wacky, I’m sure I can find somebody who would prefer sedate design notes.
That’s exactly what you get with the CMF Headphone Pro set. They are built to their price and do feel like it with clicky buttons and the mostly useless Energy Slider, but make up for it with good battery life and generally good, if slightly bass-heavy audio presentation, all for an appealing price.
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CMF Headphone Pro: Pricing and availability
The CMF Headphone Pro retails in Australia for $179. Support Alex Reviews Tech if you’re keen by buying a pair using the link below!
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