CMF Buds Neo Review: If You're On A Budget, Look No Further

CMF by Nothing has launched the Buds Neo, its most affordable pair of true wireless earbuds yet, priced at Rs. 1,999. Positioned below the CMF Buds 2a, the Neo still packs Active Noise Cancellation, a 12.4mm dynamic driver, and a claimed 52-hour total battery life with the case. The earbuds are available in three colourways - White, Dark Blue, and Black - each pairing a two-tone case with a contrasting rotating dial.

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I used the CMF Buds Neo for a few days across commutes, calls, and workouts to see whether the pricing holds up once you look past the spec sheet. Here's what I found out.

CMF Buds Neo Review: Design

The Buds Neo case follows a square silhouette with rounded corners, measuring 54.3 x 54.3 x 23 mm and weighing 50.3 grams with the buds inside. The standout design element is the circular dial on the lid, finished in a contrasting colour - orange on the White unit, teal on the Dark Blue, and a darker tone on the Black variant. It rotates and doubles as a lanyard attachment point, but it does not control playback or volume despite looking like it should. The case is built from PC + ABS with a matte finish that resists fingerprints, and it carries an IPX2 rating for splash resistance. Magnets hold the lid shut and keep the earbuds firmly seated inside.

The earbuds themselves weigh about 4.5 grams each and measure 33.4 x 20.6 x 22.8 mm, with a matte-finished stem and a glossier body. Fit is secure, and the earbuds did not work themselves loose even during runs or workouts. There is no optical wear-detection sensor, so audio does not automatically pause when an earbud is removed; a tap on the touch panel is needed instead. The earbuds carry an IP54 rating, enough for sweat and light rain, though not for swimming.

CMF Buds Neo in white

CMF Buds Neo Review: Sound

At the core of the Buds Neo is a 12.4mm dynamic driver with a titanium-coated PET dome and a PEEK + PU surround, tuned for deeper bass without losing clarity in the mids and highs. Bass is the most noticeable staright out of the box, and the Ultra Bass Technology option pushes it further if needed, offered in two levels through the Nothing X app. Vocals stayed clear even with the bass boost switched on, and the overall tuning felt balanced enough for daily listening rather than bass-only.

The app also includes six EQ presets - Immersion Boost, Pop, Rock, Electronic, Enhance Vocals, and Classical - along with a custom EQ option for fine-tuning frequencies manually. A static spatial audio mode widens the soundstage and works noticeably better on video content than on regular music. There is no support for higher-bitrate codecs beyond AAC and SBC, which is expected at this price but worth flagging for anyone chasing lossless audio.

CMF Buds Neo Review: Noise Cancellation and Calls

The Buds Neo offers Active Noise Cancellation rated up to 35dB, lower than the 42dB on the original CMF Buds, with three fixed intensity levels plus an Adaptive mode that reads ambient noise and adjusts automatically. Indoors, it does a competent job of muting fan and air-conditioner hum, and it holds its own against steady traffic noise outdoors, though it is not as aggressive as pricier ANC earbuds. Transparency mode is equally usable, and noise cancellation can be switched off entirely from the app if preferred.

Calls benefit from four HD microphones - two per earbud - paired with Clear Voice Technology. Voices came through clearly on the receiving end even with some background chatter, which is a genuine strength at this price point.

CMF Buds Neo cases

CMF Buds Neo Review: Battery Life

CMF rates the earbuds at 11 hours of standalone playback with ANC off and 8 hours with it switched on, backed by a 45mAh battery per earbud. In mixed daily use at around 60 percent volume, we got close to the claimed numbers with ANC mostly enabled. The 460mAh charging case extends this to a claimed 52 hours total with ANC off and 30 hours with ANC on, and a full charge over USB-C takes about 70 minutes. Fast charging is also on offer, with 10 minutes in the case delivering roughly 5.5 hours of playback without ANC. For calls, the earbuds hold up for around 5 hours on a single charge with ANC on, going up to a solid day of battery with the case factored in.

CMF Buds Neo Review: Connectivity and controls

The Buds Neo runs on Bluetooth 6.0 and supports dual-device connections, letting you switch playback between two paired devices, though the earbuds reboot briefly whenever this mode is toggled on or off. Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair are both supported, and pairing with an Android phone was quick and reliable during testing, with no dropouts over the review period.

Controls are entirely touch-based - a double tap plays, pauses, or answers calls, a triple tap skips tracks, and a tap-and-hold switches between ANC and Transparency modes. Volume control via a double-tap-and-hold gesture is turned off by default but can be enabled through the app.

CMF Buds Neo

Nothing X App

The Nothing X app is where the Buds Neo's feature set actually comes together. Beyond the EQ and ANC controls already mentioned, it offers a low-latency gaming mode that brings response time down to around 120 milliseconds, along with the ability to remap what each tap gesture does on either earbud. The app interface is clean and quick to navigate, in keeping with Nothing's design language, and it is available on both Android and iOS.

CMF Buds Neo Review: Verdict

At Rs. 1,999, the CMF Buds Neo covers nearly everything a first-time ANC earbud buyer would look for: a large driver with punchy bass, usable noise cancellation, dependable call quality, and battery life that comfortably outlasts a full day. The missing wear sensor and the toned-down ANC compared to the CMF Buds 2a are the only real compromises, and both feel like reasonable trade-offs given the price. For students, commuters, or anyone stepping into ANC earbuds for the first time, the Buds Neo is an easy recommendation. Listeners chasing maximum ANC strength or higher-bitrate codec support will need to look further up CMF's own lineup.

Rating: 4/5

Pros:

- Compact, lightweight case and earbuds with IP54 (buds) and IPX2 (case) ratings

- Balanced, bass-forward sound with extensive EQ customisation

- Effective 35dB ANC with Adaptive mode, plus clear 4-mic call quality

- Strong standalone and total battery life, with useful fast charging

- Dual-device connectivity and Bluetooth 6.0 support

Cons:

- No optical wear-detection sensor for automatic play/pause

- Limited to AAC and SBC codecs, with no higher-bitrate option

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