At ₹2,000, the CMF Buds Neo wants to be the earbuds you recommend to a friend who just wants something that sounds decent, lasts all day, and doesn’t demand a second mortgage. For the most part, it earns that recommendation. But there’s a specific corner of the experience, noise cancellation, where the Neo talks a bigger game than it plays.
Design and Build Quality
The Neo comes in three colors, and the standout is a teal and dark blue combination that actually looks distinctive on a shelf of otherwise interchangeable black earbuds. The build is plastic through and through, no surprises at this price, but CMF has clearly put thought into the ergonomics.
The charging case has a small rotating dial on it that I initially assumed was a volume control. It isn’t. It’s purely there for fidgeting, which is a strange thing to design deliberately but also, weirdly, works. There’s also a lanyard port, so you can clip the case to a bag or keychain instead of losing it in the depths of your backpack, which is the fate of most compact earbud cases I own. The case itself opens smoothly with one hand, no wrestling with a stiff lid while your other hand is holding a coffee or a train handle, which matters more in daily use than any spec sheet would suggest.
Sound: Bassier Than Its Price Suggests
The Neo runs a titanium-coated dome driver, and it shows in the low end. Bass here has real weight to it, more than I expected from a pair of earbuds that cost less than a decent dinner out. The Nothing X companion app adds a Bass Enhancement toggle on top of a basic three-point EQ, letting you nudge bass, mids, and highs independently. It’s not going to replace a proper parametric EQ, but for casual listening it’s enough to shape the sound to your taste without wading into a menu of presets you’ll never touch.
The Noise Cancellation That Isn’t Quite
This is where the Neo’s promises and its real-world performance part ways. The ANC handles constant, low-frequency hums reasonably well: fans, AC units, that steady drone of a flight or a train. But the moment you throw in anything sharper or more variable, like spoken conversations nearby, a car horn, or a sudden loud noise, it struggles to keep up. For walking down a street where you want some situational awareness anyway, that’s arguably fine. For a loud, chaotic commute where you actually want the world to disappear, it’s a miss.
Call quality is a more pleasant surprise. The four onboard microphones pick up your voice adequately, and I didn’t run into the garbled, underwater quality that budget earbuds sometimes produce on calls. One real gap, though: there’s no in-ear detection. Pull an earbud out mid-call or mid-song and your audio just keeps playing into your pocket, which is a small but genuinely annoying omission once you’re used to earbuds that pause automatically.
Connectivity: Dual Pairing and a Lag Fix
The Neo supports dual device connectivity, staying paired to two devices at once. Mine held a steady connection to both my laptop and my phone, switching audio automatically depending on which one was active. It’s a small convenience until you’ve lived with earbuds that force you into Bluetooth settings every time you swap devices, and then it quietly becomes one of the better features here.
I did run into noticeable audio lag out of the box, most obvious during calls and gaming. Switching on Low Lag Mode in the Nothing X app fixed it outright, the delay all but disappeared once enabled. The catch is that it’s a manual toggle rather than something active by default, so it’s worth switching on the moment you set these up rather than waiting to notice the lag first and go hunting for a fix.
Battery Life and Durability
Battery life is a genuine strength. With ANC off, I got close to the claimed 11 hours of playback per charge. It promises 7-8 hours of playback per charge with ANC switch on. A 10-minute top-up in the case gets you roughly 5.5 hours of listening, which is enough to salvage a commute you almost missed charging for. The buds carry an IP54 rating and the case is IPX2, so light rain, sweat, and the general chaos of daily use shouldn’t be a problem.
One thing worth flagging honestly: CMF’s first generation earbuds have had a reputation for dying out under the one year mark, a pattern that’s shown up often enough to be more than coincidence. Whether the Neo has fixed whatever caused that isn’t something a review period can settle. It’s a genuine unknown, and if long-term reliability matters to you, it’s worth keeping an eye on user reports a few months from now rather than taking any pair’s word for it on day one.
Verdict
At ₹2,000, the CMF Buds Neo is a genuinely solid pick for anyone who wants punchy bass, a comfortable fit out of the box, and battery life that won’t leave you anxious by mid-afternoon. Where it falls short is the one feature CMF leans on hardest in its marketing: noise cancellation that sounds good on a spec sheet but doesn’t hold up against anything louder than a hum. If ANC is the reason you’re buying earbuds, look elsewhere. If you just want reliable, bassy sound with a case that survives your bag, the Neo earns its price tag.
We’re Impressed
● Genuinely punchy bass from the titanium-coated dome driver
● Comfortable, ergonomic fit straight out of the box
● Strong battery life: close to 11 hours with ANC off
● Fast charging that actually delivers, 10 minutes for 5.5 hours
● IP54/IPX2 water resistance for daily wear and light rain
● Reliable call quality from the four onboard mics
● One-handed case opening, no fumbling with the lid
● Dual-device pairing that switches seamlessly
We’d Improve
● ANC that can’t handle voices, honking, or sudden noise
● No in-ear detection, so audio keeps playing when a bud comes out
● Basic three-point EQ feels thin next to more capable app experiences
● Low Lag Mode isn’t on by default, so out-of-box latency needs a manual fix
● Long-term durability remains an open question given CMF’s track record
● The case dial is fidget-only, no functional purpose
Price: Rs.2000, cmf.tech
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