Fancy sticking a pair of bright orange earbuds in your canals or a bright orange neckband around your neck? CMF by Nothing, the more affordable, attention-grabbing offshoot of the Nothing phone and headphones brand, certainly hopes so: it's teasing the launch of new Buds and a new Neckband Pro, which will be revealed in full on March 5, 2024.
The Neckband Pro, as the name suggests, fits around your neck and promises to be the firm's first "50dB Hybrid ANC Neckband". That figure is a reference to the neckband's claimed noise cancelling capabilities, which uses five mics to deliver a promised noise cancellation of up to 50dB.
The CMF by Nothing Buds also offer ANC, and appear to have a rather funky orange case. Like the best noise cancelling earbuds, CMF says they'll deliver "best in class ANC", although so far it isn't saying any more than that.
What is CMF and why is everything orange?
In this context, CMF is an acronym used in industrial design to identify three characteristics that can make products more desirable than rivals: color, material and finish. But of course there's a fourth characteristic: price. And CMF isn't talking about that yet.
Don't expect these to be pricey, though. CMF's existing Buds Pro, which deliver impressive battery life and effective noise cancellation, were priced at $49 / £49 at launch and the brand's AMOLED smartwach, the Watch Pro, cost $69 / £69. And that means these new earbuds in particular could well be among the best budget wireless earbuds you can buy if you don't want to spend a lot of cash.
It may be worth looking at the current CMF Buds Pro for an indication of the new Buds specification. They better the Nothing Ear (2) with 45dB hybrid active noise cancellation via six microphones, 11 hours of battery (39 hours including the case), Bluetooth 5.3 with fast pairing and IP54 dust and water resistance. The new Buds are expected to have 12.4mm drivers and both they and the Neckband promise to have multiple levels of bass enhancement via the Nothing X app.
Both devices will be unveiled on March 5, 2024 alongside the Nothing Phone (2a), and are likely to be made available first in the Nothing Store Soho in London before rolling out to more conventional retail destinations.
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