CMF Headphone Pro Review: Flagship Features at a Budget Price

Budget headphones usually ask you to pick two: features, sound, or battery. The CMF Headphone Pro refuses the deal. CMF — Nothing’s budget sub-brand — has built an over-ear ANC headphone with hybrid noise cancelling rated to 40dB, Hi-Res LDAC, multipoint Bluetooth 5.4, a battery rated for up to 100 hours, and something almost no rival offers: physical sliders on the earcup that adjust bass and treble in real time, no app required. It launched in India in January 2026 and has been collecting strong reviews ever since. This is our research-based verdict on whether it deserves a place in our best budget noise cancelling headphones conversation.

Our Verdict

The CMF Headphone Pro is the most complete budget ANC headphone we have analysed this year. The hardware list reads like a flagship’s — 40mm drivers, adaptive hybrid ANC, LDAC, dual-device connection, an in-depth app with a personalised hearing test — and independent reviewers land in the same place: energetic, bass-forward sound that gets refined once you use the EQ tools, class-leading battery life, and controls that put touch panels to shame. The honest compromises are call quality in noisy places and ANC a tier below the flagship Sony and Bose models. At this level, those are the right compromises.

How we are reviewing this one: the Headphone Pro is an established model, not a launch-day unknown, so this review is built differently from a spec-sheet preview. We have not tested a unit hands-on; instead, our verdict synthesises CMF’s published specifications with the consistent findings of independent reviewers who have — including Notebookcheck’s lab-backed review, TechRadar and Tom’s Guide — and our score reflects that consensus. Where reviewers disagree, we say so.

CMF Headphone Pro Specifications

Design and Controls: The Sliders Are the Story

Most headphone controls are an afterthought. CMF made them the headline. The Headphone Pro has no touch panels at all — everything is physical, and two of the controls are genuinely unusual. The multi-function roller handles volume with a knurled, click-free roll and presses in for play/pause and call duties; reviewers single it out as excellent, the kind of control you can operate by feel in a coat pocket or with gloves. The customisable button can be assigned in the Nothing X app to switch ANC modes, summon a voice assistant, or trigger other shortcuts.

Then there is the Energy Slider, the feature this headphone will be remembered for. It is a physical slider on the earcup that shifts the bass and treble balance in real time — push it up for a warmer, bass-heavier presentation, pull it down toward a leaner, brighter one — without opening an app, unlocking a phone, or interrupting the track. Reviewers are split on how essential it is: TechRadar called it a touch gimmicky, while others found it the fastest way to rescue an overcooked recording or tame a bass-heavy mix on the fly. Our read: it is the hardware version of what EQ presets try to do, and it works precisely because it is instant and reversible. Combined with the app’s full EQ underneath, it gives the Headphone Pro a two-speed sound customisation no rival in its class matches.

The rest of the design is CMF-modular. The ear cushions twist off and can be replaced — spares come in the standard colours plus Orange and Light Green, so a worn cushion is a cheap fix rather than a dead headphone, and the colour accent game is very much part of the pitch. The build is plastic with glossy earcups; reviewers note it feels durable and well assembled rather than cheap, and the deep vegan-leather cushions earn consistent comfort praise — Tom’s Guide called them “cloud-soft,” and at 283g the Headphone Pro is light enough for all-day wear. Two honest packaging caveats: the earcups rotate flat but the frame does not fold inward, so the included soft carry pouch makes for a bulkier bag footprint than folding rivals, and there is no hard case in the box.

Sound Quality: Bass-Forward, Better With Ten Minutes of Setup

The stock tuning is unapologetically fun: a bass-heavy, energetic signature built around that 40mm nickel-plated driver. TechRadar describes an emotive, detailed delivery easily good enough to trouble best-cheap-headphone lists; Tom’s Guide went further, calling the sound surprisingly premium and saying it would take the CMF over far pricier Nothing hardware. The caveats are consistent across reviewers too. Notebookcheck notes the midrange can sit a step back in the mix out of the box, and Tom’s Guide flags treble that can turn a little pinchy on bright recordings.

The important nuance — and the reason the Headphone Pro scores as well as it does — is that both criticisms are fixable in about ten minutes. The Nothing X app carries a genuinely detailed Personal Sound hearing test that builds a profile around your own hearing, plus a custom EQ, and reviewers who used them report a clear step up: RecordingNow scored the sound 8.5/10 after EQ and concluded the adjustment is close to essential for getting the best from the drivers. LDAC support means Android users with hi-res libraries can feed the drivers properly, and the Hi-Res certification extends to the wired 3.5mm connection as well. Spatial audio comes in Cinema and Concert flavours; reports are mixed, with several reviewers finding it pleasant but behind the pricier implementations from Apple and Bose. Treat it as a bonus, not a reason to buy.

Noise Cancelling and Call Quality

The hybrid adaptive ANC is rated at up to 40dB, with an Environment Adaptive mode that adjusts the cancellation strength to your surroundings and a personalised ANC calibration. Notebookcheck’s testing found it effective against exactly the noises ANC is best at — engine hum, air-conditioning drone, train rumble — which covers most commuting and office reality. TechRadar’s verdict frames the ceiling honestly: good, but not in the flagship class of Bose, Sony or Apple, which is where the Headphone Pro sits relative to our best noise cancelling headphones rankings overall. Transparency mode is present and serviceable for announcements and traffic.

Calls are the consensus weak point. The 3-microphone ENC array with wind-noise mesh handles quiet rooms and calm streets fine, but Notebookcheck found voices turn muddy in noisy environments, and Tom’s Guide lists call quality among its cons. If your day is wall-to-wall calls from busy places, that matters more than any spec on this page; if calls are occasional, it is a fair trade for everything else here.

Battery, App and Connectivity

Battery life is where the Headphone Pro embarrasses headphones costing several times more. Over AAC you get up to 50 hours with ANC on and 100 hours with it off; LDAC costs range, as always, landing at 38 and 70 hours respectively. Reviewers who lived with it describe charging as a rare event — once every few days of heavy use, or effectively weekly for commuters. A five-minute top-up is rated to return up to 8 hours of playback with ANC off, and the USB-C port can even draw charge directly from a phone. One clarity note: USB-C here is for charging only. There is no audio over USB — wired listening runs through the included 3.5mm cable — which Notebookcheck lists among the few genuine feature misses at this level.

Connectivity is otherwise complete: Bluetooth 5.4 with true dual-device multipoint, Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair for painless pairing, in-ear (on-head) detection that pauses when you take them off, and a low-lag mode for video and gaming that Nothing phone owners get automatically and everyone else enables in the app. The Nothing X app is the same mature platform Nothing’s flagships use: custom EQ, the Personal Sound hearing profile, spatial modes, ANC level control, button remapping and firmware updates.

CMF Headphone Pro vs Nothing Headphone (1) Pro

The obvious question: what do you give up by not buying Nothing’s flagship? We reviewed the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro separately, and the comparison is more interesting than “flagship wins.” The Headphone (1) Pro is the more advanced machine — a triple-driver system with an xMEMS treble driver, ANC rated to 46dB from a 10-microphone array, USB-C lossless audio, and machined aluminium and glass construction. But the CMF beats it in the two categories that decide daily life for most listeners: battery and weight. Fifty hours of ANC listening against the flagship’s 30, at 44 grams lighter, is not a rounding error — it is a different ownership experience.

Choose the flagship if you want the strongest ANC Nothing makes, USB-C lossless for a desk setup, and premium materials — and you accept a heavier headphone you will charge roughly twice as often. Choose the CMF if your priorities are endurance, comfort and value; on the published evidence, you are giving up less sound quality than the price gap suggests.

Who It’s For — and Who Should Step Up

Buy the CMF Headphone Pro if you commute or travel and charge anxiety is your pet hate; if you like a bass-forward sound but want the tools — slider, EQ, hearing test — to shape it; if you use two devices and want proper multipoint; or if you simply want the most complete feature set available at the budget end of the ANC market. It is also the pick for anyone who destroys ear cushions, because replacements are cheap and twist on in seconds.

Step up if you take calls all day from noisy streets and cafés — the microphone performance is this headphone’s one clear weakness — or if you fly constantly and want the deepest ANC available from Sony, Bose or Nothing’s own flagship. USB-audio listeners and anyone who needs a folding design with a hard case for daily bag duty should also look higher.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the CMF Headphone Pro battery last?

Up to 50 hours with ANC on and 100 hours with ANC off over AAC. LDAC shortens that to 38 hours with ANC on and 70 hours with it off. A 5-minute top-up is rated to return up to 8 hours of playback with ANC off.

What does the Energy Slider do?

The Energy Slider is a physical slider on the earcup that shifts the bass and treble balance in real time — more low-end warmth one way, a leaner and brighter sound the other — without opening the Nothing X app. It works alongside the app’s full custom EQ and Personal Sound hearing profile.

Can you listen to the CMF Headphone Pro wired?

Yes, over the included 3.5mm cable, which carries Hi-Res certification. The USB-C port is for charging only — the Headphone Pro does not accept audio over USB.

How good is the noise cancelling?

The hybrid adaptive ANC is rated at up to 40dB. Independent reviewers find it effective against steady drones like engines, trains and air conditioning, while placing it a tier below flagship models from Sony, Bose and Apple for overall cancellation.

Does the CMF Headphone Pro have multipoint and LDAC?

Yes. Bluetooth 5.4 supports dual-device connection (multipoint) with SBC, AAC and LDAC codecs, plus Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair for quick pairing.

Can you replace the ear cushions?

Yes. The cushions twist off and can be replaced, and CMF sells spares in the standard colours plus Orange and Light Green — handy for both repairs and restyling.

The Bottom Line

The CMF Headphone Pro gets the budget ANC formula right in a way few rivals manage: it spends on the things you feel every day — battery, comfort, controls, connectivity — and its compromises (call quality in noise, ANC a tier below flagship, no USB audio) are the ones most listeners will notice least. Add the Energy Slider, the hearing-test EQ and cushions you can swap in seconds, and this is the easiest budget over-ear recommendation we can make from the published evidence. If a pair lands on our test bench, we will update this score with our own measurements.

Mark Folksman

I am the founder of Sound Mavericks, where I provide the polite truth about audio equipment. I started this site because consumer electronics reviews are often too technical. Instead of using a silent lab, I test headphones, earbuds, and Bluetooth speakers in the real world – like on a noisy subway or in a busy coffee shop.

To stay independent, I buy my own review units (mostly from the United States) rather than accepting free gifts from brands. Once I finish testing a product, I sell it locally to our community. My goal is to help you understand sound quality, active noise cancellation (ANC), and battery life without the marketing hype.