Should you buy these? Yes.
First of all, these are an incredible value, even though I'm not sure what the actual price is. I bought a pair today for $30, curious about how well these perform despite being so cheap, considering how well-liked they are. I tested them on a set of tracks that are unbalanced, each in their own way (e.g. too heavy on the bass/treble/etc.) and somehow they all sounded good. I don't know how that's even possible. These little things have bass you can feel, which I've never experienced with any kind of earbud. It's not something that I particularly enjoy, but a lot of people will, and it's impressive nevertheless. When I like a pair of headphones I get a backup pair, so I just bought another pair of these and they were only $20. After I bought them they went up to $40. All of those prices are justifiable for the quality these provide, but I am very confused why the price keeps changing on me.
But let's say they're supposed to be $40. At that price point, you wouldn't think to compare them to Sony's WF-1000XM4 or Apple's Airpods Pro 2, but they sound better than both. It's not that hard to sound better than Airpods, but there are other features worth comparing. Sounding better than Sony's WF-1000XM4s, however—at somewhere between 6.75% and 13.5% of the cost—is pretty incredible. Granted, they're definitely not more realistic, but these somehow manage to make everything sound good. Senheiser's IE 600s are for realism, but I would not argue that they sound better. When you're listening for fun, the CMF Buds 2a are the most fun. Normally, I prefer uncolored, realistic sound even in a headphone I use for fun, but these are a rare exception.
I love trying new headphones because you get to hear your favorite music in a new way. Sometimes it's not a huge difference, but I hear more detail than average so I enjoy the subtle stuff. I think the sound stage of these buds elevate the sound significantly. You can really hear the details, even in a bad mix. You can hear the sound move so well and with such fluidity. It's just hard to believe these are $20-40 Bluetooth headphones.
I've used these for only a couple of hours now, so I can't speak to battery life, but I'm hoping they truly will make it through the workday. They're surprisingly comfortable, and the medium tips actually fit great (usually I'm a small size). I like the design. Everything's plastic—and not plastic that feels particularly sturdy—but the design is nice. While the headphones feel like they go into the case backwards (to me, at least), they snap in thanks to magnets and look nicer in that "backwards" position. The case is very small and looks nice in a minimal way. The active noise canceling is good and comparable to the WF-1000XM4s. I think the AirPods Pro 2 win in the ANC category by a hair.
If there's one place I can fault these buds is in the touch controls. I can turn ANC on and off, but so far I haven't been sucessful with any other option. They just don't seem to respond well to taps. I don't really care, though. I find touch controls useful only when I can't control the volume and track through any other mechanism. I find it much easier to make these adjustments on my phone or computer. Still, I would prefer if I could get the touch controls to actually work.
These buds are my new recommendation for non-audiophiles, and audiophiles who want a fun pair. They're exceptional for the price, and would still be competitive at five times the cost. I'm really glad I decided to give these a try.
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