I’ve been getting hands on with the CMF Headphone Pro thanks once again to @Deepanshu_Saini_ and the Community Review Program! I’m also a Headphone (1) user, so I’ve considered some comparison points in my review.
TL;DR: these are a fantastic pair of headphones for their price point and are a great choice for those who want good quality, balanced audio at a budget friendly price.
Let me start off by saying, I’m no audiophile, however I do have experience using both Nothing Headphone (1) and Anker Soundcore Q45 (of which the latter I find a little muffled, but did the job for 4 9-hour flights!) The sound quality listening to music with CMF Headphone Pro is fantastic in my experience - much better than I expected - paired with decent Active Noise Cancellation and a really good transparency mode too.
Comfort is good, but an area that could be improved for me personally. While the headphones themselves are fit well, have plenty of padding and are comfortable to wear, I find that my ears often get really warm after wearing them for about an hour or so, especially for a gym session. The only reason I can think of is the cup size being on the smaller side, leaving no breathing space. This might not be a problem for everyone, so I wouldn’t let it put you off!
The controls aren’t as intuitive as Headphone (1) of course, but they’re easy enough. There’s a single button to press and hold for both power and pairing mode - pressing for around a second turns the headphones on, then pressing for a further second turns them back off. Keeping the button held while the headphones are turned on instead enables pairing mode. It’s not too difficult to get used to, and a good way to cut the costs of requiring another button.
You also get a single roller for volume, play/pause and skip. Rolling up and down controls the volume - a single press controls play/pause, and a double press skips the track. I do miss the paddle from Headphone (1), but it’s something that you can quickly get used to. I do think this solution works way better than other brands that have too many buttons that all feel the same - at least you can’t mistake the roller for something else!
Then there’s the energy slider, a new feature specific to CMF Headphone Pro; which you can set in the app to either Bass Tuning or Treble Tuning. I don’t find myself using it a whole lot, but it is nice to be able to adjust bass on the fly. I personally enjoy a bit more bass in my songs, so I often choose the “more bass” equaliser. However, with the addition of the slider, I’ve found that I don’t need to use EQ, and instead can just add or remove a little bass to songs that I feel need it.
Battery life has been phenomenal - I received the headphones on 29th September, and although I haven’t used them every day, I have used them multiple times a week and haven’t yet had to charge them a single time!
Portability wise, the headphones don’t fold like some other brands, but I usually find myself wearing them around my neck when not in use. There’s also an included velvet bag which gives a little protection if you’re putting them in a backpack with other items - a nice touch!
So what are you not getting at this price? Other than cheaper build materials, there’s also no wearing detection - simply because there’s no IR sensor in the ear cup like in Headphone (1). If you take the headphones off, you have to remember to pause the audio.
Overall, if you’re looking for a solid and robust pair of headphones with great sound quality at a low price, I think you can’t go wrong with these! Let me know if you have any questions 😄
