Open-ear earbuds used to feel like a niche product made for a very specific kind of listener. They were mostly aimed at runners, cyclists, and anyone who wanted to stay aware of their surroundings, and the category was long dominated by a small group of specialist brands. For years, that made open-ear audio feel practical rather than desirable, more about function than style.

That is no longer the case. Open-ear earbuds have quickly become one of the busiest segments in personal audio, with mainstream brands now entering the space and giving the format broader appeal. CMF, Nothing’s budget-focused sub-brand, is the latest to join them with the CMF Clip Pro. As you might expect, it leans heavily on design and distinctive hardware touches to stand out, including physical controls that give it more character than most rivals. On paper, it already feels more interesting than the average pair of open-ear earbuds. The real question is whether that personality translates into a product worth buying.

Designer: CMF (Nothing)

Aesthetics

CMF Clip Pro is a good reminder that an earbud case can matter just as much as the earbuds themselves. Here, the case is not just packaging. It is a big part of the product’s identity, and one of the first things that makes the Clip Pro stand out.

The shape is essentially a rounded rectangular pod. It is slightly chunky, but softly contoured, with curved corners, a matte finish, and a subtle rubber-like texture that feels warmer than the glossy plastic shells most earbuds still use. It also stands apart from the usual pebble-like cases, which gives it a more distinctive silhouette in the hand.

The detail that defines the whole design is the oversized circular dial at the top right corner, called Smart Dial. It immediately gives the case a focal point, but it also earns that space by being functional. The metallic finish, ridged edge, and two line markings give it a sharper, more engineered feel, which contrasts nicely with the softer body of the case.

The rest of the design is restrained. There is only a small CMF logo on top, with the status LED and USB-C port kept discreetly out of the way. That minimalism works in the case’s favor, because it lets the shape and the dial do most of the talking.

The color options reinforce that identity. Light Gray and Dark Gray are the safer choices, but Coral is the one that feels most like CMF. It is brighter, more playful, and better suited to a product that clearly wants to stand apart. Most importantly, the case feels designed with intent rather than treated as an afterthought, and that alone gives the Clip Pro an edge.

Ergonomics

The Smart Dial on the case is one of those details that immediately makes the product feel more thoughtful in hand. Each turn delivers crisp, clicky feedback, and pressing the dial has a satisfying weight to it. It feels tactile and deliberate rather than decorative, which makes everyday use that bit more enjoyable.

The case has a matte texture that feels soft in the hand, while the earbuds are mostly glossy. At around 52.1 x 26.7 x 51.0mm and roughly 38.8g, the case stays compact and easy to carry. I also like that it can stand upright on a surface, which is a small but practical advantage over the usual round, pebble-like earbud cases. Each earbud weighs just under 6g, and that lightness helps with long-term comfort.

The Clip Pro is easy to wear for hours without feeling pinchy or awkward. CMF has also built physical buttons into the rear section of each earbud, where they are easy to reach without much adjustment. The earbuds do not interfere with glasses either, which is a nice touch. They can clash slightly with earcuffs depending on their position, but in my experience that is only a minor issue.

There is still a small ergonomic quirk with the charging case. Putting the earbuds back can be a little confusing at first because the left and right sides are not interchangeable. The rear section needs to sit at the bottom with the C-bridge facing inward, and until that becomes second nature, the process feels slightly less intuitive than it should.

Performance

Sound quality is always the challenge with open-ear earbuds because the format comes with clear limits. Without a seal inside the ear canal, you do not get the same bass weight, isolation, or intimacy as you would from a good pair of in-ear buds. The goal here is not to beat traditional earbuds at their own game. It is to sound full and clear enough that the open-ear tradeoff feels worthwhile.

The CMF Clip Pro uses a 10.8mm dynamic driver and supports LDAC, AAC, and SBC codecs. In practice, the tuning is more restrained than on some of CMF’s other earbuds. I found the CMF Buds 2 and Buds 2 Pro I reviewed last year noticeably bass-heavy, but the Clip Pro does not lean in that direction, even with Bass Enhancement set to Level 2. Instead, it sounds more balanced, which suits this category better.

Bass still lacks the weight and punch you would get from sealed earbuds, but that is to be expected. The upside is that the sound never feels bloated or as if it is trying too hard to compensate. Clarity is decent, and the overall presentation is clean and easy to listen to. It is not especially rich or immersive, but for casual listening, podcasts, and everyday music, it works well enough.

There is no noise cancelling, and no real isolation either. Some leakage is still present, as you would expect from open-ear earbuds, but it is mild in everyday use. People nearby are unlikely to notice unless they are very close or you’re listening at high volume. CMF also includes an anti-leakage mode, but while it helps, it also makes the sound noticeably more muffled.

As for call quality, the CMF Clip Pro uses a four-mic setup, with two mics on each earbud, alongside noise reduction. It does a decent job of keeping voices clear enough for everyday calls, even in busier environments. It is reliable enough that taking calls on the go does not feel like a compromise.

The physical controls on both the earbuds and the case are easily one of my favorite things about the Clip Pro. In a category where touch controls often feel inconsistent, CMF takes a more tactile approach that immediately helps these stand out. The buttons on the earbuds are easy to use and support a surprisingly broad range of inputs, including double press, triple press, press and hold, and double press and hold. That gives the Clip Pro a level of flexibility that feels more thoughtfully implemented than many rivals.

What really elevates the experience is the Smart Dial on the case. It handles volume through rotation, and it can also be customized for playback, track skipping, voice assistant access, low lag mode, and call controls. That makes the case feel like more than a simple charging shell, giving the product a bit of personality in everyday use. More importantly, the physical controls work very well in practice. They feel responsive and dependable, which matters far more than simply offering a long list of possible shortcuts. My only complaint is that the sound cue for volume changes can lag slightly behind the actual adjustment.

The earbuds’ controls work right out of the box, while Smart Dial has to be enabled manually in the Nothing X app. Beyond that, the app lets you adjust features like spatial audio, anti-leakage mode, bass boost, low lag mode, and dual-device pairing. There are also five preset EQ modes, plus a custom three-band equalizer that gives you a good amount of control over the sound. Nothing X is not doing anything radically new, but it remains one of the best earbud apps around. It looks great, feels intuitive, and makes it easy to tweak settings without any fuss.

Battery life is rated at up to 10 hours on the earbuds themselves and up to 32.5 hours with the case, while a Long Battery Mode pushes that to 36 hours. In my testing, which included a mix of music, video, and a 20-minute video call, the earbuds still had more than 50 percent battery left after about five continuous hours of use, so CMF’s claim appears to hold up well. CMF also says a quick 10-minute charge can deliver up to four hours of playback, which adds to the overall convenience.

Sustainability

CMF leaves a few unanswered questions here. The Clip Pro earbuds themselves are rated IP54, which adds useful protection against dust and light splashes in daily use. The case, however, is only rated IPX2, so it is best kept away from water.

There is also less clarity around environmental impact than I would have liked. Unlike Nothing’s mainline products, CMF does not seem to clearly publish details on recycled materials, carbon footprint, packaging, or manufacturing for this line. That does not necessarily mean sustainability was ignored, but it does make the product harder to assess on those terms. For a brand that puts so much emphasis on design and presentation, a little more transparency here would have made the Clip Pro feel more complete.

Value

At $99, the CMF Clip Pro sits firmly in the mid-range. That price feels a little high by CMF standards, especially for a brand that has built its reputation on strong value. Even so, the Clip Pro still manages to punch above its price in a few key ways, particularly through its design, physical controls, comfort, and overall user experience.

That said, value here depends heavily on what you want from your earbuds. If you are drawn to the look, appreciate the physical controls, like the fit, and want an affordable open-ear option from a recognizable brand, $99 can still make sense. If you are comparing purely on specifications, protection, or feature depth, this one may feel a little less convincing.

Verdict

The CMF Clip Pro does not completely redefine what open-ear earbuds can be, but it gets more right than wrong. The sound still carries the usual limitations of the format, yet it is tuned with enough balance and clarity to work well for casual listening, podcasts, and everyday music. The price also feels a touch high for a CMF product. Even so, there is a lot to like here. The design is distinctive, the fit is comfortable, the controls are genuinely excellent, and the overall user experience feels more considered than most rivals in this space.

What makes the Clip Pro stand out is that it does not rely on one gimmick alone. The Smart Dial is clever, but it is also useful. The physical buttons are unusual, but they are there because they work. Add in a polished app and solid battery life, and you end up with a pair of open-ear earbuds that feels thoughtfully put together from top to bottom. It may not be the obvious value champion in CMF’s lineup, but it is one of the brand’s most interesting products yet, and one that gets the basics right in ways that matter.

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