CMF’s First Wireless Headphones Have a Slider for People That Are Hyperfixated on Bass

CMF is finally done teasing its first pair of over-ear headphones. The company—which is, for now, a subbrand of Nothing—is launching the $99 Headphone Pro, an affordable pair of active noise cancellation headphones (ANC) with lots of buttons and a really sturdy battery life. Like I suspected, the 100-hour battery that CMF already teased doesn’t apply to playback with ANC like I had hoped, but if you’re listening sans ANC, the company says they’re rated for that length of listening. If you are listening with ANC on, though (like most people), you’ll get 50 hours, which is still pretty good to be fair. For reference, Nothing’s Headphone 1, which also came out this year, get 35 hours with ANC on and 80 hours with ANC off. That’s a big difference, especially in the ANC department, and even more so when you consider the Headphone 1 cost $299. One thing that carries over between Nothing’s Headphone 1 and CMF’s Headphone Pro is an emphasis on buttons. Just like the Headphone 1, which comes with a pill-shaped rolling button for volume and play/pause or turning ANC on/off and a paddle for track selection and audio scrubbing, the CMF Headphone Pro have its own array of tactile controls. Probably the most interesting button is what CMF is calling the “Energy Slider,” which is meant for adjusting the bass levels without having to use the Nothing X app. As someone who’s pretty specific about having too much bass, I’m actually excited about this one. That fact is, sometimes you want a bass boost and sometimes you don’t, and using a button to toggle features like that on or off lacks granularity. There’s also an action button built in that’s programmable via the Nothing X app and a power button for, well, turning the headphones on and off. That’s not all; there’s a roller, which, like the Headphone 1, serves many purposes. In addition to adjusting volume, it also controls play/pause and can control ANC to allow for more or less ambient sound. I, for one, love the tactile controls on the Headphone 1, even if they aren’t always the smoothest to use. There’s still something about reaching for your headphones that feels so much easier for quick controls when you’re riding the subway or just running around with your phone tucked away. Introducing Headphone Pro. Remix. Everything. pic.twitter.com/eFGXZd0ce3 — CMF by Nothing (@cmfbynothing) September 29, 2025 Just as CMF had teased, the Headphone Pro will also have swappable earcups, though that concludes the modularity aspect of its headphones. I was hoping CMF would do more with customization. The $99 Headphone Pro come in dark gray, light green, and light gray, while the additional earcups come in either orange or light green, and will cost $25 each. They’re available in the U.K. and EU starting today, Sept. 29; in the U.S. on Oct. 7. My biggest question is how they sound compared to the Headphone 1, but I’ll have an answer to that soon enough. And even if they sound notably inferior, they’re also one-third of the price, so you can’t expect them to be one-to-one.