CMF Headphone Pro VS Nothing Headphone 1

The CMF Headphone Pro and Nothing Headphone 1 both feature an over-ear fit, providing a similar design in terms of comfort. However, the Nothing Headphone 1 is slightly heavier, weighing 329 g compared to the CMF Headphone Pro's 283 g. Both models offer a detachable cable, ensuring convenience and customization.

When it comes to ingress protection, the CMF Headphone Pro has an IPX2 rating, meaning it offers limited protection against water. In contrast, the Nothing Headphone 1 provides a higher IP52 rating, offering protection against dust and sweat, making it a better option for active use. Both headphones include a travel bag and have tangle-free cables, but the CMF Headphone Pro lacks water resistance, while the Nothing Headphone 1 is sweat-resistant.

Neither product is designed specifically for kids, and both feature stereo speakers. Neither model has an open-back design, ensuring a closed acoustic experience. In summary, the CMF Headphone Pro and Nothing Headphone 1 share many similarities in design, with the main differences lying in weight, water resistance, and ingress protection ratings.

Both the CMF Headphone Pro and Nothing Headphone 1 offer active noise cancellation (ANC) and support spatial audio, ensuring an immersive listening experience. The driver unit size is the same for both, with each featuring a 40 mm driver, which is common for high-quality audio reproduction. Additionally, both headphones provide passive noise reduction for enhanced sound isolation.

In terms of frequency range, the CMF Headphone Pro has a lower limit of 20 Hz and a higher limit of 20,000 Hz. The Nothing Headphone 1, however, extends its frequency range to 40,000 Hz at the upper end, offering a broader spectrum of sound reproduction. This may allow the Nothing Headphone 1 to capture more detail in higher frequencies.

Neither headphone uses a neodymium magnet, which is often found in high-end audio equipment, but this absence doesn't necessarily affect sound quality for the average user. Overall, both models provide a very similar listening experience, with the primary difference being the wider frequency range of the Nothing Headphone 1.

The CMF Headphone Pro and Nothing Headphone 1 both offer impressive battery performance, though there are some differences in their specifications. The CMF Headphone Pro provides a longer overall battery life, offering up to 100 hours of use compared to the 80 hours of the Nothing Headphone 1. When ANC is active, the CMF Headphone Pro lasts 50 hours, while the Nothing Headphone 1 lasts 35 hours in ANC mode.

Both headphones require 2 hours for a full charge, and both support USB Type-C charging. They also both include a battery level indicator, allowing users to easily monitor their charge. Neither product supports wireless charging or has a solar power battery, and both feature a rechargeable, non-removable battery.

In terms of battery capacity, the Nothing Headphone 1 has a larger 1040 mAh battery compared to the 720 mAh battery in the CMF Headphone Pro. While the larger battery in the Nothing Headphone 1 may suggest longer potential usage, the CMF Headphone Pro still offers a greater total battery life overall.

Both the CMF Headphone Pro and Nothing Headphone 1 support wireless and wired connectivity options, ensuring flexible usage. In terms of Bluetooth technology, the CMF Headphone Pro uses Bluetooth version 5.4, while the Nothing Headphone 1 uses Bluetooth version 5.3, with the CMF model offering a slightly newer version.

Both headphones support LDAC for high-resolution audio streaming, and both are equipped with AAC, ensuring high-quality audio over Bluetooth. However, neither product supports aptX Adaptive, aptX Low Latency, aptX HD, aptX Lossless, or Bluetooth LE Audio. Both also lack support for Auracast, a feature for audio sharing.

Regarding Bluetooth range, both headphones offer a maximum range of 10 m, and both support fast pairing. Additionally, neither product supports Bluetooth pairing via NFC. Overall, the connectivity features are quite similar between the two models, with the main difference being the slightly newer Bluetooth version in the CMF Headphone Pro.

Both the CMF Headphone Pro and Nothing Headphone 1 come with a noise-canceling microphone and an ambient sound mode, providing enhanced audio clarity and situational awareness. However, there is a notable difference in the number of microphones. The CMF Headphone Pro has 10 microphones, while the Nothing Headphone 1 has only 6 microphones. This may contribute to different microphone performance, with the CMF model likely offering better noise isolation and voice capture.

Another difference lies in the presence of in/on-ear detection. The Nothing Headphone 1 has this feature, which can automatically pause or resume playback when the headphones are removed or put on, but the CMF Headphone Pro does not support this function.

Both headphones feature a control panel placed on the device and can be used as a headset. However, the CMF Headphone Pro includes an in-line control panel, while the Nothing Headphone 1 does not. This gives the CMF model more direct control over audio functions without needing to interact with a connected device.