Nothing’s CMF Clip Pro intensifies open-ear market with affordable functionality upgrade

Nothing’s newly launched CMF Clip Pro, priced at £79/$79, positions itself as a cost-effective entry into the fast-growing open-ear segment, prioritising comfort and practicality over premium sound quality, amidst mixed reviews on its performance.

As of 5 September 2026, CMF’s Clip Pro sits at £79 in Nothing’s UK shop and at $79 in the company’s US store, where $99 is shown as the crossed-out price. That leaves the earbuds in a stronger position than they had at launch in early August: not as a category-defining audio product, but as a notably cheap way into the fast-growing clip-on, open-ear segment. Across independent reviews, the most consistent verdict is that CMF has prioritised comfort, controls and everyday practicality over class-leading sound or isolation. (nothing.tech)

The Clip Pro is CMF’s first clip-style open-ear model, unveiled on 4 August 2026 and put on sale from 15 August. The design centres on a three-point support layout: a small speaker housing that sits near the ear canal, a rear section carrying the controls, and a slim bridge between them. TechRadar described that bridge as an “elastic titanium wire core” inside a “slim C-bridge”, while Android Authority reported a 0.5mm titanium wire structure wrapped for comfort. Most reviews put the weight at 5.9g per earbud, although Android Authority’s launch report cited 6.5g, an unusual discrepancy in the early specifications. Wallpaper* added that the 10.8mm driver sits inside a 13.8mm “listening ball”, part of what CMF calls its OpenFit Arc system. (techradar.com)

On wearability, the reporting is largely favourable. SoundGuys said the earbuds stayed in place relatively well and were comfortable for a few hours, while Wallpaper* found them “seriously comfortable” for longer listening. Pocket Tactics was more cautious, saying they “feel odd” even though they never fell out during a week of use. The feature that repeatedly stands out is the Smart Dial on the charging case. SoundGuys called it the most exciting part of the package because it lets users change volume and playback without reaching for a phone. That matters because TechRadar had previously criticised CMF’s earlier dial implementation on another model for accidental pocket presses and delayed feedback, so the return of the idea here is not just cosmetic. (soundguys.com)

The broader specification is unusually full at this price. Nothing’s official product page highlights Hi-Res Audio, LDAC and Clear Voice Technology, while TechRadar and Android Authority both noted Bluetooth 5.4, dual-device connectivity and leakage-reduction features. Wallpaper* reported two separate leakage-control modes for music and voice, and Pocket Tactics said the app presents this as Privacy Tuning. Battery claims are also aggressive for an open design: CMF says up to 10 hours from the earbuds, 32.5 hours with the case, and up to 36 hours in a longer-life mode that disables some extras. SoundGuys measured nine hours with LDAC enabled, which is close to the claim, and said a 10-minute top-up yields about four hours of listening. (us.nothing.tech)

Audio quality is where the praise becomes more qualified. Nothing markets the product to “listeners tired of being told that open-ear means making do”, but the independent reviews suggest the Clip Pro remains bound by the usual compromises of the format. SoundGuys found the tuning bright, spacious and light on bass, while Pocket Tactics said the sound was not especially remarkable. Attempts to compensate for open-ear bass loss do not fully solve the problem. SoundGuys said the bass enhancement added audible distortion, and both SoundGuys and Pocket Tactics found the anti-leakage settings hurt sound quality enough to make them poor choices for music. In practice, the Clip Pro appears competent rather than ambitious on sound: acceptable for casual listening, less convincing if audio fidelity is the main priority. (us.nothing.tech)

Call performance and connection reliability are less settled. SoundGuys reported that the Clip Pro uses two microphones on each earbud with a dedicated voice-processing chip, and said calls sounded very good in ideal conditions. The same review, however, found that the microphones struggled to reject office noise, street noise, wind and reverberation. Pocket Tactics took a kinder view of the microphones but was more critical of setup, describing repeated pairing frustration when the earbuds were not seated cleanly on the case contacts. That reviewer also said Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair were inconsistent, whereas SoundGuys said device switching worked and only mentioned occasional brief dropouts in transit. For a buyer, that split matters more than small differences in tonal balance. (soundguys.com)

The product also says something about CMF’s wider role inside Nothing. Android Authority noted reports that the company was putting more emphasis on wearables and audio, although Nothing did not comment on that claim. In that context, the Clip Pro looks less like a one-off novelty and more like a deliberate attempt to occupy the lower end of the open-ear market with a recognisable industrial design and a differentiated control scheme. CMF’s own pitch, relayed by TechRadar, is that the earbuds should “feel as natural as it sounds” for people moving through busy cities and long workdays. Wallpaper* makes essentially the same case in softer language: these are for listening while staying socially and physically aware, not for shutting the world out on a flight or the Underground. (androidauthority.com)

Taken together, the strongest argument for the CMF Clip Pro is not that it beats the best open earbuds, but that it makes the category easier to justify. The current store pricing strengthens that view. If you already own a sealed pair with active noise cancellation and want a lighter set for work, walking or low-intensity exercise, CMF appears to have delivered a sensible second pair with a standout case control. If you want richer sound, dependable noise rejection on calls or flawless pairing behaviour from the first minute, the reviews suggest you should treat the Clip Pro as a compromise product, even at a compromise price. (nothing.tech)