Nothing’s CMF brand launches its first clip-style open-ear earbuds, the Clip Pro, boasting LDAC support, Hi-Res Audio certification, and a focus on design and usability in a crowded budget market.
CMF by Nothing has moved into the open-ear category with the Clip Pro, its first clip-style earbuds, pricing them at £79 in the launch window and £99 at standard retail. The timing matters: open-wearable stereo products are expanding quickly, and CMF is trying to establish itself in a segment that now rewards both comfort and technical credibility. According to launch details reported by TechTimes and other product coverage, the Clip Pro is due to ship from August 15 in the US, UK and Japan, with European availability following later.
The headline specification is unusual for the price. The Clip Pro supports LDAC and has Hi-Res Audio certification, giving it a feature set that is still uncommon below $100. Review coverage from T3, TechRadar and What Hi-Fi said the earbuds use a 10.8mm dual-magnet dynamic driver, Ultra Bass Technology and Bluetooth 5.4, with support for AAC and SBC as well as LDAC. That combination is aimed at a common weakness of open-ear designs: once the ear canal is left unsealed, bass performance drops unless the driver and signal processing are tuned carefully.
CMF is also leaning on the physical design to make the format more usable. The Clip Pro uses a three-point clip system with a titanium wire core, and each bud weighs 5.9 grams. The company is pairing that with physical on-ear buttons rather than touch surfaces, which should reduce accidental inputs during exercise or adjustment. The case adds a Smart Dial for volume, playback and call control, while the Nothing X app provides settings for features such as Sound Seal, CMF’s software-based anti-leakage mode.
Battery life and durability are also competitive. Coverage from T3 and What Hi-Fi said the earbuds are rated for up to 10 hours on a charge, rising to 32.5 hours with the case, with a 10-minute top-up delivering about 4 hours of use. The earbuds carry an IP54 rating for dust and splash resistance, while the case is rated IPX2. CMF will offer the Clip Pro in Dark Grey, Light Grey and Coral, with Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, dual-device connectivity and a low-latency mode among the other features listed at launch.
The Clip Pro enters a crowded budget field, where EarFun’s Clip 2 is the clearest point of comparison. Forbes and SoundGuys reported that EarFun launched its model earlier this year at $79.99, with AI translation, Hi-Res Audio support and a C-shaped bridge design. That makes CMF’s proposition more about tactile controls, its Smart Dial case and the Nothing ecosystem than sheer specification breadth. For buyers who want open-ear listening without spending premium money, the Clip Pro looks like a deliberate attempt to trade on design discipline as much as audio hardware.
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