Nothing Headphone Pro

At around $80, the CMF Headphone Pro delivers ANC that rivals $300 flagships, landing in the 98th percentile. Hi-Res LDAC, a customizable EQ, and 50-hour battery life seal the deal. Build quality and the soft carrying case are the main trade-offs, but this is hands-down the best value in budget wireless over-ears right now.

CMF by Nothing is Nothing's budget-minded cousin, and the Headphone Pro is their shot at making a truly great set of wireless over-ears for people who don't want to drop $300. For around $80, you get active noise cancellation, hi-res LDAC streaming, spatial audio, and battery life that stretches to 50 hours. That's a feature set you'd normally find on headphones double or triple the price, and it immediately makes these interesting.

The Headphone Pro is for anyone who wants a modern, do-it-all pair of cans for commuting, casual gaming, or just drowning out a noisy office. They're built with memory foam earpads and a cap-friendly headband, so comfort is a priority, and at 283 grams they sit on the lighter side of the over-ear camp. The design language is classic CMF—minimal but with a playful edge—and the companion Nothing X app gives you plenty of control over the sound profile and ANC.

What makes these headphones really stand out in our database is the ANC performance. They land in the 98th percentile among all over-ear headphones we've tested, which is absurd for the price. Combine that with a sound signature that's right up there in the 94th percentile, and you start to see why owners keep comparing them to Sony's XM4 and XM5 headphones that cost a whole lot more.

We'll get straight to it: the active noise cancellation on the Headphone Pro is outstanding. In our database, it's among the best right now, placing in the 98th percentile. That means in a busy coffee shop or on a flight, these clamp down on background rumble and chatter almost as well as headphones costing three times as much. Adaptive ANC adjusts automatically, and a quick toggle to Transparency Mode lets you hear your surroundings without taking the headphones off. It's effective enough that some users even mention it's just a hair behind the Sony flagships—not bad for $80.

Sound quality is equally impressive thanks to those custom 40mm dynamic drivers and LDAC support, which streams high-resolution audio over Bluetooth. The sound lands in the 94th percentile overall, with a tuning that favors deep, punchy bass and clear mids. Out of the box, it's a lively, engaging listen that works great for pop, hip-hop, and movie soundtracks. The Nothing X app unlocks full EQ customization and a Personal Sound Profile, so you can dial things in further. One weakness worth noting: our studio score is low at 61.7, so if you're looking for a flat, analytical reference for mixing, these aren't the cans for critical work. For everything else, they're a blast.

At around $80 this is one of the easiest recommendations we can make. The price varies wildly online—we've seen listings anywhere from $63 all the way up to a bizarre $15,800, which is clearly either a typo or someone hoping a robot buys it. Ignore the outlier. The real street price sits right around $80, and for that money you're getting ANC, LDAC, multipoint connectivity, and spatial audio that all perform well above average. When we look at our price-to-performance data, the Headphone Pro is essentially in a league of its own.

For context, the Sony ULT WEAR typically costs double, and the Sennheiser Momentum 4 sits north of $300. Both are better built and offer slightly more refined noise cancellation, but the CMF Headphone Pro closes the gap enough that the price difference feels almost unfair. If you're shopping on a tight budget but still want modern features and sound that doesn't feel cheap, this is the new value benchmark.

Stack the Headphone Pro against the Sony ULT WEAR and the differences come down to polish and build. Sony's ULT WEAR gives you more robust construction, a more premium case, and noise canceling that nudges ahead just slightly in our tests. But Sony charges around $150-$200, so you're paying nearly twice as much for those refinements. The CMF Headphone Pro counters with LDAC and a sound that's much closer than the price gap suggests—you're really not sacrificing much where it counts.

Looking at the JBL Live 770NC, which often sells in a similar budget bracket, the CMF outclasses it in both ANC and sound quality percentiles by a noticeable margin. The Audio-Technica ATH-S300BT also competes near this price but skips LDAC entirely and can't match the 50-hour battery. And then there's the TOZO HT3, another cheap ANC over-ear, but its feature set feels a generation behind. When we line them all up, the Headphone Pro is the clear winner for anyone who wants hi-res audio and top-tier ANC without a top-tier price tag.

Studio engineers and anyone who needs a dead-flat reference sound should look elsewhere—the Headphone Pro's studio score is a mediocre 61.7, and the bass-forward tuning won't give you an accurate mix. Check out open-back monitors like the AKG K371 or Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro for that work.

If you're the type who tosses headphones in a gym bag without a thought, the soft pouch and plasticky build won't inspire confidence. These also lack an IP rating, so sweat and dust are risks. For gym duty, consider something like the JBL Live 770NC with a more rugged design, or grab a pair of dedicated workout earbuds instead.

If you're looking for a do-it-all wireless headphone on a budget, the CMF Headphone Pro is the one to get. The ANC is honestly shocking for this price, the sound is fun and customizable, and the battery life means you'll rarely reach for the charger. Commuters, students, and work-from-home folks will find a lot to love here, and you can even plug in the 3.5mm cable when you need zero-latency audio for gaming. At around $80, it's hard not to call this a steal.

That said, the build is merely okay and the included soft pouch won't protect them in a backpack the way a hard case would. If you're rough on your gear or want something that feels truly premium in the hand, stretch for the Sennheiser Momentum 4 or Sony WH-1000XM5. And if you need flat, accurate sound for studio work, these aren't it—look for open-back monitoring headphones instead. But for everyone else, the Headphone Pro delivers way more than it costs.