CMF Ear (Open): The Sporty Earbuds Nothing Should Have Released

CMF Ear (open) makes a stronger case for colorful, runner-friendly earbuds with physical controls, a Smart Dial case, and a more approachable design.

The CMF product hiding in plain sight

Some gadgets arrive with the right design but the wrong name. Nothing’s Ear (open) might be one of them.

Launched in 2024 at $149, the open-ear earbuds brought Nothing’s familiar transparent styling to a sporty, lightweight format. They were well received enough to earn a Red Dot Product Design award, yet something about the product always felt slightly out of place. Every time I looked at those clear surfaces and over-ear hooks, my mind quietly supplied the same answer: this should have been CMF.

Open-ear buds are usually the casual second pair—the ones tossed into a gym bag, worn on a walk, or grabbed before a quick run. They’re practical, colorful, and built for everyday movement rather than premium listening-room drama. That description lines up almost perfectly with CMF’s personality.

Nothing may have noticed the same mismatch. The Ear (open) is now available in a soft blue color for $99 in the United States. That’s CMF pricing, in a CMF-friendly shade, attached to a Nothing badge. The branding feels like it took a wrong turn somewhere between the design studio and the retail shelf.

A concept that completes the CMF lineup

That little branding theory becomes much more convincing when you see industrial designer Shreyansh Onial’s CMF Ear (open) concept.

Onial, whose CMF Flip foldable phone concept drew a reaction from Carl Pei, imagined the open-ear buds that Nothing never released under the CMF name. The result looks less like a speculative idea and more like a product that has already passed through CMF’s assembly line.

The familiar over-ear hook remains, but the transparent panels disappear. In their place are solid Coral, Light Grey, and Dark Grey finishes. Each earbud receives a chunky physical button, while the charging case borrows the pill-shaped form and knurled Smart Dial associated with CMF’s $99 Clip Pro.

It’s an alternate-universe launch that feels oddly inevitable. The more I look at it, the more the original Ear (open) starts to feel like a premium prototype for this version.

Designer: Shreyansh Onial

Trading Nothing’s transparent shell for CMF’s colorful hooks

The color palette does a lot of the storytelling here. Coral, Light Grey, and Dark Grey match the Clip Pro’s established tones, giving the concept an immediate family resemblance. CMF products tend to feel a little more playful and approachable than Nothing’s polished transparent hardware, and these earbuds lean confidently into that character.

Transparency is Nothing’s calling card, but it’s less essential on an open-ear product dominated by a silicone hook. Onial’s concept makes the hook fully opaque, using a soft matte texture that should feel comfortable in the hand. The circular acoustic pod near the ear receives a glossier finish, creating a subtle contrast between the two surfaces.

The outer face is shaped like a rounded pill. A single circular button sits beside a small glyph made from a circle, a dot grid, and a filled dot. It’s a simple visual language, but it gives the buds a recognizable face without turning them into visual clutter.

At the end of each battery housing, a fine stippled texture adds grip. That detail matters more than it might seem. Sweat, sunscreen, and hurried hands are not exactly friendly to glossy surfaces, especially when you’re trying to adjust earbuds halfway through a workout. A textured finish gives your fingers something to catch.

Physical buttons solve a very real workout problem

The most practical change is the move from pinch controls to proper physical buttons.

The original Ear (open) uses pinch gestures, which can become awkward when fingers are damp or slippery. In theory, pinch controls are tidy and futuristic. In practice, they can feel like trying to operate a tiny elevator button while jogging. Physical buttons are far less glamorous, but they’re easier to locate and press when your attention is on the road, the treadmill, or the next set.

That decision also fits CMF’s existing design approach. The Clip Pro uses physical controls for a similar reason: straightforward interaction matters when a product is being used on the move.

Turn one of the concept buds around and the details become even more distinctive. A perforated metal grille forms a small kidney-bean shape, while two pogo pins sit on a short collar for charging. The grille is my favorite touch in the entire concept because it gives the earbud an almost cartoon-like expression.

That bean-shaped opening also echoes the rounded forms of the Smart Dial on the case. Nothing here feels overly aggressive or technical. The design is friendly, soft, and easy to understand—exactly the sort of visual language that makes sense for earbuds built around sweat, sidewalks, and daily movement.

The Smart Dial case has a job to do

The charging case appears to borrow its shape directly from the CMF Clip Pro. It’s a deep, pill-shaped capsule with a knurled metal dial set into one end of the lid.

On the Clip Pro, the Smart Dial handles several functions, including volume adjustment, playback control, call answering, and pairing. CMF has also used a similar dial on its Buds Pro 2, making the control feel less like a novelty and more like an emerging brand signature.

Onial’s version adds a dot-matrix “cmf” wordmark on the lid, a front status LED, and a USB-C port along the side. Inside, molded cradles hold the two over-ear hooks in a neat V-shaped arrangement. Each acoustic pod gets its own charging pocket, keeping the interior organized rather than turning it into a plastic puzzle.

The case design is more than a visual remix. A dial is genuinely useful for open-ear earbuds. Reaching for a rotating control on the case could be quicker and more reliable than digging through phone menus while stretching, walking, or waiting for a workout to start.

Pair that dial with physical buttons on the earbuds, and the whole system becomes refreshingly direct. There’s no need to perform a delicate touch gesture or remember a complicated tap sequence. You press, turn, and get on with your day.

Built for runners, not just commuters

The hook is another important distinction.

Over-ear hooks anchor behind the ear, helping keep the earbuds in place during runs, burpees, and those last-second sprints for a departing bus. That stability is one of the original Ear (open)’s strongest qualities, and the concept wisely keeps it intact.

The Clip Pro takes a different approach with its C-shaped clip, which hugs the outer edge of the ear. That format makes more sense for commuting, desk work, and extended everyday wear. It’s compact and less sporty, but it doesn’t fill the same role as a proper runner-focused earbud.

That leaves a noticeable gap in the CMF lineup. The brand has a commuter-friendly open-ear option, but no dedicated product for people who want a secure hook during exercise. This concept would fill that space neatly without stepping too heavily on the parent brand’s identity.

The result feels like a product designed around a real routine: open the case, turn the dial, press a button, and start moving. No fuss, no elaborate setup, no stopping mid-run to wrestle with a phone.

How the CMF Ear (open) could compete

The open-ear category became crowded quickly. Bose Ultra Open sits at the high end at $299, while Sony LinkBuds Clip, Huawei FreeClip, and Shokz hook-style earbuds occupy different parts of the market.

The Clip Pro arrived at $99 with LDAC support, a 10.8mm driver, and up to 32.5 hours of total battery life. Nothing’s Ear (open) offers a larger 14.2mm driver, up to eight hours of listening per charge, and as much as 30 hours with the charging case.

There’s also a difference in weight. Each Ear (open) bud weighs 0.29 ounces, or 8.1 grams. Each Clip Pro bud weighs 0.21 ounces, or 5.9 grams. A CMF version could occupy an appealing middle ground, combining the secure fit and larger driver of the Ear (open) with the Clip Pro’s Smart Dial, physical controls, and accessible pricing.

The pricing argument is especially persuasive. The blue Ear (open) already sells for $99 in the United States, matching the Clip Pro’s price. Moving the product under the CMF badge would make that price feel intentional rather than like a reduction from a more premium launch.

It could also give Nothing room to return later with a more expensive transparent successor. In that arrangement, CMF would get the colorful, practical sports model first, while Nothing could continue exploring a more distinctive premium design above it.

CMF became an independent Nothing subsidiary headquartered in India last year, and a signature sport earbud could help the younger brand establish an even clearer identity. The concept already looks shelf-ready: expressive, practical, and unmistakably related to the rest of the CMF family.

Sometimes the little sibling doesn’t need the leftover product. Sometimes it deserves the new toy first.

Conclusion

The CMF Ear (open) concept works because it brings the product’s personality and branding into alignment. Colorful finishes, physical buttons, a Smart Dial case, textured surfaces, and a secure over-ear hook all point toward the same use case: active, everyday listening without unnecessary fuss. Would you have preferred this design under the CMF name?

FAQ

• What is the CMF Ear (open) concept? It’s an industrial design concept by Shreyansh Onial that reimagines Nothing’s Ear (open) earbuds as a CMF product, using CMF colors, physical buttons, and a Smart Dial charging case.
• How is the concept different from Nothing’s Ear (open)? The concept replaces Nothing’s transparent styling with opaque Coral, Light Grey, and Dark Grey finishes. It also adds physical buttons instead of relying primarily on pinch controls.
• Who designed the CMF Ear (open) concept? The concept was designed by industrial designer Shreyansh Onial.
• What makes the concept suitable for runners? Its over-ear hooks are designed to anchor behind the ear during movement, while physical buttons make control easier when fingers are sweaty or slippery.
• What features does the charging case include? The case features a pill-shaped design, a knurled Smart Dial, a dot-matrix CMF wordmark, a front status LED, a USB-C port, and molded charging cradles for both earbuds.

Bring a little of that colorful, tactile CMF spirit into your space with a favorite album cover poster from Architeg Prints. It’s a warm way to keep the music—and the design conversation—going long after the earbuds are back in their case.