Milk Cartons, But Make It Audio
Nothing’s budget brand CMF made its first move into portable audio on Monday, launching the Speaker S ($59) and Speaker M ($109). According to GSMArena, both keep the CMF playbook intact: loud colors, geometric design, and prices that undercut everything around them. The milk-carton silhouette with a carry handle and a big tactile knob is the kind of design you notice across a room — which is exactly the point.
The timing is not accidental. As Droid Life reported, the two speakers leaked through FCC filings and retailer listings in the days before launch — and they arrive as CMF is spinning out into an independent, India-headquartered company, with Carl Pei announcing a $100 million manufacturing joint venture with Optiemus in September. These are the first products of the new CMF, and the company clearly wants them to make noise.
Two Sizes, Same Attitude
The smaller Speaker S packs a “custom-tuned” 45mm full-range driver with dual passive radiators for 10W RMS, plus a strap point for clipping it to a bag. The bigger Speaker M goes two-way: a 25W woofer and a 10W tweeter for 35W RMS, with an integrated carry handle. Everything else is shared: Bluetooth 6.0, an IP68 dust-and-water rating, up to 18 hours of playback at 50% volume with Ultra Bass switched on, NFC tap-to-pair, Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, dual-device connectivity, and sub-60ms USB-C audio.
A physical knob handles playback, track skipping, volume, and Ultra Bass, with dedicated buttons for power, Bluetooth pairing, and Auracast. Two identical units pair into true left-right stereo; Party Mode uses Auracast to sync across multiple speakers, including models from other brands. Through the Nothing X app you get Ultra Bass and Wide Soundstage modes plus four EQ presets — Balanced, More Bass, More Treble, and Voice. Both come in white, dark grey, turquoise, and orange, and sales are open now through Nothing’s online store and select retail partners.
The JBL Math Does Not Favor JBL
Here is where it gets interesting. JBL’s Flip 7 — the default pick in this category — sells for $149.95 with an almost identical driver recipe: a 25W woofer, a 10W tweeter, 35W total, an IP68 rating, and Auracast. The CMF Speaker M matches that spec sheet, adds four extra hours of rated battery (18 vs 14), and costs $40 less. The Speaker S is forty percent of the Flip 7’s price.
The honest caveats: CMF’s “custom-tuned” driver claims are unverified, no independent reviews exist yet, and 10W from a single driver on the S is modest for outdoor use. But on paper, JBL’s entry-level stronghold just got flanked on both sides — and the one feature JBL cannot match at any price is the swappable front panels and knobs, with CMF publishing official design files so owners can 3D-print their own.
Why this matters
The commodity coverage is running spec sheets, but the story is the strategy. CMF has entered a mature, crowded category — JBL, Anker’s Soundcore, Ultimate Ears — and attacked it the only way a newcomer can: same core specs, dramatically lower prices, and one thing nobody else offers. The 3D-printable panels turn a $59 speaker into a personal object, and at these prices a two-speaker stereo pair costs less than a single Flip 7.
If the sound quality holds up in reviews, CMF’s formula — which already worked for earbuds, watches, and phones — will squeeze the entire entry tier of portable audio. If it does not, the brand still owns the most interesting-looking speaker under $110. Either way, the milk carton just became the most disruptive shape in audio.
Meanwhile in Mobiles: the Pixel 10a is reportedly getting a $100 price hike — memory shortages are hitting phones too.
Meanwhile in Gadgets: Samsung’s new clip-on Galaxy Buds take a different swing at wearable audio.
