Vibrant milk carton speakers explode with color and sound

If you enjoy minimalist design in your tech, you’ll want to take a closer look at CMF’s first portable speakers. Available in two sizes, they look like milk cartons (at best) and make me want all four color combinations. Actually, that may not be the worst idea I’ve ever had.

Innovatively designed hardware brand Nothing recently spun off CMF and became an independent company. The latter makes a range of inexpensive devices and you can still see the strong influence of Swedish electronics company Teenage Engineering in the appearance of their products.

That includes color-blocked styling, chunky physical knobs and controls, and simple shapes that make each device memorable and distinctive. If you like that design language, you’ll have to shell out a pretty penny (Teenage Engineering only makes a pair of speakers, which cost between $580 and $1000), so getting a CMF alternative is a much easier way to get your fix.

The CMF Speaker S is the smaller of the two models and is absolutely adorable in its 5-inch tall (130.5mm) form factor. The simple industrial design gets a small accent in the form of a physical knob for adjusting playback, track navigation, and volume.

What’s especially cool about the S and the larger Speaker M is that their front panels are replaceable, so you can swap them out for different colors and swap out the knobs too. CMF does not yet have a set of panels and knobs to purchase separately, but they are expected to appear in their store at a later date.

The S promises 18 hours of playback from its custom 45mm driver that offers 10W output. It also has two passive radiators for deep bass and CMF says it has tuned the driver to extend its bass range.

It’s not just about good looks. The S can be paired with a second speaker for a wide soundstage in stereo mode, and supports Auracast so you can stream a single audio stream from a phone (or other source) to multiple synchronized speakers. It will also support dual connections, so you’ll be able to use it with, for example, a phone and your laptop at the same time.

Pairing with a mobile app lets you adjust equalizer settings, and the inclusion of Bluetooth 6 means it should work up to 328 feet (100 m) from your audio source. Ten minutes of charging will give you an hour of play. And if you want lag-free sound for movies or games, you can connect it to a computer via USB-C. Not bad for a stubby little 12oz (334g) speaker.

The Speaker M has a taller design and the crimp at the top has a cutout that serves as a handle for this 21 oz (602 g) model. There’s a bit more power here: a 70mm woofer along with a 16mm tweeter combine to deliver a healthy 35W. CMF says you can expect “deeper bass, textured vocals and separation between instruments.”

Other than that, both are virtually identical in terms of features, right down to the battery life and IP68 rating for protection against dust and water.

Ugh, it’s really hard to choose between these stylish color combinations. White, dark gray, teal, and orange are offered, and each has knobs in contrasting colors.

The S speaker costs $59, while the M costs $109. That’s a lot less than you’d pay for a set from Teenage Engineering, and even a little cheaper than similarly specced options from Sony and JBL.

Find CMF Speaker S and Speaker M on Nothing’s site, as well as on Amazon (Speaker S, Speaker M).

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