CMF Milk Carton Speakers Look Like Decor, Play Loud

Nothing's budget hardware brand CMF has entered portable audio with the milk carton speakers that have been teased for weeks: two gable-topped Bluetooth models shaped like tiny milk cartons, complete with a carry handle and a chunky control knob. The pair launched on October 12, 2026, as reported by Hypebeast, and they start at fifty-nine dollars for the compact version and one hundred and nine dollars for the bigger one.

The design is the whole pitch. Both of the milk carton speakers borrow the peaked-roof silhouette of a milk carton, with the front panel, colors, and even the control knob swappable for different looks. They come in white, dark grey, orange, and turquoise, and CMF went further than swappable accessories: the company published printable design files so owners can fabricate their own replacement panels and knobs, according to The Gadgeteer. It is the same playful, modular design philosophy behind CMF's phones and earbuds, now applied to something you carry to the park.

The timing makes sense. Portable speakers have become a default accessory for dorm rooms, beach days, and small gatherings, yet most budget options look interchangeable. CMF is betting that Gen Z buyers will pick the speaker that doubles as a conversation piece, especially at prices that undercut most brand-name rivals. The milk carton speakers are also the first portable speakers from a brand that has built its identity on making cheap hardware look deliberate rather than cheap.

The Milk Carton Speakers Come in Two Sizes

The smaller of the two milk carton speakers is built for portability. It uses a single forty-five millimeter full-range driver with two passive radiators to reinforce the low end, rated at ten watts of output. It weighs about three hundred and thirty-four grams, measures roughly the size of a tall phone stood upright, and includes a utility hook for clipping it to a bag or a strap. A multifunction knob on the body handles playback, track skipping, volume, and the bass-boost mode without opening an app.

The bigger model is the one for filling a room. It steps up to a dedicated woofer paired with a separate tweeter, delivering thirty-five watts of combined output and reaching slightly deeper into the bass. It weighs around six hundred grams and swaps the utility hook for an integrated carry handle. Both milk carton speakers run the same software features, including four equalizer presets in the companion app, a wide-soundstage setting for a bigger sense of space, and a night mode that caps maximum volume for shared walls and late hours.

Connectivity That Punches Above the Price

For budget speakers, the spec sheet is unusually generous. Both models use the newest Bluetooth standard alongside tap-to-pair over NFC, fast-pairing support for the two major phone platforms, and a wired USB audio connection with latency low enough for gaming and video. Two devices can stay connected at once, so a speaker can bounce between a phone and a laptop without re-pairing, as reported by The Gadgeteer.

Group listening gets two tricks. Pairing two identical units creates separate left and right channels for true stereo, while the broadcast audio standard lets one speaker share its stream with a crowd of compatible speakers, even ones made by other brands. Both models are fully sealed against dust and can survive a half-hour dunk in shallow fresh water, which makes them plausible companions for pool days and rainy festivals rather than shelf-only gadgets.

What to Know Before You Buy

The headline battery figure is eighteen hours, measured at half volume with the bass boost on, and a ten-minute top-up is rated for about an hour of playback. As with every portable speaker, real-world stamina will slide with volume and settings, and the smaller model needs roughly two and a half hours for a full charge while the bigger one needs about three. Independent listening tests have not landed yet, so the bigger question, how the milk carton speakers actually sound against established rivals, is still unanswered.

That caveat matters because the value argument rests on more than looks. Ten watts will not pressurize a living room, and buyers choosing between the two should think of them as a personal speaker and a party speaker respectively. But the combination of distinctive design, genuinely useful toughness, printable customization, and pricing well under the usual brand-name floor gives CMF a credible first swing at portable audio. If you want tech that starts conversations, these milk carton speakers are already doing it: they are on sale now through Nothing's website and select retail partners. For more gadget launches with personality, see our latest gadgets coverage, including Technics' new flagship headphones with liquid drivers.