Nothing Ear and Ear (a) evaluation

Nothing’s Ear line of earbuds was an prompt bestseller because of its semi-transparent design and Nothing’s elite advertising however the product’s prowess is greater than surface-deep.

Having used the Nothing Ear (2) extensively since their launch, this reviewer can vouch that these are among the many most comfy earbuds on the market, and so they sound fairly nice too.

So naturally, I used to be curious concerning the new ones. Meet the Nothing Ear and Ear (a) – the corporate’s new two-pronged assault on the booming wi-fi earbud market.

The Nothing Ear is the flagship mannequin, coming in at $149/£129/€149 (matching the Ear (2)). This implies the Nothing Ear replaces the Ear (2), which changed the Ear (1). It is a complicated naming scheme that may absolutely change into much more so subsequent yr when Nothing might want to identify the Ear’s successor – Ear (2025) or some such will in all probability should be used.

The Ear (a), in distinction, is available in at a extra inexpensive $99/£99/€99. Each buds ship with the identical retail package deal with S, M, and L-sized ear suggestions and a USB-C cable.

The Ear and Ear (2) have the identical package deal

You’ll be able to have each the Ear and Ear (a) in Black and White, and the (a) comes on this enjoyable yellow shade with DHL vibes. The circumstances are a bit completely different – the Ear packs an equivalent case to the Ear (2), whereas the Ear (a) is available in a smaller case that lacks wi-fi charging.

Each circumstances have a built-in 500mAh battery, whereas every bud has a 46mAh battery. The circumstances have USB-C ports for quick charging – Nothing advertises 10 hours of listening with ANC off in simply 10 minutes on the cable – and the aforementioned 2.5W wi-fi charging on the Ear. The Ear case is IP55 resistant, whereas the Ear (a)’s solely complies with IPX2, so that you should not drop both within the pool.

So, what’s the identical and what’s completely different? Each fashions are equivalent in dimension and have the identical suggestions and 11mm drivers. The flagship Nothing Ear’s driver has a ceramic diaphragm to the (a) PMI and TPU for superior richness, readability, and sound accuracy. The Ear additionally helps LHDC 5.0 (1 Mbps, 24-bit/192kHz) and LDAC (990 Kbps, 24-bit/96kHz) for greater high quality Bluetooth streaming, whereas the Ear (a) makes do with simply LDAC.

Each Ear and Ear (a) have energetic noise cancellation as much as 45dB – an enchancment on paper over Ear (2)’s 40dB, however all three fashions help Bluetooth 5.3.

The Nothing X app is the place to configure the buds’s sound, their controls, and perform software program updates. Each fashions had a few updates whereas we have been testing them.

Every bud’ stem helps pinch gestures. They work nice and by no means set off by chance – one thing we won’t say for stemless earbuds, the place you should contact the bud itself.

The Nothing X app

The Nothing X app is extra subtle for the Ear than the Ear (a). There’s an 8-band equalizer which you could set your self, together with the Easy choices discovered on the (a) as properly.

One other Ear-exclusive, which leverages the ceramic diaphragm is the non-public sound profile. It is an upscaler primarily based in your private listening to profile, which the app determines by providing you with quite a lot of sound checks at completely different frequencies to gauge your sound profile. It then adjusts EQ values in actual time to tailor the music to your profile.

You may have a alternative of three settings – Softer, Really useful, and Richer, and you may alter the depth of the profile with a 0-100% slider.

Tuning the sound on the Nothing Ear

The Nothing Ear (a) will get a primary equalizer the place you may select between the preset Balanced, Extra Bass, Extra Treble, and Voice, or create a customized profile by adjusting sliders for Mids, Bass, and Treble. We predict you need to actually have the identical prolonged EQ on the Ear (a), sans the Private Sound Profile.

Barebones tuning on the Ear (a)

Lastly, the Ear and Ear (a) have a built-in ChatGPT on the go, which you should use with a pinch, however it requires that you’ve got a Telephone (1), Telephone (2), or a Telephone (2a).

Sound high quality and battery life

Earlier than we speak high quality, now we have to say that the Ear and Ear (a), similar to the Ear (2) earlier than them, are among the many most comfy buds this reviewer has ever had on. Nevertheless, a part of the reason being the unfastened match.

Regardless of which ear suggestions you select, the Nothing Ear buds match a bit unfastened. It is not a cosy match like on the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 or the Sony WF-1000XM5. That is to not say that the buds will fall off, they sit very securely, they merely do not create a real vacuum along with your ear the best way different buds do.

Which means your ears do not damage after lengthy hours of utilizing the Nothing Ear, however it additionally means the buds do not create as a lot noise isolation as different buds.

Headphone match is a really private factor, however this reviewer is proud of the looser match as a result of it is extra comfy.

Energetic noise cancellation is excellent when coping with fixed sound, although not spectacular in a quiet workplace surroundings. It is a bit let down by the poor passive isolation. We will not say we seen a distinction to the Ear (2) when testing facet by facet.

ANC on earbuds nowadays can solely go thus far – apart from outliers such because the Sony WF-1000XM5, which has tighter-fitting foam suggestions.

A phrase on battery life. We received round 4 hours with ANC turned on and quantity at 100% on the Ear and about 25 minutes extra on the Ear (a).

Okay, sound high quality. The Nothing Ear is a classy-sounding product. There’s a whole lot of quantity on faucet, even within the default setting. Going full 100% is impressively clear, with no distortion, however the greater frequencies come out a bit of too robust, with an over-boosted presence and brilliance, which simply results in fatigue with longer periods.

We performed round with the EQ and managed to reel these in, which reveals a balanced and potent soundstage. Bass is excellent and the ceramic drivers can take a whole lot of it – you may increase with confidence that it will not overwhelm and muffle the remainder of the sound. ANC helps right here, including a really feel of isolation.

The Nothing Ear is a transparent step up from the Nothing Ear (2), regardless of the slight discount in driver dimension (11mm vs 11.6mm). It has a extra dynamic sound with fuller, stronger quantity, and the bass is boomier. It is merely extra subtle and extra highly effective.

The Ear (a) is a bit of muffled in comparison with the Ear. It does not sound as crisp and is round 10% to fifteen% quieter, although its quantity is not inadequate in isolation – the Ear is solely very loud.

Let’s speak concerning the Private Sound Profile on the Nothing Ear. It is a very spectacular characteristic however one which’s not for everybody. It upscales the already huge sound on the Ear to a different degree. At 100% impact energy, it is simply overwhelming and results in ear fatigue in a matter of minutes. However the quantity of quantity you acquire, with out distortion may be very, very spectacular.

Nevertheless, the characteristic is not for everybody. This reviewer discovered it overly artificial and too synthetic. It devoids music of its real studio high quality and makes really feel made in a lab. The characteristic virtually eliminates the baseline oomph from the decrease frequencies, including to the synthetic sound, and also you get some hissing and digital noise on the finish of songs. Attempt it and see the way it suits, however I will reiterate – it’s extremely spectacular, particularly on vocals and devices.

Conclusion

The Nothing Ear is a giant step up from the Nothing Ear (2). It is simply as comfy and appears simply nearly as good, however you get higher battery life and improved audio high quality.

The brand new ceramic drivers make a world of distinction to the soundstage that is felt when in comparison with the Ear (2) and Ear (a). These new flagship buds ought to be on anybody’s listing of premium TWS earbuds. We might wager they’re essentially the most comfy by far!

The Ear (a) can be an incredible possibility for the much less choosy purchaser who’s searching for fashion and luxury. However in case you have the Ear (2), then the Ear (a) does not make a whole lot of sense.