- 14.2 mm driver
- Stepped driver and custom diaphragm for enhanced bass
- Fully “open ear” design
- Pinch controls
- Ultra-light
- Hook above your ears, we encountered no issues when doubled with glasses
- Gets the premium treatment — access to the Advanced EQ in Nothing X app
- Case is kind of huge
- IP54 on both buds and case
Nothing Ear specs
Color options | White |
---|---|
Audio | Bluetooth 5.3, AAC & SBC |
Noise cancelation | No ANC |
Connectivity | BT multipoint (dual device), Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair |
Battery life | 8 hours from buds, +22 hours from case |
Wireless charging case | No |
Ingress resistance | IP54 buds and case |
Design and Comfort
Interesting design (Image credit – PhoneArena)
The Nothing Ear (open) carry the unmistakable design language of Nothing buds. The case has a transparent cover, the earbuds themselves are encased in transparent plastic, so you can see some of the innards. The right bud has a red dot to mark it, and everything else is in clean white.
When it comes to comfort — you can wear these all day long, no exaggeration. In fact, I’ve done this for a few days, while working. They are incredibly light and it’s easy to forget that you have them on. They didn’t interfere or conflict with my glasses, too
Easy pinch controls (Image credit – PhoneArena)
With the way the drivers sit above your ear canal, the outside world comes through perfectly clear. No ANC here, and no transparency mode — you get natural transparency by way of the fact that there’s nothing in your ear. Sure, if you raise the volume, you will stop discerning speech and more subtle sounds. But these are designed to give priority to the outside world — you can’t drown out the coffee shop noise, the office rustling, or the banging on keyboards.
Box contains case, buds, and USB C cable (Image credit – PhoneArena)
The charging case is kind of awkward — it’s a long, flat box that won’t fit every pocket very naturally. But its soft round shape makes it easy to slip in and out of whatever compartment you choose to carry it.
Sound Quality
Big drivers or tiny speakers? (Image credit – PhoneArena)
These sound surprisingly good. Nothing has focused on two things here — ensure that you have plenty of bass, and make sure the sound is directional, so you don’t disturb others.
That’s because you literally have two very tiny speakers sitting right outside your ears. And tiny speakers usually don’t have great bass.
And these do. If you have a fine taste and consider yourself somewhat of an audiophile, it will sound like the bass has been artificially enhanced and boosted just to make sure that it reaches your ears. But I’ve no problem with that. These are made for casual “soundtrack of my life” listening, not for playing your vinyl records while smoking a cigar and having a glass of that 25 from the top shelf.
And for that, they perform surprisingly good. As mentioned, the bass is there, but also the details in the mids and a silky presence. There is a caveat, however — this is only true if you listen at 50%-60% volume. At medium levels, they sound balanced and good enough for your favorite songs to blast through.
If you try to crank them, they start sounding like what they are — tiny speakers right outside your ears. They become barky, scratchy, unpleasant. And, they become audible for people around you.
Which further underlines what they are meant for. Do not try to drown out the outside world with these. But if you need earbuds that allow you to retain your attentiveness at all times — these can do it, and sound good while they are at it.
If you want to delve into sound tuning, you actually can. These are treated like flagship earbuds, meaning you have access to the Advanced Equalizer within the Nothing X app. And, when they say Advanced, they mean it — it’s a mix between graphic and parametric equalizer. You get 8 bands to play with, but you can set their frequency and their Q factor.
Extra features in the Nothing X App
Since these are not in-ears, you don’t get precise ear canal tests or frequency tests that fine-tune the earbuds’ sound based on your hearing. As far as extra features go, these are a bit more bare than the flagship Nothing Ear.
- Basic EQ
- Advanced EQ
- Low Lag mode
- Dual Connection toggle
- Find My Earbuds – plays a sound through them
- Firmware Update
If you own a Nothing phone — either Nothing Phone (2), Phone (2a), or CMF Phone 1 — you probably know that you have ChatGPT integration with a widget on the homescreen. Well, if you pair with a set of Nothing earbuds, the Ear (open) included, you can also set them up to query ChatGPT via voice prompts.
Conclusion
Take them anywhere (Image credit – PhoneArena)
Overall, these are great. Yes, they cost the same as the flagship Nothing Ear buds, but they are not aimed at the same market or the same use case.
A $150 price-tag may seem a bit steep for earbuds that are meant for “casual” music listening, but when looking through the market for open-ear buds, we’d say that the Nothing Ear (open) are very fairly priced, and deliver great value. They are light and comfortable, their sound is good and can be fine-tuned, and their battery life is very good. Plus, they have Nothing’s ChatGPT integration.