by Say goodbye to the No Ear (2) and the Nothing Ear (Stick) and say hello to the Nothing Ear (the numbers are gone, which is cleaner and a bit confusing) and the bit more affordable No Ear (a)both of which are now available for pre-order from the Nothing site.
How affordable? Well, neither of these little buds are aimed at AirPods and Bose-level pricing: you can pick up the Nothing Ear for £129, and the Nothing Ear (a) for £99.
I’ve had my hands on both products for the past week – below is my first review of the new flagship, and you can head to a separate review for my thoughts on the more budget-friendly Ear (a) model.
Nothing Ear: First impressions
First of all: the ear Nothing. They are familiar if you have used the Ní Cluas (1) or the Cluas (2). And there was a substantial upgrade between the generations as we went from Ear (1) to Ear (2), so is it more of the same story here?
The Ear (a) may be the most obvious “new” product with its fresh design, but I think the Nothing Ear gives me the clearest sign that the brand has refined its audio offering. Ear (2) owners may not need to rush out for an upgrade but these will be a revelation for anyone coming from an Ear (1) or a cheaper pair of headphones or AirPods alternatives.
Nothing Ear: Design and comfort
Put the No Ear and Ear (2) side by side and you won’t be able to tell them apart. That doesn’t mean there aren’t changes and upgrades, but like I said, these are minor fixes. The buds are visible in white and black at launch, so thankfully you won’t be waiting around for the black version (our favourite) like you did last year.
The design of the transparent case is similar, but it is meant to be more pressure and scratch resistant – it retains the same IP55 rating as before, while the buds are rated at IP54 for sweat and dust resistance.
Comfort is great, just like the Ear (2). That’s mainly because these headphones are much smaller than many of their competitors. Even if the price is much lower, the design is as close to the AirPods Pro as we have seen, and that means that I hardly notice them and they stay comfortable in my ears for years. And for a great seal, you get small, medium and large tips in the box. Speaking of the box, it doesn’t make much of a difference to the product itself, of course, but I’m always impressed with how little plastic-free the packaging is here.
Nothing Ear: Audio and noise-cancellation
When I reviewed the Nothing Ear (2) last year, I noted that they “stand out by delivering a refined and dynamic audio experience with a level of adaptability rarely seen at this lower price point” and The new Ear continues this approach. 2024.
Straight out of the box, these 11mm ceramic drivers sound great, with one small caveat. By default, they are in a new “Enhance Bass” mode. If you’re not used to bass, turn this off in the companion app first. After that, the sound reproduction is great and balanced, with enough power to the low end and detail to the louds without being tired to listen to it for long periods. Compared to the predecessor, they are just a little more natural and clean sounding, but it is difficult to tell the difference without testing them side by side.
Like the Ear (2), I think this is a sound signature that will appeal to audiophiles and casual listeners alike. I have yet to find any of my streamed test tracks in hi-res from Tide that don’t sound good, and I spent the last week listening to everything from Massive Attack, Nirvana, Billie Eilish and Arctic Monkeys to Mozart , Kendrick Lamar, Four Tet and Dua Lipa. Headphone testing requires you to have an eclectic taste.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) and transparency are similar to what I had on the Nothing Ear (2) too – the adaptive ANC is now slightly improved though. Nothing says it’s a 13% increase over the Ear (2) and I think there’s a bit more noise cancellation compared to last year’s buds. These are enough to cancel out the rumbling noise of a train and colleagues chatting in the office but they are not going to beat Apple, Bose or Sony in this area. It’s the same story with transparency – it’s good for situational awareness but not as great as the transparency on the AirPods Pro.
Nothing Ear: Controls and app features
There’s a lot to like about the extra features available in the Nothing X app, which is well designed and easy to understand. On the Ear, you’re getting the same batch of app-enabled powers as you got with the Ear (2) – so that means there’s ear-tip testing, the ability to perform a hearing test that generates personalized sound. profile, from a simple equalizer to an advanced equalizer for the next level with all the knobs and sliders – catnip for audiophiles.
As mentioned, I find the default sound very appealing with the bass enhancement turned off, and the personal sound profile makes things a little richer and more tailored to my hearing. I appreciate all the tweaks that help you get the most out of the buds – many competitors have much larger price tags and don’t give you this level of customization for such a personal product. These also have the same pinch controls as the Ear (2) – where you leave the stems instead of touch input – that’s fine by me, they work well and are intuitive, responsive, and fully adjustable .
Within the app, you can also modify the high-resolution codecs in use and turn on Bluetooth multipoint to keep connected to two devices at the same time. This is a great extra feature if you like listening to music from your phone but want to be able to hop right into a Zoom call on your work computer without disconnecting and reconnecting. It is going to the point that this is so necessary if earbuds do not have this feature in 2024, I will be a little disappointed with the whole package.
Nothing Ear: battery life
Arguably, battery life is one of the areas where there is nothing behind the competition. The Ear lasts longer than the Ear (2), offering just over five hours of playback with ANC on, and 24 hours in total when you factor in the charging case. This increases to eight and a half hours, and a total of 40.5 hours if you turn off ANC, which shows how much the noise and audio cancellation features drain the battery.
Although this is not competitive, especially when compared to the likes of the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC (which lasts for 10 hours on a single charge – with ANC on), it is good for the small bud size and basically that matches what you have. It can be found in Apple’s second-gen AirPods Pro. Ask yourself if you listen to music for more than five hours at a time. In practical use, I think this is more than enough, but I understand if you want to go up to a rival with a bigger battery. As for charging, these have a quick charge feature (a 10-minute charge gives you 10 hours of playback with ANC off) and they support wireless charging, which the Nothing Ear (a) doesn’t.
Ear Verdict Nothing
These make a strong case for themselves as the best value headphones of 2024. Normally you’d pay a lot more for the sound quality, personalization features, noise cancellation and compact design available from the Nothing Ear . The stylish buds on the Nothing Ear (2) are an additional refinement that delivers a significant upgrade to the audio experience, noise cancellation and battery life.
However, they do not recreate the product, so if you already have the Ear (2), don’t rush out for the upgrade. If you’re leveling up from an older pair of headphones, however, this is a great update that delivers many of the features you could easily spend more than £200 to get from rival brands.
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