Nothing Ear review

While the Nothing Ear (1) marked the beginning of one of the most interesting tech brands of today, it was the Ear (2) that really piqued my interest. Yes, it had all the transparency bells and whistles of the first product. But with the sound quality and features now stepping up big time, the Ear (2) quickly became a great buy for anyone looking for premium audio without going too overboard with the price.

Now, one of Nothing’s latest products is the new Nothing (Ear). Succeeding the Ear (2), and leaving the sub Rs 10,000 segment to the affordable Ear (a), these earbuds have no reason to hold back when it comes to the sound quality and the features, but does that translate to another great audio product? Let’s find out, in our full review.

Nothing Ear: Design

The Nothing Ear looks nearly indistinguishable from the Ear (2). Except for a new dual-chamber design and some slight tweaks, it is quite literally hard to tell the products apart. However, if you liked the design of the Ear (2), that’s actually good news.

This is because you get the same striking looks from the earbuds as well as the case. The stem features the signature transparent body, with the pinch-control triggers making a return. The red and white accents on either earbuds are still present, and still makes for a good design element that adds some flair while helping you actually tell the left and right earbuds apart.

Speaking of wearing comfort, the Nothing Ear is still very comfortable, and with three sizes of ear tips to choose from, most ear sizes should be fine. I wore the earbuds for hours on end last and there was no soreness or pain, something the light weight of the earbuds probably help with.

My thoughts on the square case are also the same as before. While it looks fantastic (especially in black) and the circular dimple is still a cool addition, I still am not a big fan of the narrow hinge. While it has become much less wobbly and creaky compared to previous versions of the Ear, it still doesn’t feel as solid and sturdy as other premium earbuds’ cases. That said, I don’t think this will be a deal-breaker for most.

I also like the fact that the Nothing Ear still features wireless charging, allowing you to charge it with a Qi wireless charger or the back panel of your Nothing Phone (2), for instance.

Nothing Ear: Sound

The Nothing Ear sounds fantastic, and with all the tuning and customisation options made available via the Nothing X app, there’s quite a bit of personalisation possible as well. My weird taste in music ranges from bass-heavy Hip Hop to electric guitar-fuelled classic rock tunes, and the Nothing Ear is one of the few audio products I like using for both moods.

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Some decent instrument separation is also heard in tracks like ‘Still loving you’ by Scorpions, or ‘Faint’ by Linkin Park. Meanwhile, on bass-heavy tracks like ‘Praise The Lord’ by A$Ap Rocky, you can enjoy the punchy bass in all its glory. I don’t listen to a lot of vocal heavy stuff, but listening to ‘My immortal’ by Evanescence, which fits the bill (and happens to be one of my favourite soft rock songs of all time) was a magical experience thanks to the crisp high frequencies.

This isn’t just because the drivers in the earbuds sound fantastic (they definitely do). But the equaliser options are also more than a gimmick here, offering some quality presets that help make the most of a variety of genres. A ‘Voice’ preset was also great for separating the dialogues from the rest of the action in movies and shows.

The Active Noise Cancellation is one of the things that was slightly improved on the Nothing Ear, compared to the Nothing Ear (2). The earbuds are able to cancel unwanted ambient sounds including my ceiling fan, air cooler and Mumbai traffic very effectively, to the point that it almost feels like magic when you switch the feature on.

When you’re not watching content, the Nothing Ear is also one of the best earbuds I have ever used for voice and video calls. Using the earbuds with my iPhone 15 Pro Max I conducted a pseudo-test, and people on the other end were not able to tell the difference between the earbuds and the phone’s microphone every time I switched. The Nothing Ear has now become my default way of taking calls.

Features like the pinch controls also work wonders and add to the overall experience. In all my testing the pinch controls did not fail or misread commands once, and while I was conditioned to pinch controls from the Ear (2), there isn’t much of a learning curve if you’re coming from tap gestures either. Pinch/Squeeze gestures are the way forward and once you’ve gotten used to them, tap controls will feel like they belong in the past.

Nothing Ear: Battery life

If there was one nit-pick, I had with the Nothing Ear (2) after using it for about a year, it was the battery life, which would sometimes feel not enough for someone who travels a lot in public transport every day. The Nothing Ear fixed that for me, offering about 2-3 hours of non-stop playback on moderate volume and going back in the case with over half-the battery left. This helped cover up those last couple of hours on the train which no longer required me to aimlessly stare outside the window.

ALSO READ: Nothing Phone (2a) review

Despite the increased battery life, the earbuds take about the same time for a full charge, so an overall improvement for anyone looking to get more music per charge from their earbuds. Do note that with ANC or Transparency Mode in use, your battery life will come down, like all other earbuds. If you really want to stretch the battery life for more playback time, you must disable all ANC implementations from the app.

Unboxed Take: Who should get the Nothing Ear?

The Nothing Ear is a great pair of TWS earbuds for anyone looking for a great-sounding audio product that also stands out by design. The Ear also comes with plenty of features from in-ear detection to advanced equaliser and ANC modes, which should cater to personal needs and preferences.

While the Rs 11,999 price tag may be a little too steep, the earbuds do back it up with nice-to-haves and a feature-rich, no-compromise experience. For this reason, we give the earbuds 4 out of 5 stars. However, since the Ear don’t largely differ from its predecessor the in terms of features and sound, you can also pick up the Nothing Ear (2) and save some money for a similar experience, albeit with slightly lesser battery life.