Nothing's Ear and Ear A Wireless Earbuds Bring Better Drivers, Bright Colors, and Similar Prices
The next generation of Nothing's wireless audio ambitions look a little different and are priced the same.
Sorry to everyone who was expecting the Ear 3 and Ear 4 — Nothing has something a little different in mind for its new wireless earbuds.
As you may or may not already know from Nothing’s social media hyping, the Ear and Ear A wireless earbuds are now official. The semi-transparent wireless earbuds offer a few perks over the last generation — some that are more subtle and others that are more... yellow.
Premium Buds: Nothing Ear Feature Upgrades
The more premium of the pair of earbuds is the Ear, and if you’ve ever seen or owned the Ear 2, they should look pretty familiar. While case materials are slightly changed, the overall design is a continuation of the Ear 2. No, really, they look almost exactly the same.
The biggest difference is inside. A new ceramic driver is meant to make audio on the Ear clearer and give it more dynamic range than its predecessor.
Additionally, if you buy the Ear, you’ll also get access to advanced EQ through Nothing X, the companion app for Nothing’s wireless earbuds, and a personal sound profile — an app-based ear test that personalizes earbud audio to your hearing.
Tweaks to the design of the Ear are meant to make the buds more powerful than the Ear 2, and according to Nothing, this translates to a 110 percent increase in vibration amplitude over Ear 2.
Battery life also gets a bit of a boost. Nothing says the Ear has 25 percent more battery than the Ear 2, which translates to 40.5 hours in the charging case and 8.5 hours of playback outside the case with active noise-cancellation (ANC) turned off. With ANC turned on, the buds will get 5.2 hours of playback.
Budget Buds: Nothing Ear A
So, what about Nothing’s next-generation Ear 1 wireless earbuds? Well, they are (drum roll) yellow. Sure, a color change may not sound like a lot on the surface, but for a company that stakes a lot of its value on design, the shift to a powerful pop of color is significant.
In addition to the color, Nothing has also tweaked the design of the charging case. While the Ear (like the Ear 2) is rectangular, the Ear A comes with a longer, more lunchbox-like charging case which is also naturally decked out in the same vibrant yellow plastic — glossy plastic, not yellow.
While the Ear A won’t have access to advanced EQ or a personalized sound profile like the Ear, it will take advantage of a new smart ANC feature that automatically checks the seal of the earbuds in your ear and adjusts the level of noise-cancellation. That assessment happens every time you pop your earbuds in with ANC activated.
Oddly, the Ear A has slightly better battery life over the Ear. According to Nothing, the case will have 42.5 hours and 9.5 hours outside the case with ANC on. Without ANC, the buds will have 5.5 hours of playback time. Also notable is the lack of wireless charging, a feature that the Ear does have.
The Ear A offers slightly better ANC over the Ear 2 at 45 dB of cancellation, which is the same as the Ear and a 13 percent increase over the Ear 2.
If you’re not a fan of yellow but don’t feel the need to spring for the premium Ear, don’t worry — you can still buy the Ear A in either black or white.
Nothing’s Next-Gen Wireless Earbuds
While Nothing’s new generation of wireless earbuds might not be a huge leap over the last, if you’re a fan of the company’s transparent design or the color yellow, there’s something here for you.
And if you were considering buying a pair of Nothing earbuds, the prices are right — the Ear A starts at $100 and the Ear starts at $150, which replaces the prices of the Ear 1 and Ear 2, respectively.
