- Nothing’s new earbuds—Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a)—can’t match AirPods for Apple integration.
- Nor do they sound as good as AirPods Pro.
- You get active noise canceling for just $99.
Nothing’s new Ear, and Ear (a), earbuds look like something from a Dyson retro 1980s collection, but you probably won’t be trading in your AirPods Pro anytime soon.
Apple users are utterly spoiled when it comes to headphones. Right back to the first earbuds that came with the iPod, they’ve sounded good, and the latest AirPods Pro are just incredible. But not everybody wants to spend $250 on disposable wireless earbuds. Or maybe you just don’t want to look like everybody else on the subway. That’s where Nothing’s new Ear range comes in. They look amazing, and they pack in enough features to keep most people happy, including—you will be both unsurprised and disappointed to learn—Chat GPT.
“For casual listeners like myself who prioritize design and functionality, the Ear (a) buds present a compelling option, especially considering their competitive pricing compared to other brands in the market,” professional designer Olivia Tian told Lifewire via email.
The AirPod Situation
On sound alone, the AirPods Pro are just fantastic. They have a deep, clear bass, sound good with voices, are balanced and clear, and are just a non-fatiguing joy to use. Perhaps you’d get better sound from a pair of in-ear monitors, as used by musicians and music producers, but then you’d miss out on the things that really make it hard to give up on Apple’s on pods.
For a start there’s the integration, which starts as soon as you take them out of the box. Pairing is done just by holding them near your phone, and then they are soon available to all your other devices—your iPad, your Mac—instantly. They even switch to receive audio from whichever device you are currently using.
“It isn’t just a matter of the sound quality, build quality, and battery life. AirPods are part of the overall Apple ecosystem. If you are iPhone user or Mac user, you get a level of integrations that others can’t match. For example, using ‘Find My’ feature to find earbuds without needing to install any software,” Tony Fernandes, CEO of EUGroup, told Lifewire via email.
Then there’s the Spatial Audio. Other headphones do 3D surround sound, including the Nothing Ears, but none manage head-tracked spatial audio. Apple also lets you use your iPhone’s FaceID camera to build a 3D model of the insides of your ears to tailor the sound to you. If you haven’t done this, you should, because it makes a big difference. And Apple’s transparency mode is, to my ears, the best in the game.
So no, based on this kind of seamless experience, Apple users probably shouldn’t opt for anything other than AirPods. But that’s not the whole story.
Nothing Doing
For a start, the $149 Nothing Ear, and $99 Ear (a) are a lot cheaper than Apple’s offerings, while also sounding—according to reviews—pretty good. They may also, depending on your tastes, look way cooler than Apple’s restrained black and white pods. They remind me of early Dyson vacuum cleaners, or Sony’s ’80s waterproof Sports Walkman and its matching accessories.
Oddly, the cool yellow option is only available on the cheaper Ear (a) model, which also has the cooler, smaller charging case. Both models have active (adaptive) noise canceling, transparency mode, multi-point connection, and work with both iOS and Android. The more expensive model adds advanced audio profiles, personal sound profiles, and ceramic drivers.
But really, this is probably going to come down to price, and fashion. AirPods are cool mostly because AirPods are cool, after all, so if enough “influencers” or TikTokkers get into these yellow buds, then they could totally take off.
“While Apple’s products are renowned for their seamless integration with the Apple ecosystem and features like spatial audio and active noise cancellation, the Nothing Ear (a) earbuds offer a more affordable alternative with unique design aesthetics and decent audio quality,” says Tian.
We’ll have to wait for more in-depth audio reviews before deciding, but the inclusion of active noise cancelation on both models already makes them more attractive than the base AirPods. That, and the fact that Nothing plans to add Chat GPT for voice control, which has to be way better than Siri. I mean, it couldn’t be any worse, right?
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News Summary:
- Yes, Nothing's Vibrant Wireless Ear Buds Can Best Your AirPods
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