In a now very crowded TWS earphone market it is really difficult to stand out and attract attention. Nothing has given personality and recognition to its products, since then it has aimed more at improvement than at change which aims to entice new buyers and not to make those who owned previous versions jealous.

The new ear (a) together with the Nothing Phone 2 (a) create an interesting competitor in the mid-range, which brings with it the iconic aesthetics and a premium user experience while maintaining popular costs.

PACKAGING, CONSTRUCTION AND WEARABILITY

The packaging is the classic one, tear-off tab, exclusive use of paper and contains the essentials, USB-C cable, S and L size adapters (the M size is already mounted) neatly inserted in a paper tab, and a manual that is always a pleasure to find nowadays.

Once the package is opened we will immediately find ourselves in front of the case, all in all small with its 47.6 × 63.3 × 22.7mm weighing 39.6g with the earphones already housed which measure 30.9 × 21.7 × 24.3mm with a feather weight of 4.8g. By opening the completely transparent IPX2 only certified case you immediately realize the quality of the hinge, solid and creak-free, the earphones with magnetic attachment are in an extremely comfortable position which makes it easy to take them and put them on your ear, and they can be put back in their place practically without looking thanks to the magnet which immediately attracts them to the correct position without the possibility of error, the idea of the two small flares on the case in correspondence with the earphones is intelligent so as not to exceed the dimensions.

The IP54 certified earphones have a semi-transparent stem that allows a glimpse of the electronics inside them, whether you appreciate this design or not, we must admit that it is certainly iconic and of great impact, the body of the earphones in opaque white plastic deviates from the usual shape teardrop-shaped, offering an oval shape that is slightly rough to the touch, all this translates into excellent wearability, the earphones remain firmly in place, also aided by “pinch” and not “touch” type touch controls which prevents them from being removed involuntarily with the fingers, and high comfort even after several hours of use without any particular discomfort.

GESTURES, SOFTWARE AND AUTONOMY

The choice not to use touch controls brings with it a drawback that could make people turn up their noses, the impossibility of adjusting the volume from the earphones, a choice that could be changed via an update giving the possibility of inserting it as a settable function, in fact it is not in the app we have the possibility to choose what to do with a single press which will always be relegated to the play/pause function, while the other gestures are customizable.

The app and its UX reflect the Nothing style made of essential shapes, dots and a black & white style that make it clean and fascinating, it loses respect to its older sister the advanced equalizer relegating the most geeks to the simple adjustment of the highs/mids /bass, while the noise cancellation that can be set to 4 levels and the transparency function remain. The 5-level Ultra Bass function and the menu to choose how to set the physical controls on the earphones also remain. In the settings menu, which is also a little more sparse, we still find the earphone detection function which allows you to pause the music when you remove them and restart them when you wear them, the low latency mode for those who want to use them for gaming, yes they can choose the AAC or LDAC codecs but here too compared to the ear the best codec, LHDC, is lost, which will not please those who use Apple Music or other services that allow you to take advantage of this better quality codec.

Present the Dual Connection to be able to pair the earphones with multiple devices at the same time, the adaptation test of the adapters to find the most suitable ones to improve stability and isolation at the same time so as to improve the sound quality, the “find my earphones” function and the firmware update menu.

Although the battery is identical to the Ear 2, 500mAh for the case and 46mAh for the earphones, in these, a complete charge guarantees, according to the data collected, approximately 3 hours more use, reaching approximately 43 hours. The real step forward, however, concerns the autonomy of the earphones, you can easily get 7 hours of use at medium settings where the Ear stops at 5. Finally, I would like to point out the lack of wireless charging, certainly justified by the price difference compared to the ear2, but fast charging via USB-C remains.

LISTENING AND CALL QUALITY

Another difference compared to the ear 2 is the diaphragm which remains 11mm but abandons the precious ceramic for a cheaper PMI+TPU, the connection is via Bluetooth 5.3. Those who have a “finer” ear and are used to enjoying lossless music will certainly find some shortcomings compared to its older sister, but for general listening, for example with Spotify, it will be difficult to notice differences and the listening quality, if not pushed to the limit, will at excellent levels, always pleasant and precise.

There are no marketing gimmicks relating to spatial audio, which I have never personally appreciated and which in any case today is already managed directly by the majority from smartphones.

Calls are always clear on the listening side thanks to the new Smart ANC software, improved compared to the ear1 which now reaches 45db and adds a fourth adaptive level where the software will manage the adjustment independently. The transparency function, on the other hand, although improved by an update at the time of writing the review, still does not fully convince me, appearing less convincing than on my One Plus Buds 3.

On the recording side we find 3 microphones and an AI system capable of detecting the voice and separating it from the environmental context, called Nothing Clear Voice Technology, which always returns clear and crisp conversations, limiting the “robotic” tone that usually accompanies these technologies.

I spend the last lines on a function that I would have liked to try but which seems to be reserved only for those who own a Nothing Phone, namely the integration of ChatGPT as a voice assistant, which allows owners to call up the AI in a practical way and have with it comfortable conversations by voice, this is a sign of how much Nothing is in step with the times.

THE GOOD

+ Construction quality and design

+ Compact case and stable, lightweight and comfortable earphones

+ Good sound quality for the price range

+ You can almost forget to recharge them

+ Good call quality and ANC

+ Dual Connection and comfortable “pinch” controls

THE BAD

- Rather poor IP certification

- Some features are missing for those who don’t have a Noting smartphone

- Many features have been hidden or worsened to favor the superior model

- The ability to adjust the volume from the headphones is missing

- The transparency function can be improved

CONCLUSIONS

I can recommend the Nothing ear(a) to anyone looking for stylish, well-featured earphones at a reasonable price. In this price segment there are few products that can keep up in terms of design, sound and functionality, considerable autonomy and great convenience put the icing on the cake, a shame only for the software castrations aimed at favoring Nothing owners Phone and improve the perception of the more expensive model.

Also available in black and yellow, they can be purchased for 99 euros, but at the time of the review, at least in Italy, they are already discounted at 89 euros.

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