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Nothing’s Ear(A) earbuds launched at $109, which always seemed a little ambitious for a midrange pair trying to punch above its weight. But right now at their current selling price of $58.98, their lowest price ever (according to price tracker), they are in the category where design, sound quality and software ultimately matter for the money.
The ear (A) appears to be nothing obvious, with a transparent shell that shows the interior. They fit comfortably without much fuss, and the IP54 rating means sweat, dust, and light rain won’t be a problem. The case itself is IPX2 only, so it can handle splashes but not much else.
Sound is where these earbuds mostly earn their money. The 11mm dynamic drivers deliver a bass-forward presentation that still manages to remain relatively balanced. The low-end hits with real weight, especially at medium to high volumes, and doesn’t immediately swallow up the vocals or guitar, it notes. pcmag review. You can change things further in the Nothing app, by choosing a preset EQ mode or manually adjusting the bass, mids, and highs. Codec support is strong for the money, including AAC, SBC and LDAC all over Bluetooth 5.3, as well as multipoint for two devices simultaneously. The noise cancellation is effective for the price, especially at the default high setting. It reduces low-frequency rumble and busy background sounds well, although rivals from Sony or Bose still do more of the heavy lifting in this area.
What do you think so far?
The controls are stem-based pinch and once you learn them they feel consistent. Playback, calls, track skipping, and noise mode are all controlled without taking out your phone, and the app lets you customize most gestures. There’s also a pinch-to-speak ChatGPT feature if you’re using a Nothing phone. Battery life is about 9.5 hours with ANC off or 5.5 hours with it on, with the case increasing that to about 33 or 19 hours respectively. These numbers will drop if you use higher-quality codecs or listen at louder volumes, but they are competitive.
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