It’s been four years since Nothing launched its Ear (1) and the London-based brand is now an established player in the TWS market. Enter the Nothing Ears (3) – its latest flagship wireless earbuds now with a recognizable transparent look and some major improvements.
While Nothing’s naming scheme hasn’t always been the most consistent, its earbuds have offered impressive hardware paired with a polished software experience. The Ear (3) comes with a more premium build, a dedicated microphone in the case and claims for improved sound output and superior noise cancellation.
Has nothing delivered with its claims, or is this a generational update? The short answer is yes, these are the best earbuds from the brand so far, but we’d take some of the manufacturer’s claims with a grain of salt. Read on for our full breakdown.
Table of Contents:
design
The design of Nothing products is its main selling point. Ears (1) were unlike any other pair of TWS buds in 2021 and ears (3) aren’t going for a major redesign, but a different choice of materials.
It’s mostly visible in the case, which now includes a recycled aluminum base layer, which is cool to the touch and adds a more premium feel than the all-plastic cases of the past.
Those premium felt ear (3) cases and buds now weigh 71 grams – 10 more than their predecessors. The top and bottom parts of the case and the buds are still made of plastic with the same see-through look as previous Nothing Ear models.
In terms of fit, the Ear (3) is similar to the brand’s previous entries. If you go for the right silicone tip size for your ears, the buds will stay smooth and we find no irritation even after several hours of continuous use.
Another notable design change to the case of the ear (3) is the addition of a talk button, which brings the Nothing Super Mic feature together with dual microphones and speakers.
None Ear (3) Talk button and microphone
The idea is that you can use the case’s portable microphone to make calls, voice recordings, or talk to your voice assistant.
As for the retail package, Nothing is offering its usual box that contains the buds and case, three sets of replacement silicone ear-tips, and a short USB-C cable for charging. The buds and their cases are IP54-rated for dust and water resistance.
symptoms
Nothing’s flagship earbuds offer a healthy dose of features expected in the premium TWS market. These include 12 mm dynamic drivers with a 20 Hz – 40 kHz frequency response range and up to 45dB of adaptive noise cancellation, just like their predecessors. The new bit with the ANC system is that it now adjusts to your surroundings at a rate of 600 ms.
Ear (3) pairs over Bluetooth 5.4 with multi-point pairing and support for Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair. It also comes with spatial audio, though it doesn’t support head tracking. You get support for AAC, SBC and LDAC codecs, as well as in-ear detection for automatic play and pause, and low-latency mode for gaming and video.
Nothing came with its signature pinch control on the stem of the earbuds. You get single, double and triple pinch gestures, as well as single and double pinch and hold, which are programmable. Each earbud also packs 3x directional MEMS microphones, along with a bone-conduction voice pickup unit (VPU).
Phone users running Nothing OS 3.5 or later have voice recordings automatically uploaded to the Essential Space app. Those recordings are also auto-recorded, which is neat if you plan to use the buds and their case as a voice recorder.
Nothing Ear (3) is managed by the Nothing X app, arguably the best and most feature-packed companion app on the market. It works equally well on Android and iOS and offers a great selection of controls and toggles to help you personalize the earbuds to your liking.
Super Mike
And then we get to the major new addition – Nothing’s Super Mic system, which integrates two microphones on the case in the area next to the USB-C charging port. This feature only works when an earbud is inserted in your ear and lets you use the new microphone setup once you press the talk button located on the corner.
Nothing beats the claim that the dual microphones on its case are powerful enough to isolate and pick up your voice in the noisiest of environments up to 95dB. The premise is that you can use the case to make calls in noisy places, choose to take voice notes or talk to your phone’s virtual assistant. Unfortunately, the Super Mic system is limited to phone calls, your native voice assistant, and the native voice recording app.
In our experience, the super mic delivers significantly better voice pickup than the microphones on the earbuds. Positioning the microphone close to your mouth does wonders for call quality.
While testing the Ear (3)’s Super Mic feature during calls, I regularly reported to people on the other end that my voice sounded just as good when talking through my phone’s built-in microphone. So, if your current earbuds always let you down during calls, the case for the Ear (3) proves to be a powerful way to stay on top of your calls as long as you don’t mind taking them out of your pocket.
Sound quality and ANC
Its earbuds don’t have a long history of anything with over-pronounced bass and the ear (3) has no expectations. The bass is definitely overwhelming, but in a fun and enjoyable way. There’s an instant oomph when you play music, especially noticeable in rap or EDM tracks.
The updated 12mm drivers come with a redesigned diaphragm, which it claims translates to better bass and treble reproduction compared to last year’s model. They also feature a 20% larger radiating area, further exaggerating the strong bass feel.
Overall, the Ear (3) delivers a wider soundstage than its predecessor, and there’s less noticeable distortion going on. The new model sounds livelier and more energetic than last year’s Nothing Ear while also offering more clarity in the mids and highs. Tool segmentation has also been improved.
Nothing’s signature Advanced Equalizer tuning is present with a fully customizable 8-band EQ within the Nothing X app. Ear (3) also gets some additional tweaks with the ability to select specific frequency values for each band and Q factor, providing controls for the shape of the equalizer curve and bandwidth for more granular adjustments.
You can save your custom profile and share it with others, or import from the Nothing community, which has plenty of options for different tastes. With the right EQ, the Ear (3) can deliver a more balanced soundstage, though it takes some tweaking, and we’d appreciate it if nothing else was able to deliver that experience straight out of the box.
ANC
On-ear (3) adaptive noise cancellation is pretty good if you have the right set of ear tips, although it’s not as strong as the Sony WF-1000XM5, for example. In my testing, Kan (3) held his hands in the office, taking out the AC, water cooler and keyboard clicks. With music playing in the background and ANC set to high, the earpieces (3) help eliminate unwanted sounds and make the perfect companion on your daily commute.
Battery life
Nothing claims up to 5.5 hours from the buds with ANC on and an additional 22 hours from the charging case. With ANC off this number extends to 10 hours and 38 hours respectively. Inside the case is a 500 mAh battery, just like last year’s Nothing Ears, and each earbud has 55 mAh, which is a small upgrade.
In our real-world use, we got 6.5 hours With ANC on, playback is primarily via the AAC codec. Although not class-leading, this endurance is very respectable. Listening to audio via the LDAC codec limits playback to 3.5 hours with ANC on and 5.5 hours with ANC off.
Charging the case and buds from 0 to 100% takes about 70 minutes, and you can also go the wireless route (at 2.5W speed), though it’ll take even longer at 120 minutes.
judgment
Nothing reinvented the wheel with its ears (3) but it did bring a better-sounding pair of buds with improved build quality and a richer feature set befitting a premium product. The seemingly gimmicky Super Mic feature actually leads to significantly better-sounding calls, even if positioning the case close to your mouth isn’t the best solution.
If we were to categorize the audio coming from Nothing Ears (3) it is punchy and loud, which will appeal to the general audience. If you’re not a fan of the default V-shaped tuning, Nothing X offers granular adjustments with its Advanced Equalizer within the companion app.
While the ANC is decent, competitors like Sony and Apple give you better sound isolation. Battery life is okay but you can get more if you look elsewhere. At their core, the Ears (3) are a great pair of earbuds, and the nothing flashy looks and software polish are proving to be a differentiating factor in the crowded TWS market.
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