Review: Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a)

Not everything needs to reinvent the wheel. Iterating on products year over year has produced some of the best wireless headphones money can buy, and that's precisely the route Nothing is going with its latest earbuds, the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a). Sure, at its founding the company vowed to do so much more than make headphones and smartphones—it hasn't quite followed up on that promise yet—but at least we get affordable earbuds that don't look the part.

The new Ear and Ear (a) are Nothing's third generation of AirPod clones, resulting in a pair of mature products with competitive sound, pricing, and user experience. From good-looking cases that easily fit in your pocket to smaller, more thoughtful design touches, these are some great wireless earbuds to consider if you're hunting for a pair under $150.

Neither are groundbreaking audio products—there are better headphones if you spend a little more and plenty of comparable models—but they'll more than satisfy just about anyone. They work well and look great; what more can you ask for?

What’s the Difference?

The Nothing Ear costs $150 and the Nothing Ear (a) is $100—following the “a” designation Nothing uses on its cheaper Nothing Phone (2a) versus the Nothing Phone (2). The company started with the Nothing Ear (1) in 2021 and followed up with the Nothing Ear (2) last year, so why the latest Nothing Ear isn't called the Ear (3) is confusing.

The biggest physical difference between the Nothing Ear and the Nothing Ear (a) is the size of the earbuds, and the pricier model includes wireless charging support in its carrying case. The Ear is identical in looks to 2023’s Ear (2), but they’re a tiny bit larger and heavier. The Ear (a) are smaller and lack some of the fancy processing in its pricier sibling, but it comes with fun bright yellow accents (or white or black, depending on your preference) on the case and headphones.

Both wireless earbuds come with three sizes of ear tips, with the medium installed as standard. They fit me just fine for my extremely average ear size, with the Ear feeling a bit snugger and probably less suited for anyone with smaller ears. The Ear (a) reached Goldilocks' porridge territory in size, stability, and long-term comfort. I don’t dislike wearing the larger, more feature-rich Ear, but if I had to choose based on comfort alone, the Ear (a) would get my money.

Inside the Ear (a) you get a less powerful chipset, but the earbuds still boast the same level of noise canceling, the same driver, and the same number of microphones for better calls as the Ear. The weaker chipset does have one benefit—longer battery life. The Ear (a) can hit up to 5.5 hours with active noise canceling turned on, whereas the pricier Ear lasts 5.2 hours. One other change? The Nothing Ear employ a different driver material—a form of ceramic, which is unusual for earbuds— whereas the Ear (a) have more traditional polymers. I go into more detail on what this entails further below.

Using them in the world, they both act the same. Nothing offers up some of the best touch controls I’ve seen from a pair of earbuds—a simple squeeze (or series of squeezes) on the stem of the buds can play and pause music or turn transparency mode on or off, which is nice when you want to hear an announcement quickly when traveling.

Setting them up is as easy as AirPods. Pop the case open and they immediately demand to fast-pair with my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, quickly connecting and automatically downloading the Nothing app the headphones use for more advanced functionality like EQ settings. All of this happens in under 30 seconds.

Sound Off

The 45 decibels of sound reduction inside both of these earbuds is impressive. Even in loud gyms and on noisy sidewalks, I could easily focus entirely on the task at hand (and my podcast or music). It's not quite as good as the noise reduction I get with the AirPods Pro, Sony's WF-1000XM5, or even a high-end pair of Jabra Elite 10, but all of those models cost an extra $100, if not more. Nothing is still up there with top-tier noise reduction. You can use the Ear or Ear (a) when traveling and be happy with how they quell the steady drone of aircraft engines and HVAC.

The sound quality is excellent. The custom 11-mm drivers inside are crisp, clear, and dynamic. Regardless of the driver material differences and physical differences inside the earbuds, you can hear a similarity in the tuning.

These third-generation Nothing earbuds have a very open midrange that makes it super easy to hear things like layered acoustic guitars and piano, which is especially noticeable when compared to their predecessors. The sound is neutral, which is to say that these buds don't have a big scooped-out middle-frequency section to accommodate brighter highs and punchier lows; the sound is so much more clinical and robust than standard AirPods it's hard to compare them. Still, they're not quite as elegant to listen to as the pricier AirPods Pro, even with the nicer drivers. They sound good in all genres, even ones that get a bit harsh up top when pushed, like electronic pop.

I particularly enjoyed listening to classic jazz albums like Larry Young's Unity, which has a bright snare drum, shimmering cymbals, and plenty of horns stacked in between Young's organ. The song “Zoltan” is particularly rad through these buds, with the smeared horns in the middle of the bridge section feeling like they're washing across your brain like a mirage.

The ceramic coating in the Ear doesn't add a ton, at least to my ears, except for a bit more definition down low in the organ's bass. That makes the more expensive pair preferable, but not in a “you should for sure spend the extra money” type of way. Instead, it's the value proposition of the new Ear (a) that makes them my favorite of the two pairs.

At the end of the day, the Nothing Ear and Ear (a) are great-sounding headphones, and I would in no way question anyone who decides to buy them amid the sea of competitors. I like a lot of buds that fall into the $150 price range, from the likes of Beats, Jabra, Samsung, and Sony. This is where Nothing's design language makes its case.

At $100, very few earbuds compete on looks, sound, and functionality of the Ear (a). Just like how it has carved its niche in cell phones, Nothing once again wins by offering pro-tier features at a more affordable price. If Nothing remains focused on making affordable products with quality designs and customized versions of proven technology, it could continue to grow, and grow large. The new Ear (a) are a perfect example of this ethos.