Nothing ear (1), review: a new brand is coming to town

With its peculiar name, the brand Nothing seeks to innovate a product that might seem like it doesn’t give more than itself, the headphones . These wireless headphones not only have a striking design but also seek to offer the highest sound quality. We have had the opportunity to analyze the ear (1) , its only model.

Nothing ear (1), technical characteristics

• Driver: Domça, ocp 11.6mm
• Diaphragm: Graphene
• Chamber space: 0.34CC
• Tuning: Teenage Engineering
• Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)
• Voice clarity: 3 high-definition microphones.
• AI ambient noise cancellation
• Battery: Up to 34h With Case (ANC Off); 25h (ANC On)
• Charging compatibility: ear (1) charges inside the case; the case can be charged wirelessly with a QI charger or wired via USB-C
• Equalizer Controls: Customizable Touch and Slide
• Ear Detection
• iOS/Android app
• Quick pairing
• IPX4 splash proof
• Compatible with Android 5.1 and higher. iOS 11 and higher
• Bluetooth version v5.2
• Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP
• Price: 99 euros

The Nothing ear (1) are far from traditional wireless headphones, AirPod type, in their striking design and they are made of a transparent plastic that allows us to see part of its interior . That is, neither white nor black, transparent.

The striking design of the Nothing ear (1) stands out from before taking them out of the box and that is that they have taken care of even the packaging, presenting a silver box that opens with a strip, from there we get another rigid silver box. There is no callsign or anything that refers to the Nothings. Of course, when we open it we will find a transparent plastic box where the headphones are stored. This box also differs from what we are used to finding and is that it does not seek to be so compact, it is somewhat larger than the traditional ones, totally square. The lid has a round concavity that helps us open it. When we do, the battery light will light up indicating the charge of the headphones before using them. Each earphone has its hole where it fits perfectly together with the charging pins. We will know which one is from each ear, not only because of the shape, but also because the one on the right is red and the one on the left is white. Once you get the hang of it, it’s easy, but at first it’s hard not to make a mistake, it’s not as simple as putting them directly in a box.

On one edge of the box is the mini USB-C charging connection and the pairing button. The headphones also include a small USB-C charging cable

The headphones are of the silicone type, that is, those that are inserted into the ear, which helps better noise cancellation. In the box we also have pads of two sizes, plus those that come in the headphones themselves. It is very important that we choose the one that best suits us, since a poorly chosen pad can cause discomfort or falls. Personally, these types of headphones bother me a lot and they fall off easily, so being able to choose the pad that best suits you is a joy to avoid future problems.

The battery of the Nothing ear (1) promises 34 hours with the case and 24 hours if you cannot charge the case. To assess this point we must take into account our needs, how much time a day we spend listening to music or talking on the phone hands-free. For a one-way trip on the metro of more than two hours, it’s enough to listen to music without stopping and make a few calls. At rest, the headphones are quite extensive, lasting more than 15 days without use.

The audio quality is quite solvent. If you are not very audiophile, these 99 euro headphones will be your salvation on long trips, walks or races. The bass sounds very marked and we can notice that something is missing in the treble. The microphone and audio quality is also very positive when we use them for calls.

They also have a very sensitive placement detection system that allows the headphones to know if they are placed in the ears or not, so to stop the music we just have to take them off and the music will stop instantly.

What can we do with the application?

We will need to install the ear application (1) to be able to use them. It is a very simple application that offers us information about the battery of each headset and the box. From the application we can also install firmware updates when they are available.

From the application we can choose the different types of equalization for the headphones between balanced, more treble, more bass or voice. We can also customize the type of noise cancellation, here you can choose between noise cancellation, transparency or nothing. The transparency mode is not a type of total noise cancellation, with it we will be able to hear what is happening around us and the audio from the Nothing ear (1).

The application also allows us to select the latency mode, if we want it normal or low. If we lose our Nothing ear (1) we can find them thanks to the application since it will make them sound so that we can locate them.

From the application we can also select the touches that execute actions on the headphones. The Nothing ear (1) only registers two types of touches, the triple touch and the touch and wait. With them we can choose if we want to go to the next or previous song or if we activate noise cancellation.

Conclusions

I do not consider myself an audiophile and perhaps these headphones are the right ones for this type of person. For €99, the Nothing ear (1) provides satisfactory sound quality, perfect connectivity with the mobile, comfort, design and customization.