I’ve had the great opportunity to test Nothing Ear (open) over the past week - big thanks to the Nothing Community team! Here’s my thoughts:
Having never used open type buds before, when I first received the Ear (open) I was worried I wouldn’t find enough use cases for me to try them out. What I actually found was the complete opposite. I started out by testing them just while sitting at my desk and was pleasantly surprised by the experience. It genuinely feels like you have personal mini speakers following you around that nobody else can hear, and the sound quality is great too! I continued to wear them throughout the day, when I’d usually be opting for the new gen Nothing Ear.
What I discovered pretty quickly is that these are much more comfortable for me compared to in-ear buds which often fall out of my (weirdly) small ears. When using in-ear buds, I tend to be able to only wear them for a few hours at a time - in fact, Ear (stick) was still my favourite in the Nothing buds line-up! But since Ear (open) sit just outside of your ears, you don’t feel the same fatigue or aching. This means they’re perfect for prolonged use. And with the silicone bands, they stay firmly in place.
I then took these to the gym. In my limited time to test these, I’ve only been able to test with a few exercises - bench press, deadlifts and crunches being the main ones. I’ve not had a single time when these buds have fallen off my ears yet which is super impressive - usually I’d be pushing in-ear buds back in every 2 or 3 minutes, especially during bench press! I have no doubt that you’d be able to use these in a variety of other exercises with ease.
But you don’t have to be into fitness to use Ear (open). They may be made primarily for sports, but with the comfortability and the ability to listen to music or podcasts and still pay attention to your surroundings is great. There are times when you don’t want to be blocked out from the world, or where it may even be dangerous to do so, and these buds are perfect for this!
In the short time I’ve had to test these buds, I’ve not worried about the battery a single time. Since they quote up to an 8 hour playback battery life on the buds, you can easily go a whole day without needing to recharge them! The longest I’ve worn them so far was from around 11am to 4pm with only one break for a short work call and I had no issues with comfort. I’ve been wearing them today since 8:30am and so far so good!
Overall, Nothing Ear (open) has changed the way I think about ear buds and is definitely going to be the buds I pick up to listen to music 90% of the time now. I’ll probably only switch back to in-ear when I need full isolation and ANC, such as vacuuming the house.
