Ear or Ear (a) - Help

Tom_K_emen

I am not an audiophile but I would like to try something better and I am really big fan of the design. I am listening music on spotify and up until now using 40euro niceboy earbuds. I am the most interested in the hearing test. Not sure if better codec LADC x LHDC will be noticeable with spotify.

I will appreciate any useful input. Please dont mock me 🙂

hrry

Tom_K_emen Hey mate, I’d suggest looking at this https://nothing.tech/pages/audio and, also searching the community. There’s tons of good resources here from people who own both, have experienced both and have a point of view 🙂

Fr4nKB

Tom_K_emen I’ve got Nothing Ear recently, I’m no audiophile (audiophiles usually use headphones) but I’ll share my perspective.

I watched plenty of videos to make your same decision but this one

conviced me to get Ear instead of Ear(a).

The main reasons are:

I can actually hear a difference between the two buds in the prev. mentioned video, unlike many other people. I feel like Ear(a)s are too bass heavy, which I’m not into to, and quality is slightly worse.
If I’m not satisfied with the way Ear sound I can always tweak them with the in-depth equalizer, Ear(a)s only have a simplified version. Right now I’m using this profile https://nothing.community/d/17264-advanced-eq-ear-2024-attempt-at-crinacle-target

Other things to notice are:

I’ve also tried the personalized audio feature, works well but you can only use it in AAC so I immediately turn that off since I want to use LDAC.
With my previous buds I couldn’t really notice much difference using LDAC and spotify, now I can tell you that spotify sounds bad with LDAC compared to my hi-res audio files. This goes to show the quality of the buds, at least for what concerns my ears.
A lot of reviews mention the Ear case being too big, I was surprised when I saw it person because it’s actually not that big maybe just more “spreaded”

I hope this can help you.

Dxnnis

Can’t comment on the ear (a) but I have the ear and think they are some of the best I have used

RogMick

Seriously, don’t even think about getting these! No matter how well you try to take care of them, the glue just peels off. They’ve clearly done nothing to fix this issue. I bought the Ear(a) at full price and let me tell you, I barely use them! After just 2-3 months, the battery drains 5% in just 3-5 minutes of being connected to my 2(a). The ANC is okay, but that doesn’t justify the outrageous price. The only decent thing about these buds is the design! I’m kicking myself right now for not choosing Motorola’s new buds that are tuned by Bose. They cost less and are a fraction of the quality of these overpriced junkers!

Fr4nKB

RogMick The price is in line with other buds (at least here where I live), I wouldn’t call it outrageous.

The glue issue unfortunately is a thing, but researching on forums etc I saw that it mainly affected Ear(1). From what I got, yours haven’t had this problem yet (hopefully they never will) or did I misunderstand? If that’s the case why lure OP into not buying over something that hasn’t happened? I’m genuinely asking, not trying to start a discussion

RogMick

Fr4nKB I completely understand your perspective, my friend. But, I have encountered an issue where the glue on my pair has also come apart, and I’m not quite sure why, especially since I was handling them with care. My primary concern is definitely the battery life; it’s not just me experiencing this, I’ve seen similar feedback on various platforms. Honestly, I believe even $100 would be better spent on alternative brands that provide superior battery life and durability. I liked the sound quality and design, but the durability and battery performance leave much to be desired. If the op is searching for a long-term investment, I would recommend considering different options. While I can’t speak for all Nothing Ear products, I believe there are better alternatives available than Ear(a)

Fr4nKB

RogMick I see your point, I guess everyone has his own experience with products.
I haven’t had time to test battery life, for my use case 5 hours are more than enough though.
Did you contact support for the glue issue?

RogMick

Fr4nKB Mine barely lasts for more than 2.5 hours, lol. Also, most of their service centers in my country are outsourced to third-party companies, and they are pathetic. I’ll try going for a replacement at the official Nothing store once I can, but right now I can’t because it’s in another state, lol.

Update: See, I’m not the only one with issues with Ear(a). Check out this thread: https://nothing.community/d/14302

Coldpaw

Fr4nKB My Nothing Ear (2) are now about one and a half year old and they are still glued together, even though I both buds got dropped a few times, twice even on concrete. I even clean them frequently with Isopropyl alcohol, which might even be a possible solvent for the glue, but both buds are still good. So I also would say this isn’t a guaranteed issue which dooms every unit right from the start.

However if you hop over to Reddit, almost not a week passes without somebody sharing photos of their just unglued Nothing Ear bud. Maybe it sort of is a manufacturing issue with some units got bad or not enough glue. Could also be related to the typical environment, for example in hot and humid places this issue might be more likely than in rather dry places.

Fr4nKB

RogMick damn, getting that low on battery on a single bud sounds like a serious issue. If support can’t fix them, I’d just refund them at that point.

Coldpaw your mileage may vary, as always. Both reddit and nothing community are full of people complaining about stuff but I guess it’s just normal, people that are happy with their products don’t bother talking about them in forums. What’s strange is that it seems that most of the issues are from Indian users, probably because they are the biggest Nothing user base, it’s hard to say if it’s a QC issue or not.