Ear (open) was announced this week and I got the chance to spend a week with them.
I first heard of it with rumors and to be honest, the Open format suggested by the name wasn’t the most appealing to me, they look bulky and not the best fit when I mostly use in-ear buds and more recently mainly Nothing Ear (2024) which are light and perfect in most cases.
Last week, I got a special box in the mail, let’s see what it’s all about.
Unboxing:
At the time, I hadn’t seen any design or rendering, so this unboxing was a complete surprise.
And we start with the retail packaging of Ear (open), it’s larger than usual Ear products box but if you’ve seen the design, you probably know why.
It opens in the same way as others Nothing products with a small tab but this time at the bottom to keep the package in one piece and not split it in two like the previous generation, which is really appreciated.
The case comes in a small tray that’s perfectly suited to protect it during transport, you’ll receive a QR code to download Nothing X, unwrap the case and you’re ready to go!
You will also find another compartment which contain the usual manual and USB C-C Cable (not the transparent one)
The top of the case has a protective film that can be removed if it becomes too scratched over time.
Design:
This is different from what we’ve seen before with Nothing Ear products, it’s an Open Wireless Stereo product, the case is longer than other products but it’s very slim, so if you can put a phone in your pocket, it’ll fit too.
The case is in 2 parts, the main transparent window to look over your buds and a more white opaque part hosting the USB-C port and all the electronic components.
Both parts look the same with curved sides which really give it a unique look when closed.
As for the buds, you can recognize them with some iconic parts of the Nothing Ear series like the coloured dot for the left/right unit, the transparent stem with the black antenna and obviously the marking on the stem which is “NOTHING” on this product instead of the model as usual.
The speaker part of the bud is different, not as round as usual, it’s mostly flat and comes with a grid that looks really similar to what you had on Ear (stick), something you might recognize if you were around at that time.
The rest is the hook which is flexible enough to fit perfectly on your ear with the 64 mAh battery at the end of it in a clean enclosure.
Overall a very Nothing product in which you can find a lot of reference to the design identity built upon the last Ear series products.
Sound quality:
Having used Nothing Ear (2024) over the last few months I’d indirectly had high expectations of the audio quality, and they clearly haven’t been disappointed, if you’ve used Nothing Ear it’s pretty much the same with a bit less bass but clear sound that remains really powerful, a bit like having a speaker attached to your ear, you can still hear a ton of detail in the sound even if it’s not directly in your ear, imagine this as Nothing Ear with a transparent mode which is really powerful, Which is the case here because you’re still directly connected to your environment, which is perfect for use in the office or any time you need to be available to talk or listen to other people’s discussions, That said, it will only work if you keep the volume at a reasonable level and the same goes for the clarity of the sound, don’t expect to get clear sound if you’re in the middle of a busy office and staying at 50%, if you’re in a room with no other noise you’ll get an experience that’s very similar to Nothing Ear, it’s also really good for sport (which is eventually the main usage of this category) so you can stay connected with your environment and still be able to hear what’s happening around you.
No high resolution codecs on this product, but that’s not really a problem as you probably won’t hear the extra detail of high resolution songs when you can barely hear the difference with in-ear ear buds.
Battery:
Let’s talk about battery life.
With this design, we get a battery that is bigger than Nothing Ear (46 vs 64 mAh) and at that scale it’s clearly not nothing.
Considering we don’t have that many options with a severe battery impact, I’ve tested them on a continued stream of Spotify with some calls in between with the stock configuration which include Dual Connection at a volume between 50% and 75%, and the first bud died after 9h01, second after 9h17, and that on a single charge which should be more than enough for a lot of persons, this is easily one of the best thing about this product, you don’t have to worry about battery or having to charge it too often in a day since you probably won’t have to charge it in your day.
Features:
This is clearly not the most features packed products of the whole series but you still get a lot of things like the full support by Nothing X and Nothing OS for battery informations through QS panel or widgets, the basic Equalizer presets, Custom and Advanced Equalizer, Dual connection, and pinch controls settings. And that’s about enough considering these aren’t ANC on in-ear buds but that’s already more than enough for that product even if wearing detection would have been appreciated for quick pause (even if pinch controls are really good for that).
Comfort in use:
This new format is a first for me and didn’t really interest me but in the end it’s one of the best things I’ve been able to test so far, you really have to test it to make up your mind about the design of this product. Place the battery with the hook behind your ear, let the speaker rest on your ear and you should be all set, and the moment you start to hear a sound, you’ll quickly forget about it. Unlike in-ear headphones, which can fall out quickly, this one will stay attached to your ear and be your perfect companion on the move, whether you’re running, cycling or just walking down the street. It’s a product for everyone, not just for sport.
As part of my battery test, I wore them for 9 hours and didn’t feel them present throughout the session, you really have to remember you’re wearing them, otherwise you might forget.
The pinch controls are still present and now pointing upwards, they were always very reliable and easy to access during my test, a really convenient way to control music or volume.
Conclusion:
Overall this product is a good deal if you want a great companion for sport or just want a pair of high quality wireless headphones with maximum transparency and very good battery life, this is a new category of product for Nothing but for a first generation product it’s absolutely perfect, there are certainly things that could be improved like adding wear detection but is it really necessary in the end? With perfect pinch controls, all you have to do is pause the sound for it to be available, you don’t even need to take it out of your ear. Another thing is that when the headphones are in the case, the battery part isn’t locked to the case, so they can make a bit of noise if they’re in a pocket, thankfully they’ll probably spend more time on your ear than in the case, but it’s definitely something I would like to see fixed in the future.
Ear (open) is now available at: https://nothing.tech/products/ear-open
