It is not clear whether new earbuds can hang with the giants
The Ear isn’t the Same as the Phone? Why is the Ear (nearly) the Same? What Does Nothing Really Do With Its Wireless Headphones?
Not everything needs to reinvent the wheel. The best wireless headphones money can buy are produced by iterating on products year over year, and this is what Nothing is doing with its latest earbuds. 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.
You’re still getting multipoint, Fast Pair, and a low-latency gaming mode in the cheaper buds. That’s a lot of stuff. Battery life has also been totally sufficient, lasting for over five hours on both buds with ANC enabled or well over eight hours if you can go without it.
The earbuds come with different lengths of ear tips and are installed as standard. They fit me well, even though the Ear feels a bit snugger and probably isn’t suited for anyone with smaller ears. The Ear (a) reached Goldilocks’ porridge territory in size, stability, and long-term comfort. The Ear (a) would get my money if I decided to wear it based on comfort alone.
Nothing uses the term “a” to describe its cheaper Nothing Phone2a versus the Nothing Phone2, and the Nothing Ear costs $100. The company started and followed up with Nothing Ear (1) and nothing Ear (2), so why is it that the latest Nothing Ear isn’t called the Ear?
What is the Best Wireless earbuds for the Low-Field, High-Sensitivity End of the Universe? A review of three generations of AirPods
Even though there are better headphones if you spend more and more, they’ll still be just as satisfying to everyone. They work well and look great; what more can you ask for?
Nothing’s third generation of Air Pods resulted in a pair of mature products with competitive sound, pricing, and user experience. If you’re hunting for a wireless earbuds that can fit into your pocket, then these are some great options.