NOTHING ear headphones review: a decidedly high-tech look and features!

The NOTHING ear earbuds made a splash a few days ago on the wireless earbud market, attracting attention with their sleek design and advanced features. If you've never heard of Nothing, it's a company launched in 2021 by Carl Pei, who co-founded OnePlus, now well-known for its smartphones. Nothing also offers high-performance smartphones, but also wireless earbuds. Renowned for their minimalist design and their promise of exceptional audio performance, these NOTHING earbuds have piqued my interest. As a music and technology enthusiast, I was intrigued by these earbuds and decided to test them myself to see if they lived up to the hype. Let's take a closer look!

Unboxing the NOTHING earbuds

From the moment I opened the NOTHING ear box, I was impressed by the attention to detail. The packaging is minimalist yet elegant, showcasing the earbuds themselves.

Inside, you'll find the earbuds, the charging case, ear tips of various sizes, and a USB-C charging cable.

While “M” eartips are already installed, “S” and “L” eartips are also included to adapt the earbuds to different ear sizes.

The NOTHING ear earphones come in a box that can be used for storing and charging them. The case features a sleek design, made of white and transparent plastic.

The whole package is very compact (55mm square, 22mm thick, and 52g), and will fit in any pocket.

On the side of the case, you can see a button, useful for pairing, as well as a USB-C port for charging the case (and therefore the earbuds). Note that this case is also compatible with wireless charging (only 2.5W), so simply place it on an induction charger or even a compatible smartphone to charge it.

A small magnetic closure keeps the case closed:

It opens very easily to access the earbuds:

These are also held in place thanks to a magnetic system, which automatically positions them for charging.

Each earbud has a colored dot (white and red), which is found inside the case, to position each earbud in its proper place.

Like the case, the Nothings Ear earphones feature a sleek and modern design, with metal finishes and a monochrome appearance, even revealing some of their electronics through their transparent casing. A manufacturing hallmark already present on previous models, which I really like!

These earphones have different controls on their arms, both above and below, which can be operated with a single, double, or triple tap.

These NOTHING ear are very light (4.62g each!) and relatively compact (29.4 mm x 21.7 mm x 24.1 mm), so you quickly forget you're wearing them.

Yet they're packed with technology, including high-end 11mm ceramic drivers for a more authentic sound, and intelligent 45dB active noise reduction.

NOTHING ear: in use

Something we're seeing more and more with this type of earphone: automatic smartphone detection. I simply had to crack open the earphone case and they were immediately detected by my Samsung S24 smartphone. The system then prompted me to install the dedicated Nothing X app. How convenient!

Once the app is installed, it detects the earbuds to begin their setup.

A short getting started guide quickly explains the various controls available on each earbud, depending on whether you press once, twice, or three times. The Nothing Ears offer an impressive range of touch controls. By “pinching” the earbuds, you can control audio playback, adjust the volume, and even activate active noise cancellation. This last feature is particularly impressive, as it effectively filters out ambient noise for an immersive listening experience. These controls take some memorizing, but after a while, they quickly become intuitive. The “pinching” controls are more convenient than pressing buttons because they don't move the earbuds in the ear, eliminating the need to properly reposition them each time you use them.

An update is then released, allowing these earbuds to be further improved.

Once this brief introduction is complete, we arrive at the home page displaying the earbuds and their battery level. Various controls are available, including the equalizer, allowing you to customize the sound to your liking.

You can opt for a balanced equalizer, or one that focuses more on bass, more on treble, or even vocals.

But you can also opt for a custom equalizer, adjusted to your personal hearing. This is a very surprising feature, as the app offers you a hearing test to determine which high frequencies you can and cannot hear!

Simply position yourself in a quiet place. The app will then play background noise, with a few beeps every now and then, which you have to signal to the app when you hear them. Just like a traditional hearing test, in fact!

The first phase allows you to practice to understand the principle.

The test is performed on each ear. The complete test takes less than 5 minutes.

At the end of this test, the application suggests settings adapted to your hearing, better highlighting certain sounds you wouldn't normally hear. You can listen to the different settings to compare with and without them.

And frankly, I must admit that the result is quite impressive! The settings actually bring out certain sounds that previously went unnoticed in certain tracks, which you rediscover in a different way.

If, despite all these settings, you're not satisfied, you can fine-tune the equalizer yourself, in terms of gain, frequency, Q factor, etc. It's very comprehensive, and even experts should find what they're looking for!

You can even save different profiles, adapted to different types of music if you wish. The final test you can perform is adjusting the eartips. Simply wear the earphones and launch the test via the app. It checks for proper ear canal insulation and suggests replacing the eartips if necessary. This is also a welcome aid for properly fitting the earphones!

The home screen also allows you to adjust the noise cancellation. Active noise cancellation can be adjusted to three levels plus an adaptive level. You can also activate a transparency mode to perfectly hear what's going on around you. Or simply turn off the noise cancellation. In this case, you only benefit from the earphones' natural isolation, which is already very effective.

Similarly, you can adjust the bass level to three levels.

With these various settings, it's really possible to adjust the sound quality to your liking. It's very, very comprehensive!

Finally, you can discover a few more options via the app menu, such as dual connection (two devices simultaneously), in-ear detection (the sound automatically turns on or off when you insert or remove the earbuds from your ear), and supported audio codecs (provided you have a compatible smartphone). These earbuds support AAC, LDAC, LHDC 5.0, and SBC, which will allow you to enjoy music in very high definition!

Finally, one last handy feature: to find your lost earbuds. This makes the earbuds ring loud enough to help you find them. Be careful, however, that the earbuds must be removed from the case and connected to your smartphone's Bluetooth. If you lose the case with the earbuds inside, you'll have to search for it yourself the old-fashioned way.

And what about the sound? Of course, beyond all these “gimmicky” features, the most important thing is the sound quality. The manufacturer has completely redesigned its design compared to previous models. Because if the name doesn't mention it, this would normally be a v3.

These Nothing Ears are the result of meticulous engineering and design. The Ears introduce a new, robust 11mm ceramic diaphragm, which produces clearer and more precise sound than ever before. Combined with a new ceramic diaphragm, the designers increased airflow by 10% in each earpiece, for less distortion and enhanced clarity. They also increased the diaphragm movement by 110% compared to the Ears (2), for even deeper bass.

The result? The Nothing Ears don't disappoint! The high-quality drivers deliver deep bass, rich mids, and crystal-clear highs. Whether I'm listening to music, watching videos, or making phone calls, the sound is always clear and well-balanced, with crystal-clear purity and immaculate control over every voice and note.

I've tested these earbuds in a variety of environments, from home to a crowded street, including trains and subways. Being IP54 certified, they're pretty much safe (except the pool!). The effective isolation allows you to enjoy the sound in all situations. The manufacturer claims a noise reduction of 45dB, which means a 75% reduction in volume for most sounds. This is difficult to measure on my own, but the ANC is indeed very good, and we're glad to have it, especially on public transport :p

And this with a connection quality that's also perfect. The Nothing Ears use the latest Bluetooth 5.3 technology to ensure a stable and seamless connection with the source device. I didn't experience any disconnections or interruptions, even when I was on the move.

Finally, a word about battery life. With active noise cancellation, you can expect a little over 5 hours of non-stop listening time, and 8.5 hours without ANC, which isn't bad at all. The case itself provides up to 42 hours of battery life (without ANC, and about 24 hours with ANC). 10 minutes of charging is enough to give it 10 hours of battery life. You shouldn't run out of juice!

Conclusion

These Nothing Ears are a true success in terms of both design and performance! Their minimalist aesthetic is accompanied by exceptional audio quality and advanced features that place them among the best wireless earbuds available on the market. Whether you're a passionate audiophile or simply looking for a practical audio solution for your daily life, the Nothing Ears are certainly worth your attention, even compared to the market's behemoths costing over €300. While the AirPods Pro 2 will certainly be a bit better in terms of audio quality (especially bass definition) and noise reduction, we're not in the same price range. And at only €129, these Ears are clearly a model to consider (available in white or black)! I personally replaced my Galaxy Buds Pro with these Nothing Ears, which I prefer, especially with the personalized profile! One last detail: if you also own a smartphone from the brand, the earbuds can use ChatGPT AI to converse with it, offering many more possibilities than traditional voice assistants. A button on the earbuds lets you call ChatGPT directly :) I wasn't able to test this feature, however.