I’ve tested scores of wireless earbuds but nothing | Tech News

I’ve liked Nothing’s earbuds ever for the reason that UK-based tech firm began making them. In truth, the company’s first ever product was the Nothing Ear 1 in 2021. Since then, there have been a few iterations, and I wrote more than as soon as about my love of final 12 months’s Nothing Ear A, a price range set of wireless buds that punch properly above their £89 price level.

Now now we have the Nothing Ear 3, flagship earbuds that, regardless of the numbering, are literally the fourth iteration.

That means Nothing is promising enhancements to sound high quality, noise cancellation and AI smarts.

But that additionally comes with a appreciable price increase on the outgoing £119 Nothing Ear, with the new Ear 3 priced at £179.

I’ve been testing the Ear 3 for a couple of weeks, and I’m not sure the £60 price bump is justified.

Nothing has given the buds a minor makeover regardless of the carry case and primary design wanting virtually the identical as all earlier generations. It’s nonetheless a great look, and Nothing remains to be capable of efficiently carry the clear tech aesthetic in 2025.

But the addition of aluminium to the buds and case feels a little like change for change’s sake, a manner for Nothing to distinguish its fourth flagship earbuds in 5 years. Perhaps we don’t need a new pair every year.

That’s truly already the strategy for Nothing’s flagship smartphones, and the Nothing Phone 3 was all the higher for coming two years after the Phone 2.

Also new to the Ear 3 is a microphone and button labelled ‘TALK’ on the charging case. The concept is you possibly can press the button to interact with Google Gemini or Siri, relying on whether or not you’re utilizing an Android cellphone or iPhone, in addition to different features corresponding to recording voice notes. You may even apply it to calls.

I discovered the characteristic, referred to as Super Mic, labored properly enough, if with a little lag, on each platforms for voice assistants, but it’s not apparent how to get the button to work in different apps. In truth, it doesn’t work to document voice notes in WhatsApp and it wouldn’t work in video calling apps.

The addition of the mic on the case additionally appears to be a direct admission that the mics on the earbuds you essentially need to be carrying on the identical time to make use of then aren’t up to the job.

It felt bizarre to be carrying the earbuds to listen to calls whereas utilizing the case because the mic. If I would like the cocoon of noise cancellation or the hands-free impact from carrying buds, I wish to depend on the buds alone. Adding a mic on a case to the combination appears odd. When utilizing it on a call I felt like I ought to simply be holding the cellphone to my ear and never be utilizing buds in any respect.

If this characteristic made the Ear 3 £60 pricier than the older model, I’ll mark that down as a flawed transfer.

Sound high quality is about pretty much as good because the earlier Ear and Ear A, with no vastly noticeable enhancements between generations. That may properly be as a result of we stay in an audio hellscape of Spotify’s awfully compressed information over Bluetooth, so it does depend upon what you’re listening to.

When I took the time to tune into Apple Music, which has higher audio high quality, and fiddled with the EQ settings within the glorious Nothing X app, issues sounded more to my tastes.

The buds are additionally very comfy to put on for hours at a time due to the non-circular ideas which might be truly formed like an ear canal, and the light-weight construct. Noise cancellation is above average but inferior to AirPods Pro 2, and the transparency mode can also be behind Apple’s best-in-class chops, but Nothing has executed a strong job.

It’s simply that the strong job was more acceptable when it price about £100. At £179, the Ear 3 feels overpriced and overengineered. I like to recommend shopping for the £89 Nothing Ear A as a substitute earlier than they exit of stock.

For £90 much less than the Ear 3 you may get nearly the identical audio and noise cancellation high quality in buds that are available in a smaller case. If you don’t care about wireless charging or the Super Mic characteristic, they’re a no brainer.

The Nothing Ear 3 can be found to pre-order now and go on sale on September 25 for £179 from Nothing