Nothing Ear (Open). Photo: HWZ.
Open-fit earbuds have been getting a bit of a resurgence lately, and the Nothing Ear (Open) is one of the more prominent ones that was launched in recent weeks. There have always been a few downsides with open-fit earbuds, most notably the weaker bass response due to not having a seal in the ear canal, but it offers plenty of nice positives such as not having any pressure or wearing discomfort from ear tips and the important ability to hear what’s going on around you if needed.
The TL;DR version:
If you're looking for a pair of secure, open-style earbuds, it's hard to find one better than the Nothing Ear (Open). With better bass response than most competitors, these are one of the better options out there.
Note: You can find the Nothing Ear (a) on Lazada, Shopee, the Nothing online store, and authorised retailers.
Design-wise, there’s nothing surprising here. You still get Nothing’s usual transparent aesthetic, with the earbuds being showcased very nicely thanks to the transparent top lid. The case itself is long but much flatter than other cases on the market at just 19mm thin, which makes it very nice to slide into a jeans pocket without an unflattering bulge. The case charges via USB-C, but there's no support for wireless charging.
The earbuds are held inside by relatively secure magnets, but only the earbuds themselves. One thing you might want to take note of is the silver tips at the end of each ear hook are free to rattle about in the indent. This means if you’re wearing loose shorts or pants where the case is free to move around in your pocket, you’ll hear a light rattle each time you take a step.
The earbud looks like the old Apple wired earphones. Photo: HWZ.
Despite that, the hook design is rather smart and offers plenty of security when the earbuds are worn. Assuming that you’re planning on using these for exercising or outdoor runs, that extra security will be very welcome. Thanks to the soft silicone coating, there’s no discomfort or friction either.
The earbuds weigh 8.1g each, which is certainly a bit heavier than the other competitors, but it doesn’t feel cumbersome because of how well-balanced they are. The earbuds use a three-point balance system, according to Nothing, which reinforces each other for extra stability. The ear hooks also have a nickel-titanium wire inside, which provides some flexibility for users to shape the hooks to their ears.
To keep the low profile, Nothing has used a stepped driver design to ensure the 14.2mm dynamic driver is positioned as close as possible to the ear. The polyethylene terephthalate (a.k.a PET, the same thing your plastic bottles and containers are made of) diaphragm inside is also unique, with the material cinching and flattening in the middle as opposed to the ends. Nothing claims it’s patent-pending, so it’s certainly a unique selling point for these earbuds. To keep the weight low and to increase the drivers' responsiveness and rigidity, Nothing has opted for a titanium coating on the diaphragm. We’re interested in seeing how this coating holds up against the ceramic coating that impressed us on the Nothing Ear (a).
Features
Nothing X app. Photo: HWZ.
Nothing X app. Photo: HWZ.
Because of the extremely open nature of Ear (Open)'s design, you lose a bunch of features like ANC and transparency, simply because there’s no good way for this earbud to implement those. However, you do get the basics like a parametric equaliser, simple touch control customisation, and support for multipoint connection. You’ll have to download the Nothing X app to access and manage these features.
Similar to Nothing’s other audio offerings, there’s support for ChatGPT built into these, but you’ll need to pair them with a smartphone running Nothing OS, which means either a Nothing or CMF phone. As mentioned a few times before, the ChatGPT feature is at best a fun little gimmick for you to chat with since it can’t do anything actually useful like calling a contact or setting timers and alarms.
Because of the way the earbuds sit on the ear, they are incredibly non-intrusive and there’s essentially no wearing discomfort because, well, they’re not actually in your ears. If music isn’t playing, sometimes you might even forget that you’re wearing earbuds.
Controls. Photo: HWZ.
Control customisation. Photo: HWZ.
The controls are housed in the earbud portion, which is to say, the transparent section. It’s a pressure-based system like in the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a), so you press on the stem to activate certain controls. It works well as always.
There are two microphones on either earbud, and Nothing’s AI-enhanced Clear Voice Technology is supposed to help provide clearer calls even in windy environments. There’s plenty of wind noise rejection going on if you’re in a windy area, and because clipping is kept to a minimum, I found voices to be generally intelligible.
There’s an IP54 resistance rating for both the earbuds and case, which is excellent and you’ll be able to bring these out for exercise or even to the beach or poolside without having to worry about them failing on you.
Wireless and audio performance
Nothing Ear (Open). Photo: HWZ.
The Ear (Open) only has support for the SBC and AAC codecs, but in my opinion, that’s completely fine as you are unlikely to be able to hear the detail and resolution afforded by higher-res codecs since it’s an open-style earbud. Bluetooth 5.3 is supported and connectivity is great. The earbuds have a rock-solid connection to the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus.
Battery life is pretty good, with 8 hours in the earbuds and a total of 30 hours when including the charging case. Usually, I’d say it’s hard to hit eight hours with earbuds since wearing fatigue starts kicking in, but these are so comfortable that you might just leave them on the whole day. There’s no wireless charging for the case, unfortunately, but I don’t mind its omission since it probably helped to keep the case thin.
Audio quality-wise, these are some of the best-sounding open-fit earbuds I’ve tried so far. This is, however, highly dependent on the environment that you’re in. If you’re constantly in noisy environments, the sound quality will most certainly be affected.
Nothing Ear (Open). Photo: HWZ.
Weak bass response has always been the most glaring issue with open-fit earbud, because you require a proper seal to get that thumpy powerful bass that most people enjoy. Surprisingly, the bass and low frequencies are portrayed with a good amount of punch.
Nothing attributes this to the custom diaphragm that deepens the sound of low frequencies, and while I can’t confirm it, I can definitely attest to the meaty bass that the earbuds produce. It’s not just all power though, you get a good amount of texture as well, with the iconic bassline in Gorillaz’s Feel Good Inc. really standing out.
There’s no lack of midrange presence, and you’ll get really nice guitars, percussion and vocals in the mix. Because of the way the earbuds sit on the ears instead of in the ears, you don’t get the same in-the-head feeling that can come with in-ear earbuds. Instead, it feels relatively wide and airy, which is nice.
Treble is pretty good, there’s enough energy and sparkle in the highs with violins and other string instruments, but it’s easy to lose the finer details if you’re in a noisy environment. The sound signature can be tweaked easily so you don’t have to feel confined by Nothing’s default sound, but we reckon that the default sound should be good enough for most people.
Conclusion
Nothing Ear (Open). Photo: HWZ.
At S$249, the Nothing Ear (Open) is priced like mid-range earbuds and it does just about enough to justify that price tag. However, it faces stiff competition from Apple's recently released AirPods 4. The AirPods 4 with ANC retails for just S$10 more and features deep integration with Apple devices and the added versatility of ANC. If you don't care for ANC and its other features, there's the basic AirPods 4 which is even more affordable at S$199. For Apple users, the choice is clear.
However, the Nothing Ear (Open) counters with its unique design that allows for a secure fit that few other open-style earbuds can match. If you need the combination of secure fit and open-style design for comfort and awareness, you'd be hard-pressed to find better options than these earbuds from Nothing. What's more, it looks stylish, the sound quality is great, and the parametric equaliser in the Nothing X app offers a good amount of customisation. All in all, these earbuds do a lot of things right and should be a hit among its target audience.
Note: You can find the Nothing Ear (a) on Lazada, Shopee, the Nothing online store, and authorised retailers.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.