© Nothing
If you follow smartphone news and liked the first years of the OnePlus adventure, you will love Nothing, the new adventure of Carl Pei, the co-founder of the manufacturer of the OnePlus One, which has democratized many technical points until now reserved for Premium mobiles. Nothing offers high-end smartphones, but also and above all very well-made connected accessories.
The common thread of the brand is this attention to design, with an immediately recognizable style, all in clean and futuristic lines and colors, and fully or partially transparent casing. However, the brand's greatest success since its launch is not necessarily the Phone (1) and Phone (2) smartphone line. But rather its true wireless in-ear headphones. The Ear (1) and Ear (2) have set a milestone thanks to their excellent quality-price ratio.
Although expensive, the Ear Stick allowed, by sacrificing some features, to benefit from an even more aggressive price, around only €100. The Nothing Ear (3) and Ear (a) take over from this Thursday, April 18, 2024. Here is all the information available on these products.
© Nothing
The Ear (version 3) and Ear (a) are available now* at the following prices:
- Ear (2024): €149 – *from April 22
- Ear (a) : 99& ;nbsp;€
The price of these headphones certainly contributes to their popularity in the market for True Wireless headphones with active noise reduction. For comparison, the 2nd generation AirPods (without noise reduction) are sold on the official Apple website for €149, while the AirPods Pro 2, the model to which the Ear of 2024 seems to be most compared, we are on a price official from €279.
Elsewhere in Android headphones, the product also compares favorably. The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro, similar to the Ear, are offered at €149, with a design that some will find less original. More upscale, the Sony WF-1000XM5 are priced at €279. You can consult our buying guide for the best true wireless headphones by clicking here.
You can buy these headphones directly from Nothing, or from one of the brand's partners in France: Boulanger, Fnac, Amazon, Darty and LDLC. Note that Boulanger and Fnac have units in store, if you wish to see the product before purchasing.
By launching the Ear and the Ear ( a), Nothing is not only improving its previous generations of headphones. This involves reviewing the range, to better simplify it, like what brands like Apple are doing.
Ear (2024 )
© Nothing
Always available in black or white, the Ear are the audiophile headphones which now replace the late Ear (2).
Compared to the old iteration, the 2024 Ears feature a new transducer (miniature speaker) with a particularly premium ceramic diaphragm, quite rare in this segment. The brand talks about a “aluminum and copper voice coil”< /em> supposed to reinforce the quality of sound reproduction.
As a reminder, an earphone or speaker, whatever it may be, is a device magnetic in which a coil causes, by means of electromagnetic pulses, to move a diaphragm very quickly, which then retransmits these pulses into the air in the form of sound waves.
The improvements deployed on the Ear make it possible to deliver richer, clearer, and pure sound. With 2.5 times more powerful bass, crystal clear treble up 3 dB and more generally a 10% greater air flow (crucial for quality reproduction) – thanks to a profound redesign of the acoustic chamber.
This redesign offers increased sound pressure for greater precision. The 2024 Ears are Hi-Res Audio, LDAC and LHDC 5.0 certified. They of course, like the Ear (a), have active noise reduction, on which a team of 300 people worked.
All this with extensive customization options, including advanced equalizer with profile sharing, bass boost algorithm, and personal sound profiles. Autonomy is up 25%, and now reaches 8.5 hours. They have fast charging, and wireless charging up to 2.5W. All with IP54 (earphones) and IP55 (case) certification. These headphones replace all previous premium generations.
Ear (a)
Les Ear (a) in limited yellow version © Nothing
Les Ear ( a) replace Ear Sticks more oriented towards young people and tighter budgets. All with a particularly beautiful yellow color (but which will unfortunately remain in a limited series). From a technical point of view the Ear (a) are built on a hardware platform similar to the Ear (2).
However, they stand out from the old iteration of true wireless premium on at least five points. First, active noise reduction which becomes significantly more powerful. The ANC system of these headphones increases to 45 dB which should be noticeable in noisy environments. The feature comes in three levels of noise cancellation. There is no adaptive mode or transparency mode. Two functions reserved for the most expensive model.
For the rest, they offer a new dynamic 11 mm diaphragm with PMI and TPU technology to reconcile bass and treble. They have hi-res audio certification, the LDAC codec, as well as the more standard AAC and SBC codecs. Battery life is 9.5 hours without ANC, and 5.5 hours with ANC. Fast charging delivers 10 hours in 10 minutes.
All for IP54 (earphones) and IPX2 (case) certification.
The design of the 2024 Ear does not change compared to that of the Ear (2) currently available. From the box to the headphones, including the colors, everything is identical – always with a white version and another black one, and quite a bit of transparency, a design characteristic of the brand.
© Nothing
© Nothing
Things are more interesting on the Ear (a) side since Nothing is launching a new design here, with a more rectangular case. Overall, the lines of the Ear (a) themselves remain very close, if not identical, to those of their more premium counterpart.
© Nothing
© Nothing
© Nothing
We particularly like the yellow color which completes the signature white and black color offering of Nothing products. Alas, we'll have to hurry: this striking color is only available in a limited version. The brand does not specify how many units are available or the period during which this color will be marketed.
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