Two-minute review
Nothing Ear 1 review — There are few products that manage to garner as much hype as the Nothing Ear 1 did. Carl Pei’s startup was successful in bringing tons of attention to the TWS earbuds market — something previously seen only for the AirPods.
It’s not often that we’ve had so many people recognise and ask us about a pair of earphones, but that is exactly what Nothing had on mind: create a product that can be as iconic as its Apple counterpart. If that street cred is something you value, you’ll love the Nothing Ear 1.
For the more practical buyers, it’s not that straightforward.
They do boast a unique transparent design that shows off some of the inner workings of the buds and case, but it’s rather limited to some surfaces. We’d have liked Nothing to push this idea further, but we’re not sure if all the components would be exciting to gawk at. It is still quite cool, but others won’t be able to see it that much.
What wasn’t so divisive was how comfortable they are. The Nothing Ear 1 might not have a very different shape, but they are amongst the easiest TWS earbuds to wear for longer durations. Good quality plastics, soft silicone and a lightweight design combine to give them a snug fit. If you’re someone that usually struggles to find a good fit with earbuds, these are worth checking out.
The audio performance wasn’t that extraordinary though. Even with large drivers and tuning mastery in its favour, Nothing wasn’t able to create an expansive soundstage or a very loud output. Some might argue that the Ear 1 are closer to balanced sound, but we found them to be tinny.
There’s also active noise cancellation on the Nothing Ear 1, which is still a rare feature at this price. They use an array of three microphones to analyze the environment sound and cancel it out. But, at a price of Rs 5,999, it’s fine and effective, but we’ve experienced better.
Battery life, on the other hand, is pretty good. You get about 34 hours in total with ANC switched off (that drops to 24 hours with ANC on), which is pretty impressive for a pair of true wireless earbuds.
The companion app can show the exact battery levels, along with options to customize the sound equalizer and gestures. However, in our experience, the connection and app weren’t always stable. Future updates could address this though.
Overall, the Nothing Ear 1 are a bold first release from the new company, but we wish they had a little more focus on the function than the form. There’s not much we can fault them on in terms of the design, the core functioning left us wanting more. But if that quirkiness is what you’re after, there are few other earbuds that will satisfy you like these.
Nothing Ear 1 price in India and availability
Unveiled in July, the Nothing Ear 1 are priced at Rs 5,999 in India. That’s significantly lower than what they are selling at in other markets, which is $99 / £99. They are now available for purchase on Flipkart.
Design
From the get-go, we knew that the design of the Nothing Ear 1 was going to be polarizing — you’ll either love it or hate it.
Similar to some other retro gadgets and devices, the whole design aesthetic of the Nothing Ear 1 is based on transparency. The stem of the buds is completely transparent, as is the lid of the case. Think of it as a conventional pair of earbuds whose coat of colour was scraped off from the inside, but the ovaloid housing and the eartips are still completely opaque, bringing down the overall transparency.
The transparent covers on the stems reveal some of the earbuds' inner workings, including the circuits boards and magnets. You might either find this to be really cool or just weird based on your preferences. Having said that, we do believe that Nothing has been successful in creating a very recognizable product within the constraints of this category.
They're very comfortable to wear, and you get a selection of eartips in the box, so you should be able to find a secure fit. With a weight of just 4.7g, they are really easy to forget. In fact, we found that even sleeping while wearing them wasn’t particularly uncomfortable, which is a rare feat for these TWS earbuds.
The Ear 1 also come with an IPX4 water resistance rating, so you should be able to wear them while working out, without the worry that a little sweat will break them. The same rating isn’t applicable for the case, so bear that in mind.
There’s a handy auto-pause feature too, but it takes a second to respond.
The earbuds’ stems are touch-sensitive, allowing you to control your playback and settings on the fly. Since convenience is a big part of why one should consider wireless earbuds, having gesture controls is always a plus. Thanks to the snug fit and flat exterior, it’s easy to trigger these commands without having to find the right spot or spoiling the fit.
By default, a double-tap will play or pause the music, while a swipe up or down will change the volume. The long-press and triple-tap gestures can be customized via the app, which we set to skipping tracks and changing ANC modes. There is no support for a voice assistant, so these are the only options available.
The charging case is square and flat, with a flip-top design that closes with a satisfying snap. It's much larger than other earbuds but doesn’t use the additional space wisely. Far too much of it is vacant, which could have been used to add useful stuff such as a larger battery or better weather sealing.
The lid has a pleasing indent that you can fit your thumb into for easier holding, or if you wish, flip the case around like a fidget spinner. The slot that houses the buds has a coloured dot (red or silver), corresponding to the dots on the top of the step to make identification of the right slot easier.
The case can double as a fidget spinner.
While that sounds cool in theory, identifying the right slot is seldom the problem. Specifically on the Nothing Ear 1, mainly due to how unconventional everything is, even knowing the right space wasn’t always enough to ensure that the buds are sitting correctly and charging — just dropping them in place won’t do the trick.
On the right side of the charging case, you'll find a pairing button and a USB-C charging slot, though you can top it up wirelessly too if you wish.
There's been so much hype around the transparency of the Ear 1, that it's a little disappointing that the company didn't pull off an entirely see-through design — if Nothing wants us to see the inner workings of the earbuds, why not expose it all? We can see some magnets, the microphones and part of the circuitry, but nothing that’s unusual or awe-inspiring.
As we said, it's a 'love it or hate it’ situation. We're not entirely convinced that Ear 1 successfully show off the "raw beauty" of the technology inside true wireless earbuds, like Nothing claims, but they certainly offer something different to anyone who’s bored of more conventionally designed earbuds.
Audio performance
Inside the Nothing Ear 1 true wireless earbuds are large 11.6mm drivers which are tuned by audio giant Teenage Engineering.
Larger drivers like these tend to displace lots of air, which in turn provides a strong sound with powerful bass frequencies — unfortunately, we didn't think the Ear 1 quite lived up to Nothing's claims that they would provide a "rich, immersive sound".
That's not to say that the Ear 1 sound terrible – they provide a good amount of detail in the trebles, and mids sound clear and smooth, but the bass is very underwhelming, and the earbuds don't get particularly loud either.
You can boost the lower frequencies by turning on the More Bass preset in the app, but we found it didn't have a huge effect. Considering that thumping bass is the most commonly preferred music style, there should have been a provision for that.
Balanced sound isn't always the most enjoyable.
We'd have liked more warmth from the low-frequency instruments, though we felt the vocals sounded rich and luxurious. The soundstage didn't feel particularly wide, and the overall profile felt a bit tinny.
Similarly, the active noise cancellation wasn’t too powerful either. Even at full volume, we were able to hear the clicks of our keyboard while typing. It was still effective enough to negate most of the noise from a neighbouring construction site, but louder environments such as a flight were not that comfortable. Of course, this will also depend on the kind of music you usually listen to, but we thought it deserved a mention.
There are also two more ANC modes, viz. Light and Transparency. The former was seldom useful while the latter didn’t really amplify the surroundings and feed them into the earbuds — just made some higher frequencies clearer.
App and features
The Nothing Ear 1 come with a companion app that goes by the same name on the App Store and Google Play. It is a well-designed app to check the status of the buds, update the firmware, as well as customize the sound profile and touch gestures. It’s fine and gets the job done, but we’d have liked more flexibility in terms of tuning the equalizer or mapping the gestures.
Connectivity options include Bluetooth 5.2 with support for SBC and AAC codecs, along with Google Fast Pairing. We expected hooking them up to our phone would have been quick and easy, but that wasn’t the case.
Except for the first time, connection attempts weren’t straightforward. And even when our device was connected to them, the sound would often continue playing via the loudspeaker. It’s been a while since we had a wireless headset that had to be paired so many times to our phone just to be able to use them normally.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of our problems as even after being connected, the music would randomly cut out. They didn’t last long but were frequent enough to deserve a mention. Then there were also instances where the ANC modes would change on their own during calls, even when the phone or the buds were not touched.
Thankfully, these are all issues that software updates could resolve, but we will have to wait for them to arrive.
Battery life
The Nothing Ear 1 boast a 5.7-hour battery life from the earbuds themselves, with a further 28 hours provided by the charging case — that's a total battery life of about 34 hours; though this drops to 24 hours if you're using ANC.
If you need to quickly top up your buds, a swift 10-minute charge of the case will give you eight hours of playback — enough to get you through a workday.
You can charge the case wirelessly with a Qi-compatible mat, or via the USB-C port. There's an LED light inside to show the current charging status.
Verdict
Buy them if...
You want your earbuds to stand out
In a sea of similar-looking true wireless earbuds, the Nothing Ear 1 truly stand out without looking ostentatious.
You find most TWS uncomfortable
The Ear 1 are extremely comfortable to wear, even for longer durations, and can be further adjusted via a range of silicone eartips.
You're sick of finicky touch controls
Thanks to the flat design of the stem and the responsive touch input, gesture control on the Ear 1 works really well.
Don't buy them if...
You're a careless user
The Nothing Ear 1 aren't the most durable — the case gets scratched easily while the buds can be damaged too.
You're looking for great audio quality
The sound signature of the Nothing Ear 1 isn't particularly impressive or enjoyable, putting them in a tough spot.
You want the best value for your money
While the Ear 1 are competitively priced in India, there are many other options which provide better sound quality and ANC at a lower price, such as the Realme Buds Air 2 or Oppo Enco W51.
First reviewed: August 2021
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