Nothing Ear (open) review: pretty good, with the right expectations

Design and Comfort

The Nothing Ear (open) carry the unmistakable design language of Nothing buds. The case has a transparent cover, the earbuds themselves are encased in transparent plastic, so you can see some of the innards. The right bud has a red dot to mark it, and everything else is in clean white.

The hooks end with metal counterweights, which I believe double as the battery compartments. That'd explain why these buds have extra-long battery life, really.

When it comes to comfort — you can wear these all day long, no exaggeration. In fact, I've done this for a few days, while working. They are incredibly light and it's easy to forget that you have them on. They didn't interfere or conflict with my glasses, too

We still have squeeze (pinch) controls, which are rather easy to use thanks to the large, flat areas that the buds provide. The Ear (open) accepts gestures like single, double, triple pinch, squeeze and hold, or pinch twice and hold. These can be set to play, pause, go forward or back, and control volume.

With the way the drivers sit above your ear canal, the outside world comes through perfectly clear. No ANC here, and no transparency mode — you get natural transparency by way of the fact that there's nothing in your ear. Sure, if you raise the volume, you will stop discerning speech and more subtle sounds. But these are designed to give priority to the outside world — you can't drown out the coffee shop noise, the office rustling, or the banging on keyboards.

They are great as a hands-free device while driving, jogging, biking, skating. They can also be used in quieter office environments, where you only occasionally interact with colleagues. Or at home — you won't miss a knock on the door, a phone ringing in the next room, or your dog whining because you forgot to fill its water bowl again.



The charging case is kind of awkward — it's a long, flat box that won't fit every pocket very naturally. But its soft round shape makes it easy to slip in and out of whatever compartment you choose to carry it.

Sound Quality

These sound surprisingly good. Nothing has focused on two things here — ensure that you have plenty of bass, and make sure the sound is directional, so you don't disturb others.

That's because you literally have two very tiny speakers sitting right outside your ears. And tiny speakers usually don't have great bass.

And these do. If you have a fine taste and consider yourself somewhat of an audiophile, it will sound like the bass has been artificially enhanced and boosted just to make sure that it reaches your ears. But I've no problem with that. These are made for casual "soundtrack of my life" listening, not for playing your vinyl records while smoking a cigar and having a glass of that 25 from the top shelf.

And for that, they perform surprisingly good. As mentioned, the bass is there, but also the details in the mids and a silky presence. There is a caveat, however — this is only true if you listen at 50%-60% volume. At medium levels, they sound balanced and good enough for your favorite songs to blast through.

If you try to crank them, they start sounding like what they are — tiny speakers right outside your ears. They become barky, scratchy, unpleasant. And, they become audible for people around you.

Which further underlines what they are meant for. Do not try to drown out the outside world with these. But if you need earbuds that allow you to retain your attentiveness at all times — these can do it, and sound good while they are at it.

If you want to delve into sound tuning, you actually can. These are treated like flagship earbuds, meaning you have access to the Advanced Equalizer within the Nothing X app. And, when they say Advanced, they mean it — it's a mix between graphic and parametric equalizer. You get 8 bands to play with, but you can set their frequency and their Q factor.

For calls, we had mixed response. Most callers understood us OK, with a few complaints about a boxy or quiet sound coming through. Like Bluetooth buds usually do — these may shave off quite a bit from the top-end of your voice, but it's rarely an issue if you are in the habit of speaking clearly.

Extra features in the Nothing X App

Conclusion

Overall, these are great. Yes, they cost the same as the flagship Nothing Ear buds, but they are not aimed at the same market or the same use case.

A $150 price-tag may seem a bit steep for earbuds that are meant for "casual" music listening, but when looking through the market for open-ear buds, we'd say that the Nothing Ear (open) are very fairly priced, and deliver great value. They are light and comfortable, their sound is good and can be fine-tuned, and their battery life is very good. Plus, they have Nothing's ChatGPT integration.

If you are particularly looking for a set of earbuds that allow you to isolate yourself and enjoy full sonic pleasure, then you should go for in-ears, the flagship Nothing Ear included. But if you are looking for a hands-free set that delivers good sounds and lets you take phone calls, all the while you are completely aware of the traffic or what's being said around you — that's what the Ear (open) is for.