focus on sound, but ANC is missing

Nothing just announced a new pair of earphones. With the Nothing Ear (stick), the company mainly focuses on sound, design and comfort. What do the earplugs have to offer?

Nothing Ear (stick)

The Nothing Ear (stick) is the third product of the English tech company Nothing. Founded by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, this company’s primary goal is to make tech fun again. The company currently does this mainly through their design language. All products from Nothing are currently partly transparent. For example, look at the Nothing Ear (1) and the Nothing Phone (1) that we wrote about earlier.

In a conversation with Nothing, the company indicates that they want to continue this in future products: ”In the next ten years all products must be typically Nothing”, they indicated. And with this, Nothing seems to want to become a revolutionary manufacturer as a new player on the tech market. The company is currently not changing the way we use tech, but Nothing is throwing it more in a lifestyle sauce. The Ear (stick) is also a good example of this.

Lipstick and battery life

As you can see below – and as Nothing has intentionally done – the charging case of the Ear (stick) looks like a lipstick. The company previously showed the case of the earphones at London Fashion Week. This case could already be seen in a special puffer-fish-like robe. This confirms once again that Nothing wants to merge their tech products with lifestyle.

Speaking of the charging case: if you charge the earbuds in the case for ten minutes, you can use them for two hours, according to Nothing. In total, the battery of the earbuds should be able to last up to seven hours. This is more than an hour longer than the Noting Ear (1). And that’s great, because in our review we were not really pleased with the battery life of these earphones. Including charging in the case, they last up to 29 hours.

The Ear (stick) earplugs also have a semi-in-ear design. In terms of fit, they are very similar to Apple’s Airpods 3. According to Nothing, the Ear (stick) earphones are very ergonomically designed and do not sit as prominently in your ear canal compared to in-ear earplugs. They weigh 4.4 grams each. The Nothing Ear (1) ears each weighed 4.7 grams.

Nothing Ear (stick) charging case. Right image: puffer fish garment Nothing

Focus on sound, but ANC is missing

The Ear (stick) earbuds appear with 12.6mm drivers. In addition, they have a special ‘Bass Lock Function’. The shape of your ear canal is detected by means of software and the ears could detect how much bass is lost. To compensate for this, the equalizer curve is automatically tuned.

Nothing indicated in a conversation with us that the Ear (stick) mainly revolves around the sound. They said the following about this: ”The Ear (stick) is all about the design and (even more) about the sound. Even more than with the Ear (1). You want to be able to hear good music anytime and anywhere, even in busy places such as a train station.”

If this is said, and especially the latter, you would expect that the Ear (stick) would have ANC (active noise canceling or active noise suppression) available. This ensures that ambient noises are filtered out. However, the Ear (stick) earbuds do not support this. This is unfortunate and also a bit special since they have a more expensive starting price than the Ear (1) that did have ANC.

Other specifications and price

The Nothing Ear (stick) have also received an IP certification of IP54. This means that they are splash-proof and protected against dust. The Ear (stick) earphones can also be operated with the Nothing app. Here you can select different audio profiles and change the gestures. Users of a Nothing Phone (1) also receive a separate widget.

The earbuds will be in stores from November 4 for a price of 119 euros. And can be ordered via the website of Nothing, Belsimpel and Amazon. Later, when we have been using the Ear (stick) a little longer, we will come up with a judgment about the ears. So keep a close eye on our website and our app.

What do you think of the Nothing Ear (stick)? Let us know in the comments below this article.