Nothing announced today during its Q1 Community Update, live fromTokyo, the launch of a new generation for its audio product range with two new wireless headphones, the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a).
The result of constant refinement of design and engineering over the past three years, Nothing’s new audio products offer a high-end user experience for audiophiles and everyday listeners alike. The company has removed the numbers from its audio products to focus on the product itself and the user experience. The Nothing Ear is designed for audiophiles looking for the best sound quality, while the Nothing Ear (a) is for those looking for the ultimate everyday audio companion.
Nothing Ear – Sound, reinvented
A perfected version of the Ear (2), the Ear preserves and perpetuates the iconic, transparent design of the Nothing earphones to deliver the best audio experience the company has ever created, delivering richer sound without compromising performance.
The sound
Designed with audiophiles in mind, the Nothing Ear features the most advanced Nothing speaker system to date, with a custom-made 11mm dynamic driver featuring high-end materials carefully selected to deliver the clearest, most authentic sound, including a ceramic diaphragm for overall richness and crisper highs. Nothing has upgraded the Ear’s dual-chamber design (2) with two additional vents to improve airflow, resulting in a clearer sound.
The Ear supports LHDC 5.0 and LDAC codecs for high-resolution Bluetooth streaming, resulting in pure, powerful audio. Ear can reach up to 1 Mbps 24 bit/96 kHz with LHDC 5.0 (Low Latency Hi-Definition Audio Codec) and up to 990 kbps and frequencies up to 24 bit/96 kHz with LDAC.
Nothing’s advanced equalizers offer greater customization through a simple graphical interface on the Nothing X application. Users can enhance their listening experience with Q-factor and frequency control, as well as create distinct profiles for different genres. When an individual creates a personal sound profile on the Nothing X app, the recorded data is used in real time to adjust equalization levels based on the results of listening tests.
Noise reduction
Earphones feature Nothing’s most efficient technologies in terms of noise reduction power. The new intelligent Noise Reduction Algorithm (NRA) checks for noise leakage between the earphones and the ear canal, and enhances noise reduction accordingly. Earphones also take background noise into account with adaptive noise reduction, which automatically applies one of 3 noise reduction levels: high, medium and low. At 45 dB, Ear’s noise reduction is almost twice that of Ear’s (2). What’s more, with a bandwidth of up to 5000 Hz, the Ear can detect and attenuate more important sounds effectively.
Performance
Designed to go the extra mile, the Ear features a more compact custom-designed speaker that allows for a larger battery, resulting in a 25% increase in battery life over the Ear (2), and taking the Ear to 40.5 hours of use after a full charge with the charging box, or 8.5 hours of uninterrupted playback. For rapid recharging, ten minutes of fast charging provides up to ten hours of listening with the box, and the Ear also supports wireless recharging at 2.5W.
Earphones feature Nothing’s most advanced Clear Voice technology, with a new microphone design to reduce interference during a call. A new, additional air channel has been added to the stem to allow wind to flow more freely, reducing interference by 60% compared with Ear (2).
Users can switch from one device to another in real time thanks to dual connection. With low-latency mode, Ear can reduce audio latency compared with normal use, depending on the connection with the other device, for smoother gaming. Touch gesture controls are available for switching between tracks, toggling between noise reduction modes and adjusting volume.
Nothing Ear (a) – Let’s Play
Designed for every moment of the day, Nothing Ear (a) are for music lovers. With a head-turning design and powerful noise reduction technology, they are the ultimate everyday audio companion.
Designed in London
Designed in London and in the brand’s purest style, Ear (a) feature Nothing’s transparent design, but take a new direction with a freshly designed bubble shape and yellow color. With soft contours and a slim rectangular frame, Ear (a) feel as at home in the pocket as they do in the hand.
New yellow color!
Yellow Ear (a) is the first Nothing product in a color other than black and white. Not only does yellow fit in perfectly with the playfulness of the Ear (a) design, it’s also a color, in theory, that aligns with Nothing’s transparency values. If colors are returned to their original state, only the primary colors will remain. This purist approach to color has led Nothing to Ear (a) yellow, a lively and playful audio product.
Noise reduction
With Nothing’s new intelligent noise reduction algorithm, the Ear (a) checks the ear canal for noise leaks and generates more noise reduction to block out as much noise as necessary. Adaptive noise reduction detects distractions in your environment and automatically applies the appropriate level of high, medium or low reduction depending on the surrounding noise.
At 45 dB, Ear (a) offers almost twice the noise reduction of Ear (2). What’s more, with a bandwidth of up to 5,000 Hz, Ear (a) can detect and effectively attenuate more significant noises.
Sound
The new Ear (a) driver offers 2.5 times more transient power [Ui1 ] thanks to Nothing’s game-changing dual-chamber design. This increase in power means even deeper, more powerful bass.
To preserve sonic detail, Ear (a) are Hi-Res Audio certified. They can stream high-resolution audio over Bluetooth at up to 990 kbps at 24 bit/96 kHz, and are compatible with the widely used LDAC codec for high-resolution Bluetooth streaming.
Performance
The Ear(a)’s 500 mAh battery in the case and the 46 mAh battery in each earphone enable users to enjoy up to 42.5 hours of music playback after a full charge with the charging case. For a quick charge, the Ear (a) can charge for ten minutes and provide ten hours of music playback (with the box and with ANC deactivated).
To make it easier to switch activities, Ear (a) can be connected to two devices at the same time. Like Ear, Ear (a)’s low-latency mode reduces audio lag compared with normal use, depending on the connection with the other device. Gesture controls are accessible by pressing to switch between tracks, noise reduction modes and volume.
ChatGPT integration
Guided by the mission to advance the transition of consumer technology products to AI, as well as to simplify and enhance the user experience, Nothing has integrated ChatGPT with Nothing headphones and Nothing OS to offer users instant access to resources directly from the devices they use most, headphones and smartphones.
Thanks to this new integration, users with the latest version of Nothing OS and ChatGPT installed on their Nothing phones will be able to speak to access the intelligence tool
tool directly from Nothing headsets, including the just-launched Ear and Ear (a). Nothing will also enhance the user experience of Nothing smartphones in Nothing OS by integrating access points to ChatGPT at system level, including screenshot sharing and Nothing-style widgets. For more details on the rollout, please visit nothing.tech.
Pricing and availability
Ear and Ear (a) will have recommended retail prices of €149 and €99 respectively, and will be available from nothing.tech, Fnac, Boulanger, LDLC, Darty, Son-Vidéo.com and Amazon from April 22nd.
