Meet Nothing Ear (1) - Stylish in-ear TWS for casual listening!

Nothing's first earphones became available in the Philippines last June via Digital Walker. A few months later here's what we think about it.

Nothing's first TWS!

Meet Nothing Ear (1)

To recap, Nothing ear (1) is a TWS in-ear device in partnership with Teenage Engineering boasting a transparent body to show the craftsmanship of the device inside out. 

We have both the Black and White variants. Let's find out if they are good!

Inside the box

Opening the box, you will be greeted immediately with a squared transparent charging case, the earbuds in it, a Silvery-Whitish colored USB-C cable, and three eartips for small, medium, and large sizes.

Stylish see-through design

Talking about its design, both the case and the unit are distinctively unique. The case's body combines transparent glass and a White or Black chunk inside. There's also a small bar of Silvered magnet to keep the cover in place.

The USB-C port and pairing button

You will see the USB-C port on the side next to the pairing button while flipping it down you will see two more magnets to hold the audio gear itself.

It is also light in weight that sometimes it makes us forget that it is still inside the pocket. It's also not too bulky but still noticeable.

White version

Meanwhile, the earbuds have a see-through acrylic stem, with a contrast of Black, Red, and Silver inside. The pill-shaped in-ear body is colored Black or White and goes the same with the eartips.

Black version

It gives us an aesthetically pleasing vibe, it looks sexy and an eyecatcher especially upon seeing it for the first time.

The brand says the pair have an IPX4 rating for sweat and water splash resistance. Making it still ideal for your workout sessions. 

Good fit!

Speaking of which they don't fall off easily even when using the small eartips. It also fits nicely and is comfortable on our ears for at least around 2 hours.

Pairing the device does not require much effort. Before wearing them just press the side button on the case, the White LED must blink slowly and that is where you'll see the Nothing ear name on your smart device. 

By the way, it also uses Bluetooth 5.2 for its connectivity. The connection rarely drops although there's some delay when watching videos or playing games on PC. There's a firmware update through the app but the improvement is only noticeable for mobile devices.

Apparently, its codecs are limited to SBC and AAC only. It doesn't have LDAC or aptX at least.

Decent pair of audio

For audio, it uses an 11.6mm driver with optimized bass, mids, and highs for rich and immersive sound, ANC with Light to Maximum modes, and 3x microphones with Clear Voice Technology for clearer calls.

The sound quality is decent, not an audiophile-grade but it should be enough for general or casual listeners. The clarity, details, and separation are noticeable. The mids are okayish, and the bass got some thump but not too rumbly. However, the highs aren't great it's got some piercing or hiss at peak. We recommend tweaking that region using an equalizer.

Good microphones

Moving forward, the microphones will capture good details. Most of our calls end up pretty nice with a comment of a clear voice from the other end.

It also has an Active Noise Cancellation feature. It blocks most of the sound in the background like the living room TV, clinking and clanking sound from the kitchen, and even the fans. 

For strong background noise, we think it blocks around 80 percent of a heavy rain sound while a honking or beep sound of a horn will still be heard. We feel that it's mostly usable in certain scenarios but not that effective.

The ANC is divided into three modes as ANC ON, OFF, and Ambient mode which will let you hear around you while playing music.

It isn't the strongest ANC around, but it is usable. At least it doesn't degrade the audio performance that much.

According to Nothing, the device can last up to 34 hours with its transparent case with 4 hours per bud (ANC ON) and 5.7 hours (ANC OFF). It is also compatible with Qi wireless chargers and may charge it quickly for 10 mins and will give you an extra 1 hour of juice.

Another highlight here will be the convenience the touch controls can provide especially when outdoors. You may swipe up or down the stem to adjust volume, tap to pause or play and answer calls, double tap for ANC functions, or triple tap to play the next song.

It works with Android 5.1 and iOS 11 and above. There's also an app that you may download on the App Store or Google Play Store.

The app is pretty straightforward, it has a simple layout and functions and can also display battery information of both the case and the unit.

The App's UI and notification

The functions are divided into two, you may press "HEAR" to adjust the ANC feature. The ANC may also be set to either light or maximum.

The App's UI 2

Next is that you can choose the sound profile on the equalizer. The sound profiles are limited to 4 modes such as balanced, treble, bass, and voice. We often end up not using them anyway as most of our smartphones already have equalizers with similar capabilities and also let us manually tweak the settings.

When pressing the "TOUCH" button, it will let you modify the audio gear's touch controls according to your preference. 

Quick thoughts

Priced at PHP 5,990, Nothing may have garnered a lot of attention lately due to the hype and its attractive unique design. 

But when it comes to sound, Nothing's first take on the earbuds may shine to general consumers. However, it will not attract picky listeners. The ANC is okayish but has limitations as well.

Still, if you prefer aesthetics, some decent audio, convenient controls, and comfort this is worth checking out. The Nothing Ear (1) is a decent all-rounder.