Meet Nothing Ear (a) - Your next go-to wireless ANC earbuds

I WAS NOT very fond of wireless earbuds. For me, adding one more device to charge is like adding one more chore to my already busy day.

Nothing Ear (a) in Yellow colorway

However, after several instances of me dropping my laptop on the floor because my wired earphones were still plugged in (yes, I am dumb), and not to mention the countless times I get annoyed at tangled wires in my pocket, I decided to give in and plunge into the world of wireless earbuds.

Fast forward to today: enter the Nothing Ear (a) Wireless Earbuds! Here's my take on them after a week of use for all my non-techie people!

Spoiler alert: I'm not a tech wizard. If you too can relate, and you're on the lookout for reliable wireless earbuds, then please read on.

Meet Nothing Ear (a) - Your next go-to wireless ANC earbuds

Nothing Ear (a) box

The Nothing Ear (a) Wireless Earbuds come in three colors: White, Black, and Yellow. I was blessed to get my hands on the Yellow (my favorite color!) variant, which, not gonna lie, reminded me of Bruce Lee's jumpsuit from Enter the Dragon!

And just like Bruce Lee, the packaging felt one of a kind: it’s sleek and loud, and even the unboxing experience felt like it was designed to rip through the competition. (You have to rip through the bottom part of the packaging to unbox it!)

The moment you bust the Nothing Ear (a) Wireless Earbuds out of its box, you will be welcomed by a QR code that will prompt you to download the Nothing X app. If you'e new to the Nothing brand, this app will allow you to control the settings of your wireless earbuds.

Transparent case

For the accessories, it comes with an aesthetically pleasing transparent case. It is said that the case was inspired by pill packets, to which I say they’ve done a really great job—judging by how sexy it looks!

Other accessories include a USB-C cable for charging, and 2 additional sets of silicone tips in small and large sizes to fit your ears, so they won't come off easily while you do activities as you wear them.

Quick Comparison to Nothing Ear (2) and the rest of my experience

Nothing Ear (2) and Nothing Ear (a)

Taking a look at both cases of the Nothing Ear (a) when set side-by-side with the Nothing Ear (2), the size difference is noticeable as Ear (a) looks and feels compact. In fact, I barely felt the Ear (a) in my pocket while I was walking around with it.

The caveat here is that Ear (a) does not support wireless charging unlike Ear (2), which has magnetic charging coils on it—but if this is not a deal breaker for you then it should not be a problem.

Except for the colorway, the buds themselves look identical, comfortable to wear with no sharp edges, and lightweight, as both feature a pod-shaped design, and both have pinch sensors on the stems for you to control your listening experience. But in terms of performance, is Ear (a) an upgrade from Ear (2)?

Sound that you can control

I'm no sound expert, but I know what makes my favorite LE SSERAFIM songs sound good. By default, these earbuds deliver clear, crisp sound with just the right amount of bass.

But unlike the Nothing Ear (2), you can further enhance the bass of the Ear (a) through the Nothing X app if you need your music to be more heart-pumping.

Adjust the sound levels through the Nothing X app

Also on the app, you can access the equalizer to balance out the sound levels to your liking, and you can also customize the pinch controls according to your preference.

Connect up to 2 devices simultaneously through the Nothing X app

You can connect up to 2 devices at the same time with Nothing Ear (a) wireless earbuds. As someone who's always running around the office, I find this feature very convenient as I can connect the earbuds to my laptop on my desk, and seamlessly switch to my mobile as I power walk to the cafeteria while I listen to my favorite podcast.

Dual Connection is a Lifesaver

Now, I don’t have to worry about dropping my laptop on the floor anymore.

Here's where things get interesting. The Nothing Ear (a) has noise cancellation.

Adjust the noise control through the Nothing X app

To test this, I wore them as I wrote something for work while my brother was playing Valorant (losing badly, I might add). Placed these on and the world became blissfully quiet all of a sudden. I could still hear Kim Chaewon's voice beautifully as I did my work tasks, but the Valorant trash talks? Gone.

Nothing mentioned that it has 45dB smart ANC tech, and I feel like it works perfectly.

Noise? Cancelledt.

And just like the sound quality, you can tweak the noise canceling settings on the Nothing X app to your specifications. You can even let the earbuds do it for you by selecting Adaptive Noise Canceling which automatically adjusts according to your environment in real time.

I've also read that it supports LDAC and LHDC 5.0 codecs which allows Hi-Res Audio transmissions. Translation: better sound with minimal delays.

For gaming, it also has the "Low Lag Mode".

Now, I'm not a gamer, but I am a frustrated rapper! So I tried using the Ear (a) while I recorded a sample song, and I noticed that the timing was slightly off when I played back my recorded vocals alongside the backing track, compared to when I used a wired headset. I guess the lower latency feature is something that Nothing can work on in future models!

Battery Life That Goes the Distance

As mentioned at the start of this article, charging devices for me is a chore. Thankfully, Nothing Ear (a) is advertised to last ​​up to 42.5 hours with the case and 9.5 hours with buds only (when adaptive noise cancellation is turned off). After a week of using the buds, I think it lived up to the advertised—I was only prompted to charge after 2 days of consistent use.

Good battery life

In terms of charging time, to be honest with you I was not able to keep track of it. However, quick last-minute charges before leaving the house seemed to do the trick for me as the earbuds were still serviceable for a long time as I did my tasks in the office. Maybe next time I should keep track of it (ugh, another chore!).

Nothing Ear (a) Specs

Driver: 11m dynamic (PMI+TPU)

Frequency response: 14Hz to 48kHz

Microphone: 3x microphones w/ Clear Voice

Battery: 46mAh (per earbud), 500mAh (charging case)

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3 (AAC, SBC, LDAC, LHDC 5.0)

Others: ANC, pinch control, IP54 dust and water splash resistance (per earbud), IPX2 (charging case) Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, USB-C, Colors: White, Black, Yellow

Dimensions: 30.9 x 21.7 x 24.3 mm (per earbud), 63.3 x 47.6 x 22.7 mm (charging case)

Weight: 4.8 g (per earbud), 39.6 g (charging case)

Price: PHP 6,290

Our thoughts

Nothing Ear (a) is Non-Techie approved!

The Nothing Ear (a) wireless earbuds for me are a very impressive pair of earbuds with a delightful blend of style, comfort, and great sound quality.

Priced at PHP 6,290.00 SRP at Digital Walker Philippines, it’s a really good pair of noise-canceling earbuds that can compete with the big players in the category. The efficiency of having a long battery life, the convenience of fast charging and dual connectivity, and the ability to control the listening experience are the main factors that really sold me into it.

Overall, this is a very competitive noise-canceling wireless earbuds for its price.

Is this something you would consider as your next wireless earbuds? Let us know your thoughts.

About the Writer

Ouel Babasa is a contributor for GIZGUIDE which offers tech reviews from a casual user's point of view. Also known as Owl Willread, he is a multimedia artist, copywriter, content creator, and Kim Chaewon stan. You can follow him at @owlwillread on TikTok and Instagram.