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Design The Nothing ear (1) uses a transparent shell that you have previously seen on handheld gaming consoles such as the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance. I’ve always been a fan of transparent shells which allow me to see the innards of a device and I love it on the ear (1) as well. The same is translated over to the earbuds’ stem, giving it a unique style that one can easily spot from afar.
© MensXP/Akshay Bhalla
Having said that, both the earbuds and the charging case aren’t fully transparent. The charging case for example does not show off the main PCB under the hood and only lets you look into the actual earbuds themselves. The case remains the same with the earbuds as well where we don’t really get to see the main drivers as they aren’t covered with transparent plastic. That’s just my personal preference though and I still like the overall design. It’s classy and strikes the right balance with its overboard design and keeping it simple. The Nothing ear (1) definitely appeases the tech otaku in me and I’m sure it will do it for many others.
However, I do have to say that the main earbud design takes a lot of influences from the AirPods Pro and improves them as well. For starters, I prefer the flatter stem as it is much more intuitive to do gestures. I’m not really a big fan of squeezing the stem for gestures as it feels awkward to do so. However, on the ear (1), you can simply tap on the stem or slide up and down to control music and voice calls.
© MensXP/Akshay Bhalla
The minimalistic design is also carried forward for visual cues on the earbuds as instead of marking them with “L” or “R” channels, Nothing has opted to use colours. The red dot stands for the ‘Right’ earbuds while the white dot denotes the ‘Left’ earbuds.
Each earbud weighs around 4.7g which makes them very comfortable to use. They sit well in the ear canal without causing any irritation over a long period of time. The ear (1) also comes with three silicone tips of different sizes so that you can get the best fit. It is essential you use the correct size for the best active noise cancellation experience.
© MensXP/Akshay Bhalla
The charging case is made out of exceptionally high-grade plastic that Nothing says will not turn yellow as quickly due to photo and thermal degradation. The main cover of the charging case is held by a metallic hinge that opens and closes like a clamshell. I do have to say though that the charging case is extremely prone to scratching. Since it’s transparent, scratches will be more prevalent and if you plan on keeping it pristine, I advise using it with utmost care.
Sound Performance The Nothing ear (1)’s sound performance and quality are quite astonishing the moment you start using them. In fact, they are so good that I was taken aback the first time I heard music on the TWS earbuds. In my opinion, the ear (1)’s sound quality is better than what I have on the AirPods Pro. The low-end frequencies are particularly crisp here as not only can you feel the bass, you also notice highlights. The bass highlights on the Nothing ear (1) are crisp, controlled and don't go overboard like other TWS earbuds.
Society by Mystic State is a sub-bass heavy track that I usually listen to for testing earbuds. The bass pumped from the 11.6mm drivers didn’t sound as if they were being boosted virtually. Many cheap TWS earbuds tend to do that to fool users, however that is not the case here. You will instantly feel every drum kick, deep pads and sub-bass. While it may not match wired earphones with multiple dedicated drivers, the Nothing ear (1) does the job extremely well for a TWS earbud.
© MensXP/Akshay Bhalla
To test out the mid and high frequencies on the ear (1), I listened to Jason by The Midnight and to my surprise, the earbuds handled the song extremely well as well. Treble notes don’t feel exaggerated and midrange frequencies are balanced enough that you can hear vocals without it being too muddled.
I do have to point out that this performance is based on the ‘Balanced’ audio profile you can set from the companion app. However, there are two other modes i.e. ‘More Treble’ and ‘More Bass’. I found the tuning of both these modes to be ultra-aggressive and suggest not to use any of the two modes. When using the ‘More Treble’ mode, most songs sounded as if I'd put on a high pass filter effect on them, essentially cutting off most of the lower frequencies. The case remains the same with the ‘More Bass’ profile where the app cuts off most of the mid and high frequencies making every track sound very flat.
Active Noise Cancellation The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) on the ear (1) is quite effective and tends to isolate most frequencies between 100-500Hz. In my experience, I was able to isolate background noise from a loud TV, three loud dogs and street traffic with ease. Of course, the noise cancellation isn’t at par with headphones such as the AirPods Max and the Sony WF-1000XM3 but it’s still at par with the AirPods Pro if not better.
© MensXP/Akshay Bhalla
You can also adjust the level of noise cancellation from the companion app to your liking. Some people like to keep the noise cancellation effect mild so that they are aware of their surroundings while walking down the street. The ear (1) also has a Transparency mode which you can toggle by Tap holding either of the earbuds. You can also activate noise cancellation using the same method.
Gestures and Companion AppI’ve already mentioned before that I found the gesture controls on the ear (1) very intuitive and that’s because they are fairly simple. You can double tap either of the stems to play/pause music, triple tap to play the next or previous track. In fact, you can customise which earbuds you want to set as the previous or next song to your liking.
If you want to increase or decrease the volume you can swipe up or down on either of the earbuds. This essentially removes the need to look for your smartphone every time you want to adjust the volume.
© MensXP/Akshay Bhalla
The companion app also offers other features that you can customise to your liking. When going into the settings, you can customise the charging case lighting. You can set it in different colours to different levels of the battery. You can also set colour cues when you put the case for charging, for example, green for charging and white for fully charged.
© MensXP/Akshay Bhalla
Find My Earbud is yet another valuable feature you can use from the app in case you misplace your earbuds. When enabling the feature, the earbuds play a sharp chime noise that is quite loud. This will help you locate your earbuds if you are in the vicinity. It’s quite a handy feature to have especially if you tend to forget where you kept the earbuds.
Battery Life The Nothing ear (1) can last about 4-5 hours on a single charge and can be extended up to 34 hours depending on how you use them. With ANC turned on, my review unit lasted about 4.5 hours and got an additional 22 hours with the charging case.
© MensXP/Akshay Bhalla
The charging case also supports fast-charging via the USB-C port where, in 10 minutes, you can get up to 7-8 hours of listening time. You can also charge the charging case with any Qi-wireless charger.
How is it for Calls The ear (1) does a wonderful job at handling calls, thanks to its three microphones. For starters, it effectively isolates most background noises which lets the person on the other end of the call hear you clearly. There’s also a voice mode that you can use for calls that dramatically improves your voice quality and helps in conserving battery life.
Having said that, I do have to point out that the person on the other end of the call did point out that my voice sounded a bit high pitched. I’m not sure what’s happening here but I’m guessing it will be fixed in a future update.
The Final Say The Nothing ear (1) delivers everything the AirPods Pro can and in some departments, it’s even better. These TWS earbuds cost only Rs 5,999 in India, even though I feel it should ideally cost a lot more. With great sound, a unique design and premium features, it’s a no-brainer that the ear (1) may just be the best TWS earbuds right now.
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