The Nothing Ear (2024) are an extraordinary pair of TWS earphones. Despite the mediocre ANC and battery life, these earbuds deliver a true flagship TWS experience. The sound quality and features more than justify their price, especially with industry-first features like ChatGPT integration with Nothing phones. The Nothing Ear (2024) marks the first step in Nothing’s grand plan to create a cohesive ecosystem of products that complement its smartphones.
Nothing’s third iteration of its truly wireless earphones is here. However, Nothing has altered its naming scheme with this version. Rather than continuing with the numerical naming convention, Nothing has chosen to simply call this one the Nothing Ear. These earbuds were launched alongside the Nothing Ear (a), a stripped-down version of the Nothing Ear, much like the (a) series of Nothing phones. The Nothing Ear (2024) introduces a few quality-of-life improvements such as longer battery life, higher-quality ceramic drivers, better call quality, and support for more high-quality codecs.
n the surface, the upgrades may seem iterative rather than generational, but is that actually true? We’ll find out that and more in this review. I will also compare the newly launched Nothing Ear 2024 with some of its fiercest competitors such as the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 (review), Moto Buds+, and the OPPO Enco X2 (review). Let’s delve into my detailed Nothing Ear (2024) review.
The Nothing Ear (2024) looks nearly identical to its predecessor, the Nothing Ear (2). The transparent case has the same design flourishes as the Nothing Ear (2), except for a couple of subtle changes. For instance, the dotted font now says ‘Nothing’ instead of ‘Ear (case)’. It is the quintessential Nothing look we all know and love, so I’m not miffed about the minimal design changes.
The charging case is handy and functional. It can be easily flipped open one-handed and the metal hinge’s construction is solid. The case is pocketable enough, but the OPPO Enco X2’s diminutive case is slightly easier to stow away. Sadly, the case is as prone to scratches as its predecessor – a couple of days of these earbuds inside my crammed backpack were enough to tarnish the case’s unscathed look.
The earbuds have a fantastic fit; at 4.6 g each, they are comfortable to wear through pretty much everything, be it an hour-long workout session or a two-hour-long work call. The buds are also IP54 dust and water-resistant, while the case sports an IP55 rating. So, wearing these buds on rainy days shouldn’t be an issue.
The Nothing Ear (2024) sees a significant uptick in price. At ₹11,999, these are ₹2,000 more pricey than their predecessor, which will surely raise some eyebrows in the price-conscious Indian market. To that end, Nothing has fitted the Nothing Ear with pretty much every flagship feature you would hope to find on modern-day TWS earphones.
The Nothing Ear boasts Active Noise Cancellation that claims to cut out ambient noise up to 45 dB. The earphones are also capable of intelligently adjusting the ANC levels. For example, if the device detects an inadequate in-ear fit, it bumps up the ANC levels to compensate for it. The earbuds also come with Adaptive ANC support which can automatically detect environmental noise and apply the adequate levels of ANC.
All that being said, the Active Noise Cancellation on the Nothing Ear (2024) is one of the only major misses on these earphones, in my opinion. The ANC is simply incapable of blocking out high-frequency sounds such as a moving train or a high-speed fan. The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 do a much better job at this. The Transparency Mode, on the other hand, is decent – it sounds pretty natural too.
The Nothing Ear has a fantastic supporting app. The Nothing X app is minimalist, well-designed, and easy to use. It also provides a plethora of customization options. From adjusting noise cancellation profiles to customizing controls, there’s a lot you can do. You can customize every action except the single pinch one since that one is reserved for Play/Pause.
There’s also EQ customization onboard in two forms – a simplistic three-band EQ for beginners and an advanced eight-band EQ for experienced users. The advanced EQ page also allows you to adjust the Q factor and gain, which is a level of customization I haven’t experienced on consumer headphones so far.
There are an array of additional features such as in-ear detection, low-latency gaming mode, multipoint connectivity, Microsoft Swift Pair, wireless charging, and Google Fast Pair. The earbuds are rated IP54 dust and water-resistant while the case is rated IP55.
Another interesting feature is ChatGPT integration on the buds. When connected to a Nothing phone, the earbuds can interact with ChatGPT via voice. I tried this out by connecting the Nothing Ear to the Nothing Phone (2) and the experience of using ChatGPT was very smooth. It’s quite useful; for instance, I asked ChatGPT to narrate recipes I could follow along while in the kitchen, and it worked seamlessly.
The Nothing Ear (2024) features 11 mm ceramic drivers with support for 24-bit Hi-Res Audio with LDAC and LHDC high-quality codec support. The earphones also support the SBC and AAC codecs. The new ceramic diaphragm is engineered to deliver more clarity and sound accuracy, according to Nothing.
The sound quality on the new Nothing Ear (2024) is quite refined. The sound is slightly bass-biased, but it doesn’t sound muddy or boomy out of the box. Furthermore, a few tweaks to the equalizer in the app can lower the bass if you want a more neutral sound profile. For general users, especially the Indian audience that enjoys boosted bass, the earphones’ sound signature is near perfect.
There’s plenty of thump and gravitas in the low end while ensuring the mids are pristine and the highs have a good sparkle. Additionally, the soundstage is one of the widest in this price category, giving plenty of room for instruments to breathe. Instrument separation is also great; there’s minimal overlapping. With the LDAC codec active, the Nothing Ear gives tough competition to the OPPO Enco X2, which is currently one of the most neutral-sounding pairs of TWS earphones at this price range.
In our frequency graph test, we see that the Nothing Ear has a boost in the bass region from 20 Hz to 125 Hz, which gives it a warm sound profile. The highs are boosted around the 2.5-3 kHz mark to achieve a pleasant V-shaped sound signature. Overall, the sound signature of the Nothing Ear is pleasant and will appeal to most users. There are very low levels of distortion even at high volumes, making this an excellent option for music lovers.
As for call quality, the Nothing Ear houses three microphones per earbud assisted by Nothing’s Clear Voice Technology, which isolates your voice from ambient noise to ensure clear phone calls. The earbuds are fantastic for taking calls both indoors and outdoors. I was able to converse on the phone even in a crowded Mumbai local, which is known for being quite chaotic.
The Nothing Ear (2024)’s battery life shows some improvement over its predecessor, but it is still not close to the top dogs in this category. The Nothing Ear lasted us only 3 hours and 26 minutes with the LDAC codec and ANC active. In contrast, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 are more long-lasting, with the buds alone lasting over 5 hours on a single charge with ANC active. With the charging case, the Nothing Ear gave us a total playtime of 18.5 hours, not the best showing in the space.
However, the earbuds do have fast charging support. So, a quick 10-minute charge will get you about 10 hours of playtime, which is pretty good. The earphones also support Qi wireless charging, so if you have the Nothing Phone (2), you can use reverse wireless charging to top these buds up.
The Nothing Ear (2024) are an extraordinary pair of TWS earphones. Despite the mediocre ANC and battery life, these earbuds deliver a true flagship TWS experience. The sound quality and features more than justify their price, especially with industry-first features like ChatGPT integration with Nothing phones. The Nothing Ear (2024) marks the first step in Nothing’s grand plan to create a cohesive ecosystem of products that complement its smartphones.
However, even if you don’t own a Nothing smartphone, nearly all features are accessible through the Nothing X app on other smartphones. If battery life is your primary concern, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 might be a better option. For everything else, the Nothing Ear (2024) is one of the most well-rounded TWS earbuds available under ₹12,000.
