The inaugural (1) earbuds weren’t, let’s face it, state of the art over substance.
Glossy images of Nothing’s futuristic semi-transparent units, with super cute bugs perched atop the case, suggest detailed quality and workmanship – and there’s no denying that due care was taken in its craft a look Good.
The feature set – including Nothing’s commendable new app – was even better, bringing Nothing Ear (1) Black Edition Bluetooth 5.2 and improved ANC to levels rarely seen at this price.
IPX4 splash prevention was also a nice touch, the little red dot on the right earbud made me wonder why other manufacturers don’t offer this minor decoration, but the sound quality is ultimately the make or break of a set of wireless headphones and here it’s still Nothing Ear (1) less One of the best wireless earbuds in terms of timing and neutrality across frequencies, as well as bass grip and accuracy.
I tested the original Nothing Ear (1) earbuds and found the audio performance to be far from perfect. Switch to Melomania 1 Plus from Cambridge Audio (currently available at a much lower price), the bass is more impactful and piquant, making the ear (1) feel completely comfortable and with poor timing. Despite its wideness, ear (1) is obese by the inferior registers and lacks precision in direct comparison.
Having said that, I really think there’s nothing in Carl Pei, and if the recently leaked (1) Stick Earbuds, dumped after the much-touted phone (1), are anything to go by. Goes on, a simple Pei can finally start targeting Apple’s AirPods — if only they could sort these key areas.
And I’m leaving the aforementioned sound quality aside – we’ve said everything we want to say there. let’s start.
1. Multipoint support
Although connectivity has been improved in the latest Black Edition update, thanks to the use of Bluetooth 5.2, you still can’t count on any multipoint support here – and the best noise-cancelling earbuds of 2022 (including the Honor 3 Pro earbuds) now offer the feature – And AirPods will seamlessly switch between any Apple source device you’re using at the time.
Certainly, as Nothing’s ecosystem grows, seamless switching from music on your Nothing’s phone to a meeting on Nothing’s tablet will be of paramount importance to busy professionals – as well as to the rest of us.
Also, there is currently no aptX/LDAC codec support for better quality streaming over Bluetooth, something we hope will come with the new Nothing earbuds.
2. Better transparency mode
Noise canceling in Nothing’s newer and updated earbuds is much improved, although it comes at the cost of battery life because you now only get about four hours on a single charge with ANC turned on and volume at a medium level.
But what needs to be made easier is the transparency profile – because it can be improved. Yes, cars and the sounds of passers-by are a little more accessible to the listener when using this mode (and without the worrisome wind tunnel effect, some budget-conscious proposals falter) but there’s certainly still room to tease out. Class leaders at the level – and here, we direct you towards the Sony WF-SP800N. (you are welcome).
3. EQ levels adjustable range
Right now, Acceptable Nothing only gives you “balanced”, “treble”, “more bass” or “voice” EQ settings – and during my testing, switching between these profiles sometimes resulted in a single earbud loss Its bluetooth connectivity (remember though, I tested the original 2021 version).
Moreover, even in the new updated Nothing Ear (1), these profiles cannot be modified manually.
The option to customize the sound to your liking with a three- or even five-band equalizer tab will probably raise the bar for your personal audio performance here significantly.
4. Better on-ear touch controls
The Ear (1) touch controls can be customized in the stylish Ear (1) app for iOS or Android devices, which features the same gorgeous digital font printed on the case and speaker stem.
Besides the two visible features, the option to turn off wearer detection and the handy Find My Earbud feature (which beeps from the earbuds, to make it easier to locate if a person falls under the back of the sofa, for example) you’ll see an image of the ear (1) over two bubbles:” Hear” and “Touch” – which is the “touch” tab I want to focus on right now, where you have the opportunity to customize what happens when you triple tap or long press on either earpiece.
I like its design so that triple tapping on the left buds skips the track backwards, three taps on the right skips forwards, and long presses between noise canceling profiles. Interestingly enough, a single tap does no job here, probably to avoid accidental track pauses when placed in your ears, but unfortunately, I found a double tap to play and pause tracks.
Plus, volume adjustments can be made by swiping up and down the stem of either earbud, but then again, that’s hard to do — especially without taking one of the earbuds out of my ear.
Well, at this level finding my phone to change playback isn’t a deal breaker, but if on-ear controls are included, it’s reasonable to expect them to at least work bone of time…
If you’re there, nothing, I can’t wait to test out the new earbuds (2), or whatever you might call it — I feel like we could really be something, you know?
