Nothing 'Ear (1)' True Wireless Earbuds Launch to Take on AirPods Pro With ANC and Unusual Design for $99

[MacRumors]

Nothing, a new brand from OnePlus founder Carl Pei, has today officially launched the "Ear (1)" true wireless earbuds after months of anticipation around the company's AirPods Pro rival.

The Ear (1) features an in-ear design, Active Noise Cancelation, Bluetooth 5.2, IPX4 water resistance, and a charging case with Qi-compatible wireless charging and a USB-C port. Fast pairing is supported on Android devices only.

The ANC uses three microphones on each earbud and can be set to Maximum for loud environments, Light for quieter environments, and there is also a transparency mode for hearing the sound around you. During calls, the microphones are used to cancel out background noise.

The Ear (1) earbuds offer 5.7 hours of battery life with ANC turned off, and 34 hours of battery life when used with the charging case. This drops to four hours for the buds and 24 hours with the case with ANC switched on.

Each earbud can be controlled with tap and gesture controls, which can be customized with the accompanying app. The app also features EQ controls and Find my Earbud functions.

One of the most striking things about the earbuds is their unique design based around transparent plastic, which reveals some of the device's internal circuitry and magnets. Each earbud has a color-coded red or white circle to indicate the left and right ears.

Inside, the earbuds feature 11.6mm drivers. Nothing's hardware and software have been tuned by the well-known Swedish electronics company Teenage Engineering.

The Ear (1) earbuds cost $150 less than Apple's AirPods Pro, but offer many of the same features, such as a premium design, ANC, transparency mode, IPX4 water resistance, 24 hours of battery life with the charging case. Some features, like Bluetooth 5.2, three microphones per earbud, and earbud weight, are actually better than AirPods Pro, but they will of course lack Apple-specific features such as auto-pairing with the H1 chip. The Ear (1) earbuds are also cheaper than Samsung's $200 Galaxy Buds Pro.

In recent months, Nothing has undertaken an aggressive and secretive marketing campaign to build enthusiasm around its true wireless earbuds. Pei has previously said that the company plans to launch a connected ecosystem of new devices that will extend far beyond this initial product.

The Ear (1) earbuds will go on sale on August 17 in 45 countries, priced at $99 in the United States.

Article Link: Nothing 'Ear (1)' True Wireless Earbuds Launch to Take on AirPods Pro With ANC and Unusual Design for $99

 

[sniffies]

Meh, Nothing™ spectacular

 

[Serban55]

99$...lets see how it works....but i guess they will be inferior to the airpods pro

 

[afb8]

hey, if it lasts longer than a year w/o the ANC or mics crapping out, then it's better than the Airpods Pro.

 

[Shark5150]

A loss-leader product for Nothing? Probably.

 

[jk1221]

99$...lets see how it works....but i guess they will be inferior to the airpods pro

Gee who woulda thunk something that costs 2.5 times more is better.

Like comparing the performance of a BMW sedan to a Lamborghini. Not even in the same class due to price multiples.

 

[Art Mark]

Making things cheaper. That's one way to go. Better? Maybe, maybe not. And why is it 'taking on Apple' and not 'taking on Samsung' who also makes ear-bud-thingys and quite possible sells more of them than Apple?

 

[jk1221]

Making things cheaper. That's one way to go. Better? Maybe, maybe not. And why is it 'taking on Apple' and not 'taking on Samsung' who also makes ear-bud-thingys and quite possible sells more of them than Apple?

Just MR's take. If better than OG $150 Airpods or Beats Studio pods, then it's a "competitor" to those, sure.

I don't know why Airpods Pro was named at 2.5 times the cost. Not even a close competitor.

 

[Art Mark]

hey, if it lasts longer than a year w/o the ANC or mics crapping out, then it's better than the Airpods Pro.

You think all AirPods crap out in a year, or did you have that happen to you? And if they did crap out in under a year you can go to an Apple store and get another pair. Most likely even after a year. I've had products returned for less than that with no issue. BTW if you base your entire opinion on one experience that happened to you it may not be the best method for judging a product.

 

[ja']

what an extremely ****** website — that scroll ****ery is beyond stupid

you’d think someone catering to Apple customers would know better

 

[coredev]

Making things cheaper. That's one way to go. Better? Maybe, maybe not. And why is it 'taking on Apple' and not 'taking on Samsung' who also makes ear-bud-thingys and quite possible sells more of them than Apple?

Yes, that, especially since the no-buds seem designed to work well with Android phones, while Airpods are nicely integrated with the Apple eco system.

 

[eawmp1]

Ladybugs mating? I guess sex sells.

 

[calys]

if these have even somewhat close anc quality to the airpod pros, and half decent sound quality, these’ll be an amazing deal

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

I love the design. It's pretty unique.

Can't go wrong with the price either.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Same features as AirPods Pro, significantly less money, and yet everyone here has not seen or heard them first hand think they're crap. No bias here!

I think they look better than the AirPod Pro's and I like the price. I would have to listen to them and see how well they work for calls, etc.

 

[PieTunes]

I wonder if GLaDOS from Portal was the inspiration behind the design of these.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Ah yes, the very clear indicators for left and right ears, a red and a white dot.
Very simple: One goes into my red ear and one goes into my white ear. ?

 

[threesixty360]

What I find interesting is that do all these companies just reverse engineer apple technology because they have access to it in the factory? Or was apple always using off the shelf technology anyway?

I know sometimes they do that and just piece it all together (I.e. original iPod). But things like the Apple Watch dont seem to have been cloned.

Basically, how much technology is "taken" from companies during the build process overseas? And would it make sense to defend against that by building elsewhere?

 

[xmach]

These devices use Bluetooth 5.2, whereas the AirPods Pro use 5.0. What is the difference — how is 5.2 better/different, and are those differences relevant?

 

[JCCL]

You think all AirPods crap out in a year, or did you have that happen to you? And if they did crap out in under a year you can go to an Apple store and get another pair. Most likely even after a year. I've had products returned for less than that with no issue. BTW if you base your entire opinion on one experience that happened to you it may not be the best method for judging a product.

I’m on my third pair and my wife on the second. And one is already starting to rattle again.

so in my perspective, it was 100% failure rate. And since the 2year AppleCare coverage period is expiring, guess I’ll soon be left without working AirPods.

 

[dannyyankou]

The design is pretty cool, it reminds me of some wired in ear headphones I’ve seen like the Shure SE215

 

[one more]

Like comparing the performance of a BMW sedan to a Lamborghini. Not even in the same class due to price multiples.

Both cars would get you from point A to B just fine, the rest is just a commercial brand hype. ?

 

[noonas_the_mac_head]

Anyone know if it will integrate as well as the AirPods Pro (W1?)

 

[Gator5000e]

I guess that there will be no spatial audio or Listen Live features with these, if that is important to you.

 

[jmgregory1]

The price is good, battery life similar to others, so for some people it will come down to sound quality. I notice that they don’t talk about the one feature that makes the current AirPod Pros a must-have for me, and that’s the pressure equalization. I just can’t use in-ear buds for any kind of extended listening, if they create pressure on my eardrum.