Nothing’s latest semi-transparent noise-cancelling earbuds have a new trick up their sleeves: a high-quality mic in the case that you can push a button to talk into.
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This so-called Super Mic is designed for all those who want a microphone-in-the-hand experience for clearer conversations, recordings and voice notes in noisy environments. For those who talk into the bottom of their phone out in front of them, these are the earbuds for you.
But this case upgrade has also upped the price, with the Ear 3 costing £179 (€179/$179/A$299) – £50 more than their predecessors cost at launch. They still undercut top rivals but have edged much closer to the likes of the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 and Apple AirPods Pro 3.
The magnets and other details visible through the casing of the earbuds add a little interest to the design. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The Ear 3 still have Nothing’s signature semi-transparent design, with lots of little design elements to set them apart from rather more boring buds, but some of the plastic has been swapped for aluminium for a more shiny look.
The shape of the earbuds has been tweaked to be slightly more comfortable over extended listening sessions. They are light, fit securely and create a good seal in my ears. The stalks have squeeze controls for playback, noise cancelling, volume or your voice assistant. They are a little limited but can be customised and work well enough.
The buds slot into the square flip-top case for charging, which is pretty compact but quite weighty this year. The battery lasts a solid six hours of playback, with noise cancelling between charges in the case for a total of at least 22 hours. The case charges via USB-C in a little over an hour or about two via Qi wireless charging.
Press and hold the ‘Talk’ button on the case for the Ear 3’s Super Mic party trick, playing a little tone in the earbuds as the mic activates. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The earbuds have reasonable mics in them, which sound a little robotic at times but do a good job of cutting out background noise. The Super Mic sounds better, with more body and less compression making it great for voice notes, transcription or calls. But the audio quality isn’t quite good enough for use as a lapel mic or similar device for creating recordings.
Specifications
Water resistance: IP54 (splash resistant)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4 (SBC, AAC, LDAC)
Battery life: 5.5h with ANC (22h with case)
Earbud dimensions: 30.5 x 21.5 x 20.8mm
Earbud weight: 5.2g each
Driver size: 12mm
Charging case dimensions: 56 x 55.5 x 22.3mm
Charging case weight: 61g
Case charging: USB-C
Good sound and decent noise cancelling
The earbuds come with three sizes of silicone tips for a comfortable fit and good seal. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The earbuds support Bluetooth 5.4 with the standard SBC and AAC audio formats, plus the higher-quality LDAC format for those Android phones that support it. They can also connect to two devices at once, but doing so caused the Super Mic to be less responsive.
Nothing’s previous earbuds have always sounded great for the money, with a good easy-listening sound, plenty of detail and solid separation of tones. The Ear 3 continue the trend but have a bigger sound overall with quite a lot of bass out of the box. It is nice and controlled without overriding the rest of the range, but the excellent Nothing X companion app on your phone has plenty of customisation options for those who want something a little more subtle.
The noise cancelling does a decent job dampening the general background noise and low rumbles of the commute, and manages the troublesome higher tones such as keyboard taps or chatter better than previous Nothing earbuds. But they can’t muster the same level of noise cancelling of the best earbuds, such as the slightly more expensive AirPods Pro 3.
The transparency mode is also pretty good, sounding quite natural, but neither mode can handle wind noise very well.
Sustainability
One of the mics in the case is next to the USB-C charging port, with an LED that lights up in green when the mic is active. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Nothing says the batteries in the earbuds and case will maintain at least 80% of their original capacity for 500 full charge cycles. The earbuds are not repairable but individual out-of-warranty replacements are available through service.
The case contains recycled aluminium and tin, but Nothing does not offer trade-in. It estimates the earbuds’ carbon footprint to be 2.87kg.
Price
The Nothing Ear 3 cost £179 (€179/$179/A$299).
For comparison, the Ear cost £119, the Headphone 1 costs £299, the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 cost £219, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro cost £219 and the Apple AirPods Pro 3 cost £219.
Verdict
Nothing has tried something I’ve never seen before in a set of earbuds, sticking a mic and push-to-talk button into the charging case. It is a novel idea and would be ideal for an interview or videomic replacement. Unfortunately, the mic isn’t quite up to those standards.
But for those of us who are not content creators, it works well for calls, recording voice memos or speaking to your phone’s AI assistant, almost like a modern version of a dictaphone for your phone. I just can’t see myself using it very often.
The earbuds themselves are another great set from Nothing, which combine good sound, reasonable noise cancelling, solid battery life and a comfortable fit into something much more interesting to look at than your usual boring buds.
The price rise into the £180 range pushes them perilously close to some of the very best earbuds in the business, to which they can’t quite hold a candle. And like so many others, the earbuds cannot be repaired, losing them a star.
Pros: Super Mic, interesting design, good sound and noise cancelling, comfortable fit, solid controls, Bluetooth 5.4 with multipoint, great cross-platform app, good battery life.
Cons: disposable, pricier than predecessors, case quite heavy, Super Mic not quite good enough for a full mic replacement, noise cancelling struggles with louder environments.
The Nothing Ear 3 are a good-looking set of earbuds with a party trick or two. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
