Nothing is a relatively new company which is aimed at changing the way humans interact with technology. Their first product which was recently released was the Nothing Ear 1 buds which had been rumored for a very long time.
Carl Pei, is the founder of The Nothing Company but what’s even more interesting about him is that he is also the Co-founder of One plus. Carl has been nicknamed as the master mind of hype because prior to the unveiling of the Nothing ear 1, he had been releasing small bits of information about these upcoming buds which would get everyone very excited.
But are these Buds really worth the hype? In this article, we are going to discuss a brief history about the Nothing company, then we will dive deep into the Nothing Ear 1 review and I will finally give you my thoughts on them.
Brief history about the Nothing company.
Nothing is a London based company which was officially announced late last year. (2020) Since then, the company’s CEO, Carl Pei has been teasing the designs of the Nothing Ear 1 which were just recently released and will be available globally starting from August 17th.
Carl Pei is the Co-founder of Oneplus which is a Chinese based smartphone company, a subsidiary of BBK electronics. Nothing’s main goal is to create a seamless boundary of interaction between humans and technology. With the new Nothing Ear 1 which had been long awaited, they have gone for a simple but futuristic transparent design where the electronic components can easily be seen.
Nothing partnered with Teenage Engineering, which is a Swedish consumer electronic company, which will be in charge of the Audio division of the Nothing Earbuds.
Design language.
Despite the relatively low price, Nothing has not compromised on the design of these earbuds. They have a sophisticated yet very simple design.
The transparent outline makes it aesthetically pleasing and most of all makes it stand out from the crowd. The white outline on the bud tips, the red Nothing logo and the transparent design all blend perfectly to bring out earbuds unlike anything in the market.
Sound Quality.
No matter how good the design or the materials are, it all boils down to the sound quality. At $99 you would expect average on the sound quality but these Nothing Ear 1 are well above average.
Especially since these are their first product, Carl and his team deserve a round of applause. Nothing made big claims of how their new earbuds would revolutionize the sound industry. I personally think that this was too big a claim especially since when compared to the Airpods which are the gold standard of compact earbuds, the Nothing Ear 1 are crushed just about in every category.
Nothing is set to battle the Airpods but I think it will take them a lot of time and effort before they catch up with Apple. The noise cancelling features of the Nothing Ear 1, are well above average especially for the price.
Nothing claims that the Ear 1 is able to block even wind noise travelling at 40 km/h or less. As with any noise cancelling Earbuds numerous microphones are needed in order to capture and neutralize incoming sound waves which in turn cancels out the surrounding noise to silence.
Other special features.
Transparency mode.
The nothing Ear 1 also contain a special feature known as Transparency mode. As you may have noticed with any earbuds, wired or wireless, most of the time you are not aware of your situation as you are more focused on what you are listening to.
Transparency mode claims to solve that issue. What transparency mode does is that it amplifies the noise in your surroundings so that you are more aware on what is happening in the real world while listening to your favorite music.
Water resistance.
Well, the Nothing Ear 1 are rated IPX4. This means that is should be able to handle light spills and sweat especially during workouts. For those who don’t know what these ratings mean let me explain briefly below. If you know you can continue reading the article.
IP stands for Ingression Protection which in simple terms means how well your device is good at repelling materials from getting into it’s internals. The first digit represents its ability to keep away small solids such as sand and dust while the second digit represents its ability to withstand liquids especially water.
The highest water-resistant rating is 8 while the highest in dust rating is 6. In high end phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, it’s rating is IP68 which means that it can repel small solid materials well and it can withstand being submerged in water which is 1 meter deep at a maximum of thirty minutes. It is also worth noting that the rating only covers fresh water as salty water can mess with certain electronic parts.
Longevity of the battery.
Nothing claims up to 4hrs 30min of listening time with Active noise cancellation turned on and 6hrs with Active noise cancellation turned off. These numbers are very promising. With the charging case, you can get up to 34hrs of listening time.
Final verdict.
The Nothing Ear 1 checks most boxes for me especially at that price point.
| Active Noise cancellation | It is inline with the competition. |
| Sound Quality | Decent Sound Quality |
| Design Language | Looks very futuristic |
| Battery Longevity | It is okay. |
| Water Resistance (IPX4) | Perfect. ( But note that they should not be submerged in water as they will get damaged. The IPX4 rating simply means that it can handle light spills and may be sweat during workouts) |
| Microphone quality | Above average. |
I would definitely recommend them to someone looking for earbuds especially at this price point. If you have some extra cash to spend, you can also check out other high end earbuds such as the Airpods or even the Galaxy buds pro. At the $99 price point you can also check out the Anker Sound Core Liberty Air 2 Pro.
Good article