Hands-on: Nothing Ear (open) fills a room with music that no one else can hear

Ben Schoon | Sep 24 2024 - 6:05 am PT

Open-ear headphones have always been alluring to me, but it’s an idea that’s hard to pull off in a pair of earbuds. With the new Nothing Ear (open), though, I’m remarkably impressed with their design and sound quality.

The last time I tried a pair of open-ear earbuds was in 2022’s Sony LinkBuds. Those earbuds accomplished the goal of ambient audio through a design that literally cut a hole in a traditional earbud. This worked wonderfully, but it could get very uncomfortable over extended listening sessions and would often fall out due to its friction fit, which ultimately led to me barely using them.

Still, it’s a concept I want to work very badly, and why I’m glad the brand that makes my (current) favorite earbuds, Nothing, has decided to take a stab at.

The Nothing Ear (open) take the same route as brands like Anker Soundcore and JBL for open-ear fit, with a wraparound silicone “ring” that goes around the back of your ear. This is a weird concept at first, but I quickly came to enjoy it. The “ring” sits comfortably behind my ear and spreads out the 8.1g weight of each earbud – roughly double that of a normal earbud – to the point where I can wear these for about as long as I wish. It’s only after about 2 hours that I begin to feel any discomfort, and even then a quick adjustment solves the problem.

There’s also zero pressure within my actual ear itself, too, which is nice. The design here has the speaker basically hovering right outside of the ear canal, which leaves plenty of room for outside noise to come in while also being placed just right to let that music come into your ears.

I did find that finding the right position was tricky. There’s a “sweet spot” for the audio quality, where the speaker is perfectly aligned to sound the best, and it’s a narrow alignment. Over continued use, though, I’ve found that I’ve gotten better at finding that spot.

The case the earbuds sit in is an odd one, but the best of a tough situation. Since the wraparound “rings” have to go somewhere, the case is thin and elongated. This means it might not fit in your pocket quite the same as a traditional pair of buds, but the thinness helps it not feel too cumbersome. The magnets used to keep the case closed and keep the buds in place also have just the right amount of strength and I’ve loved the “snap” that comes from dropping the buds into the case.

My sole critique? Why is there no wireless charging? The case itself seems more than big enough to fit it.

But that’s enough about the hardware, what about the audio quality?

Put simply, it’s excellent. The easiest way to explain it quickly that I’ve found is that wearing the Nothing Ear (open) just feels like you’re in a room with some great speakers, but speakers that only you can hear. Multiple times while wearing these I’ve instinctually lowered the volume on my phone thinking that the earbuds had failed to connect.

Despite the open-ear design, though, the earbuds don’t lack when it comes to the actual quality of the sound. There’s plenty of range with surprisingly good lows. In some songs, you’ll still get that impact from bass, it’s just not as strong as a normal pair of earbuds that have a proper seal.

This open-ear design is not for everywhere, of course. I find myself enjoy it just at my desk, as it lets me jam out without disturbing my wife or anyone else in the house while keeping me aware of my surroundings, and even able to still hear audio from another phone, my computer, or the TV. They’d also be great for a coffee shop or just walking around town. A place they’re obviously not ideal would be on an airplane, though, as these absolutely do no get loud enough to overcome that level of ambient noise. The subway would be equally rough for these.

On the software side of things, the Nothing X app is used for an equalizer and updates. I found the default “Balanced” preset to sound great, though I felt the additional lows from the “More Bass” preset made these sound more like normal earbuds and less like speakers in the room. But you can also fully customize the audio through the “Advanced” equalizer settings to suit your tastes.

The app also shows you how controls work. Pinch-responsive touch pads on both earbuds act as controls for play/pause, skipping trackers, answering/declining calls, and even adjusting the volume through a long-pinch on either side. These work well, but the pinch gesture is a little less ideal given the narrow “ideal” alignment of the earbuds. I really liked Sony’s futuristic fix for this on the LinkBuds where you could just tap your skin, but Nothing’s solution gets the job done well enough.

Nothing Ear (open) are available for pre-order starting today and ship on October 1. Their $149 price tag puts them a bit more affordable compared to some open-ear options out there, but they’re still not cheap. For earbuds that you can’t use in some common situations, that means you’ll have to decide just how much the situations where you can use these will be worth. For me, these have solved the problem of good, ambient audio better than others I’ve tried, so I’m excited to continue using them.

What do you think?