After spending a few weeks with Nothing Ear (3a), I can say with confidence these are the best earbuds you can buy for $99, and I’d choose them over a whole host of other options that cost twice as much.
Rewinding back to 2024’s Nothing Ear (a), the template set was a pair of more affordable earbuds without compromising on design, sound quality, or core features. And they nailed it. While I largely gravitated to the higher-end model that year due to the lack of EQ on the cost-conscious option, Nothing Ear (a) have remained my #1 recommendation for earbuds ever since.
Until now.
Put simply, Nothing Ear (3a) pick up where that model left off, while also upping the ante by a considerable margin.
On the design front, it’s the same story. Nothing’s transparent aesthetic shines through, and the new pink colorway is pretty stunning – though you can still opt for black, white, or yellow. The case itself is also smaller than Nothing’s flagship earbuds, Nothing Ear (3), which feels better in my pocket. Throw in that the shape of the earbud fits perfectly in my ear for hours of comfortable wear, and these are a win across the board for me.
Notably, that case also picks up a new feature with not one, but a trio of LED lights used for indicating battery life and pairing status. It’s a nice touch, especially given so many earbuds are still out there without an indicator light or pairing button at all. The pairing button on these earbuds is also directly under the cover, and Fast Pair support on Android makes these a great choice for moving between devices on the fly.
Rounding out the hardware, there’s the battery life. I’m easily able to use the earbuds for 3-5 hours without draining them dry, which is about all I’d ever ask for in a single go. The case and earbuds together pack up to 42 hours of battery life, and that about lines up with my usage. Something like 20 hours of use took the case to around 45%, and I’ve not had to think about it once in the weeks since I topped them off before a long week of travel. There’s no wireless charging in the case, but you’ll need to fill the battery so infrequently that it shouldn’t matter.
But, of course, the main thing to talk about here is sound quality.
It’s excellent.
Nothing Ear (3a) sound pretty great out of the box. They’re not nearly as neutral as the prior generation, but they’re right up there with Nothing Ear (3) in balancing the bass just enough to make for an enjoyable experience. And this time around you can tweak it, with an EQ in the Nothing X app that supports not only a few presets like the prior generation, but a fully customizable set of sliders to really dial in the output to your tastes. I ended up sticking with the “Balanced” EQ, but it’s really nice that Nothing offers full control this time around.
As far as noise cancellation goes, they’re good enough. Not the best I’ve tried, nowhere close to over-ear options, but plenty for a quick connection hopper flight or drowning out your surroundings on a train or just a busy public area.
The only other thing to talk about is “Audio Snapshot,” a feature that uses the onboard storage on Ear (3a) to effectively take a screenshot of whatever you’re hearing. This doesn’t work for voice notes, but rather can record a clip of whatever you’re listening to, including voice calls. It’s a neat idea, but one that, I’ve got to be honest, I found absolutely no value in. Call recording is probably the most useful option, but I do find it weird that the audio quality of the snapshot is much worse than what you heard through the actual earbuds. It doesn’t make much sense given this is just a recording of a digital audio source, no microphones in the way, but it does put a damper on the utility. Again, I think it’s really call recording that makes this useful, especially since “Audio Snapshot” integrates with Nothing’s AI services for transcription. It defaults to 30 seconds, but can be expanded up to 60 seconds. You can also enable a feature that lets you record up to 30 seconds prior to starting the snapshot, which could be very useful for those “I wish I’d recorded that” moments, but Nothing does warn this drains your battery more quickly.
I spent a while trying to figure out the best way to position these earbuds. It’s easy to say they’re the best option for $99. It’s easy to say they compete with more expensive options at a fraction of the price. But, honestly, I think there’s a simpler way to describe them.
Nothing Ear (3a) are quite possibly the best earbuds.
No qualifiers, no caveats. Just the best earbuds you can buy right now.
Go get a pair, you won’t regret it.
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