Nothing is very clearly ramping up its product portfolio and ensuring the brand is available across price points as well as user preferences. It has now launched two new truly wireless earphones at price points that cater to different segments of users. I have used the Nothing (R) Ear and the Nothing (R) Ear (a) over the past few days. Here is what I think of the Nothing (R) Ear, the company’s new flagship earphones.
Nothing (R) Ear review
The Nothing (R) Ear is the predecessor of the original Nothing Ear and looks exactly the same. In fact, if you have the older model then you will need to put a sticker here to identify the new one.
Here is what I think of the Nothing (R) Ear, the company’s new flagship earphones. (Nandagopal Rajan / Express photo)
However, the audio quality is not exactly the same, as I discovered in the first few minutes of using the new Ear. And a lot of the credit for this mind-blowing introduction of this new earphone rests on Sushin Shyam’s amazing Lagoon Chill number and its bass-heavy start. The booming heartbeat in my ear took me back instantly to the beauty of the Kerala backwaters soaking under the bright full moon, an experience hard to recreate in other parts of the world.
However, the audio quality is not exactly the same. (Nandagopal Rajan / Express photo)
And since I had signed on to my son’s Spotify account by mistake on the Nothing Phone 2 (a) I was soon listening to Shark by Imagine Dragons, though this time with the Balanced preset on the X app. And the experience was really top notch, with the right mix of high and lows. The bass was moved a bit to the background, but you could still feel it there, very much so. Very few earphones can do this, layered so well.
As the Glyph lights on the phone synced to the beats of Save Your Tears, I was convinced this was a pretty neat all rounder that will appeal those who like all types of music.
The X app lets you customise the equaliser to exactly where you want it, again a level of precision very few apps will give you. In fact, not many venture into the 8-band territory like Nothing has. And for the gamers there is even a no-lag mode. Plus, there are multiple high-quality audio modes in the software which really makes this a good option for audiophiles on a budget.
The X app lets you customise the equaliser to exactly where you want it, again a level of precision very few apps will give you. In fact, not many venture into the 8-band territory like Nothing has. (Nandagopal Rajan / Express photo)
The transparent design earphones themselves are comfortable and easy to wear for long hours. You squeeze on the stem to control your playlist, play/pause or accept/reject a call. This takes a few minutes to master, but is smooth to use after that. The noise cancellation is pretty good, but maybe not best in class.
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At Rs 11,999, the Nothing (R) Ear is a good upgrade on what was already a pretty good truly wireless earphone option. It has a young vibe to it which will endear it to a lot of users and an attention to detail that is rarely found among manufacturers who are not purely focused on audio.
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