For some reason, putting a slender piece of plastic on in-ears has become both a fad and a feature in itself. There are usually several reasons for this, partly to balance the part in the ear and partly to avoid the part getting too big in the ear, like some Jabra, JBL, and B&W models. Then there are many people who like to press this small stick instead of directly pressing the in-ear part in the ear.
So now there’s the Nothing Ear (stick) which has a small stick like their predecessors but now they look more like Apple’s competition which probably makes more sense as I’m having a hard time seeing the big difference visually ie That said, except for the fact that there are no more silicone tips.
They’re well made, have a hardcore designed case, and the whole cylinder rotates for easy access, sort of like an insulin syringe and pill case combined, but it’s cool, looks super unique, just lacks wireless charging. Yes, there’s no wireless charging, though Nothings’ introductory Ear (1) cites it as a key selling point. strangeness.
Here is an ad:
The device itself doesn’t take up much space. This tiny 12.6mm device fits in a case that weighs just 4.4 grams and fits really well. However, instead of putting silicone around like the standard model, they just put a hard plastic shell. It works well though, and they fit well. Their battery life is less than 30 hours. I commute with them and bill them about every three weeks.
Nothing’s website is full of a lot of crap like “Technology often gets in the way” and then “Ears (sticks) take away those walls. It’s technology you don’t feel. So you experience everything else. Here I must point out , wireless charging isn’t the only thing missing, as the Nothing has also chosen to forego active noise cancellation, which is disastrous when you also don’t have a silicone tip and you’re charging less than £80 for the product.
The ear (Stick) actually sounds reasonable, and it comes with a pretty good app – however, Nothing’s own marketing says that I actually get more functionality if I use their particular phone, and this ” feature” I feel stupid, it makes me a potential buyer because I want what I pay for and I shouldn’t be forced to replace my phone to get the full benefits of a pair of in-ear headphones. In fact, it looks like their low-latency gaming mode is only supported when using the Nothing Phone, which may be important to many.
Here is an ad:
On the other hand, there’s little benefit in dropping specs, I can clearly see support for AAC and SBC, and the device itself is made of plastic on the good end. On the other hand, I’m surprised AptX was omitted, especially for the low-latency version, because then you’d probably get about a quarter of the latency that Nothing’s Gaming Mode offers – that is, if you have a Nothing phone. SBC offers less than a quarter of the latency of a CD, and AAC is actually worse, and then you probably won’t get LDAC, since that’s Sony’s standard, but at least you’d expect AptX HD in this price range.
The sound is a bit bassy, but otherwise good and clear, although it unsurprisingly lacks some clarity, so it’s hard not to notice some connectivity issues during calls, and there are far better options when it comes to call quality.
For everyday music and podcast playback, they’re acceptable, but I personally can’t live without active noise cancellation in a commuting lifestyle, and it might be worse if you have kids or live in a very noisy home. At £79.00, it’s a pretty significant feature, especially when there’s no passive noise cancellation, which is a shame because the design, case and battery life are all good.