Nothing Ear (a) review: Proof you don't need expensive earbuds

Nothing has made a name for itself by offering great value and daring product designs. That continues with a new addition to their Ear lineup, the Nothing Ear (a). Launched alongside the Ear (Nothing dropped numeric designations this year), Nothing Ear (a) is the successor to the Ear (Stick) and Ear (1). The Ear (2024) is designed for serious audio enthusiasts, while the Ear (a) was built with the everyday listener in mind.

In addition to the black and white colorways of previous Ear models of the past, 2024 gets a striking new yellow Nothing Ear (a) and matching case. Although, unlike its big sibling Ear, this case is USB-C charging only, although it is smaller than previous-gen designs, with an updated interior layout.

"Low" price, Hi-Res

Let's get right to it, shall we? Nothing's Ear (a) has really solid sound reproduction at only $99. I listened to them using the supported LDAC codec, connected to a Pixel 7 Pro, streaming music from Tidal, and playing locally stored FLAC files through VLC media player. I listened to everything from Paul Simon to Art Blakey to Gravediggaz and threw in some EDM and Trap to test that sub-bass. 

Everything I threw at them sounded wonderfully layered and nuanced using the default Balanced equalizer setting. Sub-bass has a resonance that bass heads will revel in, while acoustic music like Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes and Art Blakey's Moanin' were also delightful to listen to. I was surprised by the size of the soundstage in Paul Simon's Diamonds track for sub-$100 TWS earbuds; any earbuds, actually. Even some premium earbuds can fall short of producing such an airy image.

My only issue is with the higher-end frequencies in wailing electric guitars. With the default Balanced EQ, tracks from Sylosis and Gojira are shrill. That's easily fixed with an EQ adjustment if thrash metal is your genre of choice. 

The Ear (a) has a Low-latency option in the well-designed Nothing X app, but after watching "Saving Private Ryan" and "Blue Eye Samurai," it wasn't needed. The dialogue was crisp and clear, foley effects were present, and sound design elements like explosions in the D-Day beach scene or the taiko drums in the second "Samurai" episode, "An Unexpected Element," had all the punch and resonance you'd want.

Making something out of Nothing

I appreciate the attention to detail in so many small choices that Nothing makes with its products. For example, instead of looking for the L or R on your earbuds so you can orient them properly when placing them back in their case, they have a red dot on the right earbud and a white one on the left. In the case, you'll find corresponding red and white dots. Easy. Then, when listening to music and changing noise canceling modes, instead of figuring out and then remembering which chime means ANC or Transparency mode is activated, there's the distinctive sound of someone exhaling, signifying that you're in Transparency mode.

The Nothing X app is easy to navigate and manages to give you a lot of features without feeling overwhelming. For those who love bass, the Equalizer and Bass Enhance menus offer multiple options for increasing low-frequency response. The latter allows you to adjust lows with five levels of tuning.

Nothing says the Ear (a) suppresses up to 45dB of noise. Your situation may not require that level of noise mitigation, so the Noise Control menu in the Nothing X app gives you high, medium, and low options for ANC. There's also an Adaptive option that automatically chooses one of those three modes based on your environment's ambient noise. The ANC isn't the most robust I've experienced on a pair of earbuds, but it quiets enough noise that you don't have to pump tunes extra loud to drown out the noise you're trying to cancel.

Sitting in front of 75dB of airplane cabin noise, the Ear (a) did a good job with low frequencies while allowing more higher-end frequency through. To be fair, the noise canceling is on par with my previous top choice for sub-$100 earbuds, the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC.

If you fancy yourself a "gym rat," you'll likely want to add some Comply foam ear tips to the mix so that the Ear (a) feels more locked in. They didn't fall out when exercising, but sweating makes them shimmy out of your ear canal. No worries about heavy sweating, as the buds are IP54 rated (beach-goers rejoice), while the case is IPX2 rated. Ear (a) is one of the few TWS products on the market with both water resistance and dust ingress ratings and a case that is also water resistance rated at any price point.

And as a note, I'll point out that Airpods Pro-style earbuds generally don't fit my ears well. However, a first for this style, Nothing Ear (a) work well without needing Comply foam ear tips to keep them seated properly.

The transparency mode sounds natural, and wearing the Ear (a) during my 2.5-mile jaunts around the neighborhood, I could hear cars and other sounds easily. Wearing them at work, I can carry on conversations effortlessly while keeping them in my ears.

Using Transparency mode has an effect on audio frequency response, losing some of the richness of the sound, but that's what the Nothing X app's Equalizer and Bass Enhance menus are for. I set up a custom EQ for Transparency listening. You can't name it and save multiple EQs, but your settings are persistent, so you can move to one of the presets for ANC and then go back to Custom for Transparency mode.

For those who will buy, my current preferred setup is the EQ set to Balanced with the Bass Enhance set to On, Level 1.

With regard to call quality, those mics will sound better in quieter environments and a bit muffled out on the streets, where they actively filter out most urban noise. Despite that, their "out here in these streets" sound quality was still quite audible and easy to hear.

Missing one thing

For $99, these Bluetooth 5.3 TWS earbuds also include multipoint pairing, in-ear detection, a low latency mode, and an ear tip fit test. The pinch-based controls offer a lot of customization for playback and phone calls. They're responsive, and for those who like physical controls, you won't be disappointed in daily use. 

There's no wireless charging support in this package. Nothing saved that for the more expensive Ear 2024 model, but the case holds a hefty recharge amount, providing 42.5 hours with ANC off and 24.5 hours with it on. You'll get rapid charging for the case when you deplete that 500mAh battery, so 10 minutes of case charging will give your earbuds 10 hours of playback (ANC off).

Rated for 5.5 hours of continuous playback with ANC on, I drained them in five hours with mixed-use. That included 13 minutes on a phone call, 45 minutes of transparency mode during my walk through the neighborhood, and every feature activated that warns you it will deplete the battery faster when you turn it on, including LDAC support and multipoint.

Nothing to sneeze at!

One of the greatest compliments I've received as a tech journalist is that folks can tell through my videos and articles that I really enjoy technology. That's the vibe I get from Nothing in its design decisions and attention to the "little things." This is a group of folks who seemingly love what they do, and that shines through in the Nothing Ear (a). 

Sure, these buds won't win any ANC awards, and wireless charging would be nice. Still, the most important aspect of a pair of Bluetooth TWS earbuds is how they sound, and with Hi-Res Audio LDAC support, coupled with Nothing's tuning and driver architecture, the Ear (a) delivers a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience and looks rather fetching while doing so.

In the process, it proves you don't need to spend hundreds to get great sound, an easy-to-use, feature-rich app, and head-turning looks! I highly recommend checking out Nothing Ear (a) when you're looking for a new pair of earbuds.