Nothing has announced its first pair of open wearable stereo (OWS) earbuds that could be better suited for activities where you actually want to hear what’s going on around you. With a design that rests just inside your ear, the new Nothing Ear Open could also be a more comfortable alternative to earbuds that rely on silicone tips inserted into the ear canal.
The Nothing Ear Open join a growing trend in headphones where active noise cancelling technology is eschewed for a design that deliberately lets outside sounds in. Shokz’ headphones have long offered this through the use of bone conduction technology that keeps your ears completely open. In February, Bose introduced its $299 Ultra Open earbuds and positioned them as headphones that can be comfortably worn all day long, even at work. Nothing’s new Ear Open earbuds offer similar functionality but for $149.
Nothing’s previous models, the Ear and Ear (a) that debuted last April, offer a slight advantage in battery life with 8.5 and 9.5 hours, respectively, while ANC is turned off. But the Nothing Ear Open still manage eight hours on a full charge, or a total of 30 hours when occasionally docked and recharged inside a slim case that’s 19 millimeters thick. It lacks wireless charging, but Nothing says a quick 10-minute charge with a USB-C cable will provide two hours of listening.
That’s solid battery life given the Ear Open feature the largest 14.2-millimeter drivers Nothing has included in its earbuds to date, but with a directional design to help minimize sound leakage. Each earbud also includes a pair of microphones and Nothing’s latest noise-canceling technology (Clear Voice Technology 3.0) to help stop outside noises from muffling your voice during a call.
The Nothing Ear Open use a “three-point balance system” and a silicone ear hook to keep the earbuds securely positioned just inside your ears. At 8.1 grams each, the Ear Open are the company’s heaviest earbuds to date, but that hook will help spread the weight out across your ear. However, as The Verge’s Victoria Song discovered while reviewing the Shokz OpenFit Air, headphones with ear hooks can sometimes be difficult to wear with some styles of glasses when the arms and the hooks are competing for space atop your ears.
The earbuds use Bluetooth 5.3 with support for the AAC and SBC codecs, can connect to two Bluetooth devices and quickly switch between them, and offer a “Low Lag Mode” for gamers that’s automatically activated when Nothing Phone users are in Game Mode. When paired to other phones, the Low Lag Mode can be activated using Nothing’s mobile app, which also facilitates an integration with ChatGPT.
The Nothing Ear Open can be preordered in the US, Canada, and Europe starting on September 24th through the company’s website and will be available globally starting on October 1st.