Nothing Ear Open Review

Nothing recently launched its first-ever open-ear buds, the Nothing Ear (Open), which retails for $150. As the company’s debut open-ear buds, they’re not too bad. Sure, there were things Nothing could have done better, but the fact that I’ve been alternating between just these and the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 for the past couple of weeks (even outside of my review window) is clearly a good sign. 

My experience with the Nothing Ear (Open) has mostly been about convenience and reliability rather than sound. I’ve turned to these more for on-the-go usage, which is more than half of my earbud usage in general. These have also been my podcast and long catching-up calls buds while doing chores around the house, which means they’ve undergone a fair amount of dust and splashes of water. 

The sound on these buds was far from the star of the show for me. The buds’ fit worsened the situation, owing to a lot of sound leakage and an overall loose design. It’s nothing that’s too unpleasant to put up with, but it’s not even close to what an audiophile would want out of their buds. 

Nothing Ear (Open) Review: Design

Nothing claims the case for the Nothing Buds is the slimmest on the market at just 19mm and 62.4 grams. I’m not sure if slimmer cases exist, but this one’s definitely up there in the most inconspicuous cases I have ever come across. It easily slid into the tiny pocket outside my tote bag and in my jeans’ front pockets. The buds weigh 8.1g each which is heavy for regular in-ear buds but not bad for running buds with bands that go over your ears. 

The buds are housed in transparent casing, typical of Nothing products, like the Nothing Phone 2a, with a gorgeous transparent enclosure. They’re marked with colored dots that are color-coded with their respective sockets in the case, which makes docking them much less of a hassle. The buds are all plastic, with aluminum bulbs at the end, and silicone bands that go over your ears but never pull at your hair. 

Nothing Ear (Open) Review: Controls

A single button on both buds handles everything, including play/pause (single click), skipping or rewinding songs (double and triple click, respectively), and volume (long tap and hold). A single press also accepts/ends calls. All the controls are customizable on the Nothing X app, though the app is only compatible with iOS and Android. The button is more of a force sensor that you pinch—like the one on the AirPods Pro—except it has its own dedicated space (a little groove of sorts) as a demarcated boundary, so it’s easier to locate it. 

While playback is usually handled well on earbuds, I’ve always judged volume controls on a separate scale since they’re mostly complex. On the Nothing Ear (Open), you press and hold the right earbud to turn the volume up and the left bud to turn it down. For most of my review period, I found this control pretty easy to use. The only issue was that, because of the hold gesture, I couldn’t tinker volume as accurately as I would with controls offering precise increments. Sometimes, I’d want to raise the volume by two points, but it would go up by three, which is far from a deal breaker. I was just happy about having easily navigable onboard volume controls. 

The playback controls on the Nothing Buds are planned perfectly, but the irritating button makes navigating them quite difficult. The button may be easy to locate, but it has extremely short travel, and you often can’t tell if it’s been pressed successfully. I found skipping and rewinding tracks to be the most difficult gesture because of the problematic button. It’s bothersome to use because it doesn’t work like a force sensor does on an AirPods stem, which you can press by bringing your thumb and forefinger together. It has a similar feel and travel, except it’s placed in a position that isn’t navigable by your thumb and forefinger, leading to a weird hybrid between a force sensor and a button. 

Nothing Ear (Open) Review: Fit

I’m an avid hook earbuds user. Cleer’s Arc II are one of my go-to earbuds for podcasts, calls, and music. However, extended periods of wearing them do reveal their weaknesses in terms of weight and form factor. The Nothing Ear (Open) completely changed that for me. I wore these for hours and often forgot that I was wearing them. In fact, when I briefly reverted back to the Cleer Buds during my review, I realized how bulky those were compared to these. The band that goes over your ear on the Nothing Ear (Open) has an almost negligible form factor. It is extremely thin, sleek, and lightweight. Resembling a thin wire, it sits on the top of your ear and protrudes into a small bulb behind your ear. Unlike the one on the Oladance OWS 2, the bulb is as trimmed down and petite as it can be to balance the weight of the part of the bud sitting inside your ear. 

That said, the thin wire does carry its fair share of cons, too. Since it barely features any weight, it’s easily movable by your hair and glasses. I often accidentally flung one of the buds while fixing my hair and had to constantly readjust every time I pushed my hair behind my ears. I would still prefer these over the Cleer Buds during a run, for instance, since I’m not going to be fixing my hair too often then. I found this ideal for podcasts and calls, as well, because I would rather give my earbuds a quick readjustment every 15 minutes than deal with ear fatigue on slightly heavier hook earbuds.

However, my biggest gripe with the Nothing Ear (Open) was how it sits inside your ear. At its natural position, it would always hang slightly outside of my concha. I always had to manually adjust its fit and tighten the earpiece inside my ears so it would come tightly snug to my ears. A few minutes into the adjustment, though, it would revert to its initial position, dangling slightly outside my ear. I spent most of my review period letting it hang since the band still ensured the buds didn’t completely plop out. It was mostly during podcasts and calls that I would tighten their fit because it’d be difficult to make out people’s voices, and when I’d listen to music around people and didn’t want sound leakage. 

Nothing Ear (Open) Review: Sound

The Nothing Ear (Open) features 14.2mm dynamic drivers that are considerably bigger than the standard (mostly) eight to 12-inch drivers found on most wireless earbuds this size. Driver size primarily affects bass intensity. However, despite the bumped-up drivers on these, you can’t expect punchy bass on open earbuds. Since they’re not sitting right inside your ear canal and are, instead, lightly resting right outside, they suffer from significant sound leakage that especially manifests itself in poor bass. This is an old issue associated with open earbuds and one that companies are eagerly trying to fix. The new tech used in Shokz’ latest running buds is a great example. Still, I’ve experienced better low-end on similar open earbuds, but the Nothing Ear (Open) had negligible bass due to its extremely loose fit.

Treble managed to make its way through, and the mids were fairly decent, too. There’s no ANC on these buds, which is a common open earbuds feature, with the latest Apple AirPods 4 being an example of an exception.

Personally, I enjoyed the Nothing Ear (Open) more for its convenience, reliability, battery life, and form factor than for its sound. They worked perfectly for podcasts and calls at home since audio quality is less of a demand there, and because I found it easy to wear them for extended periods. But whenever I needed a good music session, I found myself picking up the Pixel Buds Pro 2 lately.

It’s annoying that I couldn’t even make these my go-to podcasts and call earbuds because they slightly underperformed outside the house. With loud ambient noise and no ANC, I sometimes couldn’t make out my caller’s voice or would skip a few seconds of my podcast. This was only an issue when the streets became unusually loud or when a firetruck or ambulance would be passing by. I remember pausing my content every time I’d pass by a live music performance at Union Square on my way to work because I knew these buds wouldn’t be able to overpower that, and I’d simply lose a few seconds of my content. With regular outdoor noise, you’ll likely be fine, as I was for most of my review period.

Nothing Ear (Open) Review: Battery and Water Resistance

You’re looking at about six and eight hours of battery life on the buds (talk time vs. playtime) and 24 or 30 hours on the case. I’ve been using the Nothing Ear (Open) for a few weeks for podcasts, calls, and music and have only had to charge them once on the weekends. Talk time drains the battery much faster than music, and I’m on the phone a lot, so the battery life has been really impressive so far. During my entire weeks-long review period, I found them ready with juice every single time I reached for them. 

A solid red light indicates a low charge, a blinking white light shows the buds are being charged, and a solid white light means they’ve been fully charged. They recharge in less than an hour and do not support wireless charging.

The Nothing Ear (Open) offers multipoint connectivity for up to two devices, which means they can connect to any two of your devices (phone and laptop, for instance) at the same time. With an IP54 dust and water rating on the buds, I wouldn’t take them in the shower but would be pretty comfortable using them around the pool. I used them with dripping wet hands in the kitchen often and in the washroom around the sink, and they’ve been holding up pretty fine so far. 

Nothing Ear (Open) Review: Verdict

I developed a weird love-hate relationship with the Nothing Ear (Open). They’re so light and comfortable to wear for extended periods that I barely took them off throughout my review window, but whenever I’d sit at Washington Square Park after work to unwind with some good music, these wouldn’t be my buds of preference. I liked that these buds catered to my fast, busy life. They offer easily navigable onboard volume controls, a battery that lasts days, and impressive endurance against water and dust. But they couldn’t deliver an enjoyable music experience. This was mainly because of their poor fit coupled with the on-ear design. I see myself using these as chores earbuds, the handy go-to device you reach out for when you need to quickly listen to something to accompany your cooking.