Nothing Ear (1) review: Good-looking earbuds with great sound output

Nothing Ear (1) is the first truly wireless (TWS) earbuds from OnePlus cofounder Carl Pei’s Nothing brand. The earbuds feature a transparent design, giving them a vibrancy lacking in other such earbuds in this price bracket. It has opted for a dual-tone design where the circuit boards, battery, chips, magnets in the bottom portion (the stem part) are clearly visible. The top oval half has a white finish. Its charging case is also transparent except the battery area, which is in white, just like the earbuds.

Nothing has tuned the earbuds to produce a balanced sound. The 11.6 mm drivers have a clear, loud and crisp output and offer good stereo separation as well. In fact, this is among the few TWS earbuds to come with good surround sound. The bass effect is decent though it may not be sufficient for hardcore bass heads. The Nothing Ear (1) also comes with active noise cancellation (ANC) in transparent mode.

It worked well at the metro station, in an autorickshaw and even while drilling work was going on in the neighbourhood. The call quality is crisp, with natural and clear sound even in noisy situations. App support for Ear (1) is available on both Android and iOS. It features equalisers, touch control customisations and more. The battery managed to deliver around 3.5 hours with ANC turned on and around 5 hours without. At a price tag of Rs 5,999, the TWS earbuds look good, offer ANC and great sound output as well as decent battery life.