Following many teasers and a lot of hype, the Nothing Ear (1) earbuds are finally here. They offer premium features such as active noise cancellation (ANC) and a stand-out design to separate them from the pack at an affordable price tag.

Transparent design

Unlike any other true wireless pair of headphones, the Nothing Ear (1) sports a transparent square carrying case. The case has a golf ball-like dimpled finish with a dip to make it the perfect companion for fidgety users. Nothing claims all the design features you see here have purpose though.

For example, the dip is used to keep the earbuds secure. And the earbuds themselves have a few unique traits too. They are shaped like Apple’s Airpods Pro but with a flat stem and a dual-tone finish. You also find red and white dots on the earbuds to indicate right and left.

Sound controls and hardware

Making listening as comfortable as possible, the Nothing Ear (1) earbuds weigh just 4.7g and come with an IPX4 rating. They also come with customisable liquid silicon tips to ensure a good fit. You find 11.6mm drivers alongside three high-definition microphones on the exterior. The latter is used for ANC and noise suppression during calls.

To bolster core audio quality, Nothing has teamed up with Teenage Engineering. This allows for tuned audio and further gives you four preset options to choose from via the earbuds’ companion application, available on both iOS and Android.

For ease of use, the earbuds also support touch controls via its flat stem. You can double-tap to play/pause, triple-tap to switch tracks, tap-and-hold to switch between ANC modes and swipe up/down to control volume. There is also an option to customise triple-tap and tap-and-hold gestures using the companion application.

Connectivity and battery

The Nothing Ear (1) supports Google Fast Pair, in-ear detection and a Find My Earbuds feature in the companion application. It also comes with Bluetooth 5.2 and support for AAC and SBC codecs. As far as battery life is concerned, they can last up to 4 hours on a single charge with ANC enabled pushing up to 6 hours without ANC. The case provides an additional 24 hours (34 hours without ANC) of battery life. It also comes with wireless charging and fast charging support, with the latter providing 8 hours of battery with a 10-minute charge.

Pricing and availability

The Nothing Ear (1) is priced at $99 (Dh363.64). It will initially be available for purchase via Nothing’s official website on July 31 at 5PM UAE time. Open sales for the earbuds will begin on August 17 in 45 countries. While we do not have the full list of countries yet, seeing the UAE listed as a region on the official website makes us believe that they will be available for purchase locally. We will keep you updated as we learn more.