Nothing Ear, Ear (a) launched with ChatGPT integration and more

Nothing kicked off 2024 by launching the Nothing Phone (2a) as well as the CMF Buds and Neckband Pro. After doing rounds in the rumour mills for months now, the brand has finally taken the wraps off its latest audio products – the Nothing Ear (a) and a premium Nothing Ear. Here’s all you need to know about them. 

Nothing Ear: Features and key specifications

Both the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a) sport the classic Nothing design language we’ve all come to know and love over the years. Look closer though, and the differences between the two internally, become apparent. 

The Nothing Ear is the company’s third and latest flagship audio offering. And for the first time, it has dropped the suffix, which the Nothing Ear (1) and Nothing Ear (2) had. The Nothing Ear features a new 11mm custom dynamic driver, which gets a ceramic diaphragm, which the company says, provides for clearer, crisper sound. The Nothing Ear is Hi-Res certified as well and supports LHDC 5.0 as well as LDAC standards as well. 

ALSO READ: CMF Buds, Neckband Pro launched with ANC, Spatial Audio Effect

The Nothing Ear gets a new ‘Smart ANC’ algorithm, which adapts to the ambient sounds around a user and can cancel out noise by up to 45dB. This, in addition to guaranteeing an immersive experience while listening to music, also ensures noise is also drowned out during calls, ensuring crisp audio quality for both, the speaker and the listener. Nothing claims it has reduced interference on calls by up to 60 per cent, compared to the Nothing Ear (2). 

Battery life on the Nothing Ear is rated at around a day-and-a-half with ANC turned off, with the charger. When it comes to just the buds on their own, they can last up to 8.5 hours at a stretch with ANC turned off. The 500mAh case of the Nothing Ear Buds also supports fast charging, with 10 minutes of charging via a USB Type-C port providing for as much as 10 hours of playback. There’s also an IP54 water resistance rating on the Nothing Ear, whereas the charging case gets an IP55 rating. 

Nothing Ear (a): Features and key specifications

The Nothing Ear (a), according to how the company describes it, is essentially an improvement on the company’s erstwhile flagship audio offering, the Nothing Ear (2), rather than a full-fledged new audio product. The Ear (a) gets 11mm drivers as well, and a new internal design which the company claims, gives the Ear (a) a bump in power from the Ear (2) by up to 2.5 times. The Nothing Ear (a) is hi-res certified as well and supports LDAC, AAC, and SBC codecs. The Ear (a) also gets the same adaptive ANC capabilities up to 45dB, as the Nothing Ear does. 

ALSO READ: Nothing Phone (2a) is the company’s latest midrange smartphone: Here are five features to look out for

Battery life on the Nothing Ear (a) stands at 24.5 hours with the case, and up to 5.5 hours on a single charge without the case, again, with ANC turned off. The Nothing Ear (a) gets an IP54 water resistance rating for the buds. The case though, gets only an IPX2 rating. 

Both, the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a) support Microsoft Swift Pair as well as Google Fast Pair, and a Find My Earbuds function too, via the Nothing X app. 

Speaking of Nothing X, what’s cool is, you can also adjust the equaliser settings to tailor the sound output on the TWS earbuds to your preferences, and create “profiles” that save those settings, according to different genres. And these can then be shared or imported across devices, via a QR code. 

That’s not the coolest bit, though. Get this. The new Nothing Ear and Ear (a) get a ChatGPT integration. Yes, Nothing is jumping on the AI bandwagon too. When connected to the Nothing Phone (2), you can access ChatGPT via a voice command. What’s more, the feature is also coming to the Nothing Ear (1) and Nothing Ear (2) soon, and the Nothing Phone (1) and Phone (2a) will also support the feature via an upcoming software update. 

Nothing Ear, Ear (a): Pricing and availability 

The Nothing Ear and Ear (a) are both available in the classic Nothing Black and White colourways. The Nothing Ear (a) however, also comes in a rather playful yellow colour as well, sporting the classic Nothing design language we all know and love. 

The Nothing Ear is priced at Rs 11,999, whereas the Ear(a) is priced at Rs 7,999 and caters to those looking for a premium pair of earbuds without spending too much. Both these earbuds can be purchased from Nothing’s website as well as all other major e-commerce portals and partner retail outlets across the country.