Nothing Ear (3) hands on — third time's a charm

Nothing has refreshed its Ear lineup for its third iteration, offering the most advanced specs and its name-brand style in a small, but loud package. The Ear (3) is here to replace last year's Nothing Ear (2), inviting several improvements in battery, design, and ANC.

Leading the updates to its design is a new Super Mic feature, which transforms the charging case into an external microphone for added versatility. ChatGPT integration also makes a comeback, letting you interact with the chatbot directly through the earbuds — provided you're using a Nothing mobile device.

After nearly a week of testing the new buds in a range of environments, I set out to determine whether the Nothing Ear (3) ranks among the best wireless earbuds of 2025.

Nothing Ear (3) hands-on: Price and availability

Nothing is selling its new buds at essentially the same price in all regions: $179 / £179 / €179. The Nothing (3) will be available in two colorways, including Black and White.

Pricing falls in line with similar Nothing products and remains true to the brand's core philosophy of inexpensive yet stylish. They're about $20 more than the Nothing Ear (2), but are also $70 cheaper than the new AirPods Pro 3.

You can preorder the Nothing Ear (3) starting today, following its launch announcement at nothing.tech, Amazon, and Best Buy. The official launch kicks off on September 25.

Nothing Ear (3) hands-on: Design 

Nothing's known for its space-age aesthetic expression that fuses style and tech unlike any other over-ear headphones before them. The same is true with the Nothing Ear (3), though they do look nearly identical to their predecessors.

The Ear (3) keeps the same transparent look and drop-down stem, mirroring their accompanying case with a touch of silver. It adds this nice sheen of polish that stands out, all while staying true to Nothing's bespoke transparency.

As already mentioned, you can purchase the buds in both Black and White colors, similar to its two predecessors. It would be nice if Nothing took advantage of the Yellow colorway it added to the Nothing Ear (a), but maybe that's a bit too loud for the brand.

In a market that’s flooded with designs that don't stand out, Nothing is a world of difference. It's one of my favorite aspects behind the brand, as it's willing to be nothing but itself and never strays away from its design ethos.

Nothing Ear (3) hands-on: Charging case

Although the cases across Ear models look very similar, the new Nothing Ear (3) case adds a bit more heft. It's now equipped with a dedicated microphone and TALK button on the side, which enhances its versatility. A chrome finish also wraps around the sides and sits in the interior, making it feel a bit more premium.

In my testing of the Ear (a) charging case, I initially had trouble putting the buds away, but that's all changed with the Ear (3). The buds have a red and white dot on the side to mark right and left, and you'll see a similar mark inside the cradles so you know exactly where either bud rests at a mere glance.

The case and buds are also magnetized, so you don't have to fit them in perfectly. They'll drop in pretty easily, and the case is small enough to fit comfortably in your pocket.

In terms of weight, the case comes in at a mere 61g without the buds and 71.4g with them inside, making it super lightweight and easy to travel with. Travelling with them is also a pretty safe endeavor given that the case for the Ear (3) is rated IPX2 for both water and dust resistance.

Just like previous models, the Ear (3) case has wireless charging capabilities. From dead battery to full, Nothing claims wireless charging takes around 120 minutes, whereas over USB-C it's around 70 minutes.

I personally like the square shape Nothing has designed over the years, rather than the bulkier and rounder cases that can be awkward to fit in your pocket.

Nothing Ear (3) hands-on: Audio quality

The Nothing Ear (3) are equipped with 12mm dynamic drivers, and in terms of mics, it has three MEMS and one VPU per side, which leverage AI encoding.

Nothing has gifted the Ear (3) some serious noise-cancelling functionality, allowing real-time adaptive ANC up to 45 dB. There are three modes, including Low, Mid, and High, which all work effectively when playing music. Both the Ear (1) and Ear (2) only support ANC at 40 dB, so it's nice to see some improvements in ANC, which we called attention to in its predecessors.

While my opinions aren't final, so far sound quality on the Ear (3) has been a mixed bag. While some songs are polished and full of life, others get lost in the shuffle.

Take, for instance, the smash hit "Don't Say You Love Me" by M2M, which has several louder, high-frequency moments that combine various instruments over the vocals. These moments felt a bit harsher and less dynamic, with vocals sounding good but the highs missing that rhythmic texture.

"Olympian" by Playboy Carti also sounded slightly distorted. Carti's vocal ad-libs in the high range feel a bit off, but the 808 bass keeps the fullness, staying heavy and intense under the vocals and main melody.

Some tracks maintain impressive sound quality throughout, like "Space Invader" by Kaytranada. Primarily led by the sampled vocals from Kelis' "My Life," the treble remains clean and distortion-free, preserving the track's textured detail. Even amid its atmospheric effects and dominant synth-driven beat, the vocals stay clear and well-defined.

If you're prone to watching YouTube videos, you may notice a tinge of tinniness in some sounds, particularly dialogue. There's some slight distortion in how voices sound through the earbuds, but there are ways of amending this.

The Nothing X app allows you to customize and tailor your music experience through several features. A few of them include Bass Enhancement, which has five levels of increased bass response; Personal Sound Profile, which adapts the buds to your hearing for an improved audio experience, and an extensive EQ that offers a Simple and Advanced page for enhancing the sound.

I love how Nothing has included a handy Simple EQ for people who might not be accustomed to fixing the sound to their liking on their buds. You can add bass, treble, or set it to Voice for enhanced vocal response. Or, you can dive into its custom settings for further control.

Overall, sound quality could use some improvements, but at least Nothing gives you the keys to enhancing your own personal experience.

Nothing Ear (3) hands-on: Battery 

Nothing's equipped the Ear (3) with a 55 mAh battery in each bud and a 500 mAh battery in the case. It's rated for up to 10 hours with ANC off and 5.5 hours with ANC enabled, while the case amplifies this to 38 hours and 22 hours, respectively.

Overall, that's a small improvement in battery life over its predecessor. The Nothing Ear (2) offers 36 hours with the case and 6.3 hours of continuous playback with ANC disabled, which shows Nothing's extensive battery refinements.

For perspective, the AirPods 3 Pro offer 10 hours in Transparency mode and 8 hours with ANC enabled, but the accompanying charging case is only rated up to 24 hours.

Nothing Ear (3) hands-on: Outlook

The Nothing Ear (3) is a solid set of buds built around Nothing's chic aesthetic. Although it misses the mark in audio quality, it more than makes up for it in underlying features and durability.

The most interesting aspect of the Nothing Ear (3) is its new Super Mic feature, which turns the included case into a microphone. Beyond voice calls, this could be a game-changer for content creators seeking amplified audio quality in their mobile videos.

You also get instant access to ChatGPT, provided you're using a Nothing mobile device. The integration still works with other voice assistants, such as Siri, but you'll get the best results using the buds with the Nothing Phone 3, which offers voiced answers from the OpenAI chatbot.

Stay tuned for a further review of the Nothing Ear (3) as we dive deeper into testing the new device.

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