Ever wanted to make yourself a bit more of a spectacle when you’re using earbuds in public for a phone call? Nothing is giving you exactly that opportunity with the Nothing Ear 3 earbuds.
It’s not through the use of flashing lights (but we’d never put it past them), but by putting a microphone in the earbuds case, so you can use that instead of the mics in the earbuds. See? You’ll be a spectacle for sure.
Ready for the pin mic generation
We’ve all seen them. The people who hold a lavalier or pin microphone up in front of people on TikTok and YouTube. While it does the job, it does look a little strange, as the microphone is mostly designed to be clipped onto clothing. I can only imagine Nothing was thinking of these people when it came up with the Nothing Ear 3’s wild new headline feature.
Called the Super Mic, it’s an additional microphone inside the case itself, and is designed to focus on your voice and minimize surrounding noise. It’s activated simply by pressing and holding the Talk button on the side of the case, where antennas record it and send it to the earbuds, and finally to the phone. It works for voice calls, video calls, and voice notes, plus to engage your phone’s voice assistant or ChatGPT, but sadly when you try to use it with video apps, it’ll activate the voice assistant rather than record voices.
I know, I’ve ruined your street interview ambitions, but don’t dismiss the Nothing Ear 3’s Super Mic feature just yet. Trying it out, there’s a marked improvement in sound quality, less background noise, and reduced hiss when using it instead of the microphones in the Ear 3 ‘buds themselves. There’s a green LED on the case to show the microphone is working, and the button’s location means you’ll never inadvertently cover the microphone when using it.
Provided you’re fine with talking into the earbud’s case when making a call or recording your innermost thoughts, it’s an interesting and unusual feature, and I was surprised at just how effective the Super Mic is at improving audio quality. Yes, it’s a bit out-there, but I’d expect nothing less from Nothing.
What about the sound?
Not everyone will want to use the Nothing Ear 3 earbuds for phone calls, and most will probably prefer them for music. Each Ear 3 has a 12mm dynamic driver and if you’re looking for some bass, then you won’t be disappointed with the Ear 3, as even in Balanced mode and without the Bass Enhancer active, they thump away with authority.
Listening through Le Sserafim’s Hot EP, there’s just about the right degree of vocal separation combined with the strong bass, but eventually I needed to adjust it to the More Treble and even the Voice option to calm the bass down enough to enjoy tracks like Aespa’s Whiplash. This is a personal preference though, and there’s an in-depth graphic equalizer to adjust if you want to really tailor the sound.
The noise cancellation has a low, mid, high, and adaptive setting, along with a transparency mode. The performance is good, with the chatter of a busy cafe dulled enough where it’s not distracting, and the roar of passing traffic minimized. They don’t quite reach the excellent noise cancelation provided by the Apple AirPods Pro 2, but they’re close. I love the “sigh” sound effect when you activate transparency mode though.
Futuristic design
Just as with previous Nothing Ear releases, the 61-gram case has a transparent top showcasing the ‘buds inside, but this time it’s paired with a matte aluminum metal base, which contains the battery, Talk button, and the Super Mic. The square shape is compact and it disappears in your pocket.
The earbuds utilize the same transparent and matte metal motif, and although the casing looks quite big, the fit is really comfortable. The in-app ear fit test told me I had the right tips, but they can work their way loose over time, even when you’re not out walking or exercising. However, this is going to differ from person to person, and the main thing to know is how light (just 5.2 grams) and fatigue-free they are.
Once you’re used to the location of the touch controls on the earbud’s stems, it’s quick to pause and restart playback, and a long press enables noise cancellation or transparency mode. It’s unfortunate there’s no swipe controls for volume adjustment, and the only option for it in the app is an awkward double-press-and-hold gesture.
Battery life, charging, and more
Nothing claims the Ear 3 will return five-and-a-half hours on a single charge using Adaptive Noise Cancelation, and a total of 22 hours using the battery inside the case. The case has wireless charging or USB C wired charging, where a 10-minute charge should return 10 hours of use without noise cancelation. A full wired charge takes 70 minutes.
What else do you need to know? The Ear 3 earbuds are IP54 dust and water resistant, they support AAC, SBC, and LDAC codecs and are Hi-Res Audio certified. The Nothing Ear 3 support dual-device connection, use Bluetooth 5.4, and work with the Nothing X app which is available for Android and iOS.
The Nothing Ear 3 earbuds are available to buy through Nothing’s online store for $179 or £179. This makes them more affordable than the Apple AirPods 2 and new AirPods 3, along with the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro. The new Super Mic feature won’t be for everyone, but it does genuinely improve quality, and if you’re into earbuds with a full, bassy sound, the Nothing Ear 3 are definitely worth investigating.
