Nothing Ear (3) Review: Tough Competition

THE SCORECARD

How the Nothing Ear (3) scored

• Comfort

  9/10

  I found the fit comfortable, not too deep and low in suction and pressure.

• Security

  8/10

  The grippy tips and moderately deep fit kept the buds locked in well for weight training and running.

• Case and battery life

  7.5/10

  Battery life is advertised at 5.5 hours in the buds and 22 hours total with ANC on.

• Controls

  8/10

  The squeeze controls are capable, but I still find swipe gestures more intuitive.

• Connectivity

  8.5/10

  You get Bluetooth 5.4, SBC, AAC, LDAC, multipoint and fast-pairing support, but no mono mode when using one bud.

• Call quality

  9.5/10

  The Super Mic is useful in quieter settings, while I found the regular earbud mics better in wind.

• App customization and extra features

  8/10

  Nothing X remains a well-built app with hearing, EQ, control and connection settings.

• Noise cancelling

  8/10

  ANC improves slightly over the Nothing Ear, with a particularly worthwhile reduction in wind pickup.

• The transparency mode

  7/10

  Wind handling improves, but the strong occlusion effect makes transparency worse overall.

• Sound quality

  8/10

  The stock sound is more V-shaped than the Nothing Ear, though EQ can bring it closer to a balanced presentation.

The Pros and Cons

How comfortable and secure are the Nothing Ear (3)?

I gave comfort a 9 out of 10. Nothing includes four ear-tip sizes rather than three, adding an extra-small option. The stem is slightly longer and thicker, but the overall ergonomics remain close to the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a).

The fit is not too deep, yet it was deep enough to feel secure. There was minimal suction and pressure for me, and the shape should also work well for smaller ears.

Security gets an 8 out of 10. The ear tips have decent grip and the moderately deep fit held very well during weight training. I barely needed to adjust them, and the stem design also worked well while running. The buds and case are rated IP54 for dust and water resistance.

Case, controls and connectivity

I scored case and battery life 7.5 out of 10. Nothing advertises 5.5 hours from the buds and 22 hours in total with noise cancelling on. That is 0.3 more hours in the buds than the Nothing Ear, but two fewer total hours. A five-minute charge provides one hour of playback, and the case supports wireless charging.

The case shell and overall size are the same as the Nothing Ear, making it one of the thinner cases in my ranking. The refreshed design adds an aluminium finish that gives it a sturdier look and feel.

Controls score 8 out of 10. There are squeeze inputs for single, double and triple presses, holds, and tap-and-hold commands. You can add volume controls, but I still find swipe controls more intuitive. The new case button can activate a voice assistant through Super Mic, and Nothing-phone users can also use it for Essential Space voice notes.

Connectivity scores 8.5 out of 10. The Ear (3) supports Bluetooth 5.4, SBC, AAC, LDAC, Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair and multipoint. LHDC has been removed. One frustration is that using one bud while the other remains in the case only gives you that side’s audio channel rather than mono audio.

Nothing Ear (3) call quality and Super Mic

Call quality is a 9.5 out of 10 when I factor in Super Mic. The case contains two microphones: hold the button for quick use, or double tap to leave the microphone on.

Super Mic works much better in a quiet room, even though there can still be some background noise. In windy conditions, I think the regular earbud microphones work better. The earbud mics themselves have improved over the Nothing Ear, whose microphones were already very good.

ANC is better, but transparency is worse

I scored noise cancelling 8 out of 10, half a point above the Nothing Ear. There was a noticeable improvement against the middle-to-high-frequency hissing in my plane-noise test, while low-frequency blocking and voice reduction improved more subtly.

Wind pickup is the major improvement. The Nothing Ear picked up wind very easily with ANC enabled, and the Ear (3) reduces that by about half. Wind will still be noticeable on a properly windy day.

The issue is value. The OnePlus Buds 4 blocked the difficult background music in my gym test more effectively, despite costing about half as much as the Ear (3).

Transparency gets 7 out of 10. Wind pickup is again reduced by about half, but I noticed a high level of occlusion. My own voice sounded blocked and unclear, and clarity was only about the same as the Nothing Ear. In background noise, I had to focus much harder to hear someone speaking.

Sound quality: use EQ to tame the bass

Sound quality scores 8 out of 10. I measured just over 112 dB at maximum volume with the stock tuning. With the three-band or advanced EQ applied, volume is closer to 110 dB, and more EQ reduces total volume further. The hearing test does not reduce total volume for me.

The hearing test measures each ear individually and opens up the soundstage for me, but it loses the strength adjustment that the Nothing Ear offered. You still get a three-band EQ and an advanced eight-band EQ with Q-factor and frequency adjustment.

The stock tuning is completely different from the Nothing Ear. The Nothing Ear is balanced, with clean bass, forward mids and detailed but laid-back treble. The Ear (3) is much more V-shaped. Its bass is too elevated and can sound muddy to me, although its treble has more upper-end presence.

My preferred route is the hearing test followed by a substantial bass reduction and midrange and treble boosts in the simple three-band EQ. After that, the Ear (3) sounds richer and retains some welcome sub-bass lift, though the Nothing Ear remains punchier, faster and clearer through the mids and upper mids. The Ear (3) gets the edge in treble.

Spatial audio is new, but there is no head tracking. It boosts bass heavily for me, and you cannot EQ after enabling it. It may be fine for films, but I do not think it is great for music.