These Under-$100 Earbuds Sound Almost As Good As My AirPods
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Of all the gadgets I test, I’m most often asked aboutwireless earbuds. I usually have a pair I can recommend that fits the person’s needs, but price is often a sticking point — there’s a lot of demand for earbuds under $100.
Cheap earbuds often sacrifice enough in noise cancellation and overall sound quality to make spending a bit more the better choice. But that’s not the case with Nothing’s budget earbuds, the Ear (a). I’ve been testing them for about a month, and they’re my new go-to recommendation when anyone asks me about earbuds.
They sound almost as good as more expensive earbuds
These earbuds feature a neutral sound — the mids aren’t drowned out by the highs and lows — that’s only slightly less robust than pricier earbuds like the AirPods Pro. When listening to tracks like Gucci Mane’s “Swing My Door,” lyrics came through clearly despite the booming base throughout the song. Similarly, drums on tracks like Audioslave’s “Show Me How to Live,” were just as easy to hear as the guitar riffs and soaring vocals.
If youdowant to adjust the sound profile of these earbuds, Nothing has an accompanying app for iOS and Android. There are a few presets, including a more bass-y option and one that emphasizes voices; there’s also a separate bass-enhancement option that’ll boost the bass no matter your EQ settings. The app also allows you to adjust the strength of the noise cancellation.
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The noise cancellation is excellent
More notable is how great the noise cancellation is. I wore these buds on several walks through downtown Portland and hardly had to worry about any loud sounds getting through. Sirens were able to get through, but not so much as to be piercing. On the other hand, I could hardly hear nearby chatter or cars passing by. This held up during phone calls, too: None of my friends were able to hear the busy noises of my surroundings. With noise cancellation on, the Ear (a) can last up to 5.5 hours on a single charge, which is plenty to get you through the day as you can recharge them inside the case.
They work a lot like AirPods
As with all earbuds I test, I tried these with both Android and iOS devices. In both cases, the Ear (a) has almost all the same convenient features as Apple’s earbuds. For instance, you can squeeze the stems of the buds to play and pause music, as well as toggle between noise-canceling and transparency modes. Double squeezing will skip forward in a track, or decline a call if you’re getting one. Unlike the AirPods Pro, you can’t slide your finger up and down the stem to change the volume, but that’s a feature usually reserved for premium earbuds anyway. You can change these, too, and create custom shortcuts for single, double, and triple squeezes.
If you’re using the Ear (a) with an Android phone, they pair as quickly as AirPods do to an Apple device. Simply open the case with your phone nearby, and you’re almost immediately given the option to connect them from your phone’s home screen. That said, to pair these earbuds with an iPhone or another non-Android device (like a Windows computer) you’ll have to do so the old-school way through Bluetooth settings.
They have a fun, eye-catching design
Similar to Nothing’s premium noise-canceling headphones, theHeadphone (1), the Ear (a) has a playfully retrofuturistic design that stands out among the sleek, minimalist AirPods and Galaxy Buds. They’re not trying to hide the fact that they’re gadgets. You can get them in black, white, or a bold yellow. All of them have clear stems reminiscent of the transparent tech you’d see in the ’90s. Even the case is transparent, so you can admire them even when you’re not bumping some tunes.
Before trying them myself, I worried that the Ear (a)’s transparent plastic might feel slightly cheap or be uncomfortable compared to buds from companies like Apple, Samsung, and JBL. Not so. They’re remarkably light so they don’t feel like anchors in my ears, and the tips — they come with three different sizes — fit snugly.
Some premium features are missing
Despite incorporating plenty of features that are often reserved for more expensive earbuds, the Ear (a) doesn’t have everything. Most notably, they lack wireless charging. If you mostly charge your gadgets with a cable that won’t be a problem, but I’ve missed it since I started carrying these earbuds more than my AirPods. With Apple devices, you also have to pair these the old fashioned way through the device’s settings app. You only have to do it once, but it did make me miss the convenience of quick pairing. Both of these inconveniences are minor, though, especially given how well the Ear (a) performs and what a great value they are.
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