Nothing Ear (3a) Launched With 45dB ANC, 'Audio Snapshot' and Call Recording Support: Price, Features

Nothing on Tuesday launched the Ear (3a) true wireless stereo earphones alongside the Nothing Phone (4b) in select global markets. The new audio wearable offers active noise cancellation, a 12mm dynamic driver, LDAC support, Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity and a new Audio Snapshot feature for capturing short audio clips. Nothing has also introduced custom audio features, gesture controls and extended battery life with the charging case. 

Nothing Ear (3a) Price, Availability

The Nothing Ear (3a) carries a price tag of EUR 99 (roughly Rs. 10,800) in Europe, GBP 99 (roughly Rs. 12,600) in the UK and $99 (roughly Rs. 9,400) in the US. In Japan, the earbuds cost JPY 15,800 (roughly Rs. 9,300). The earbuds are currently available through the Nothing website.

The company has introduced the earbuds in Black, Pink, White and Yellow colour options. Nothing has not yet confirmed an India launch timeline for the headset.

Nothing Ear (3a) Features, Specifications

The Nothing Ear (3a) is equipped with a 12mm dynamic driver with 32-ohm impedance. It offers a frequency response range of 20Hz to 40,000Hz and uses a PMI and TPU diaphragm. The earbuds support LDAC Hi-Res Wireless certification, Static Spatial Audio, Custom EQ, Advanced EQ and profile sharing through the Nothing X app.

Nothing's latest Ear (3a) features Adaptive ANC with noise reduction of up to 45dB across a frequency range of 40Hz to 5,000Hz. Each earbud houses three microphones, bringing the total to six, and supports Transparency Mode and environmental noise cancellation for calls.

For connectivity, the Nothing Ear (3a) earbuds support Bluetooth 6.0 with a range of up to 15m. They support dual-device connectivity, SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs, and are compatible with devices running Android 8.0 or later and iOS 13 or later. Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair and low-latency mode are also supported.

The Nothing Ear (3a) earbuds pack a 55mAh battery each, while the charging case houses a 500mAh battery. Nothing claims up to 10 hours of playback on the earbuds with ANC turned off using AAC, or up to 42 hours with the charging case. With ANC enabled, the claimed playback drops to 6 hours on the earbuds and up to 25 hours with the case. Using LDAC, the earbuds are rated for up to 6 hours of playback with ANC off and up to 4.5 hours with ANC on.

The charging case for the Nothing Ear (3a) earbuds supports USB Type-C charging, and it takes about 70 minutes to fully charge. A five-minute charge is claimed to provide up to one hour of playback on the earbuds with ANC disabled, while charging the earbuds and case together for 10 minutes delivers up to 10 hours of playback with ANC turned off.

The Nothing X app supports firmware updates, Find My Earbuds, Custom EQ profile sharing and customisable controls. Users can manage playback, calls, track navigation, volume and noise control through configurable pinch gestures.

The Nothing Ear (3a) earbuds feature Audio Snapshot, which allows users to record short audio clips through gesture controls or preserve the 30 seconds preceding a recording. The recorded clips can be viewed and shared using the Nothing X app. The earbuds also support call recording, while LED indicators on the charging case display the remaining battery level.

Both the earbuds and the case carry an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance. Each Nothing Ear (3a) earbud measures 31.2mm × 21.7mm × 24mm and weighs 4.53g. The charging case measures 64.8mm × 48.95mm × 22.8mm and weighs 40.92g.