Nothing Ear (3a) review: The new price-performance tip from Nothing?

Nothing Ear (3a): Design and workmanship

The Ear (3a) series again features transparent elements, clear forms, and the now-typical stem construction. Those who  Ear (a) (click here for the test)  Those who are familiar with it will therefore have to look a little closer to recognize the differences.

There's more choice when it comes to colors. Besides white, black, and yellow, the Ear (3a) is now also available for the first time in a vibrant pink, somewhere between Barbie and Telekom magenta. Subtle it isn't, but that's precisely what suits Nothing so well.

The charging case has also been slightly redesigned. It's a bit rounder than its predecessor, but at 40,92 grams it remains pleasantly light and easily fits in a pocket. The earbuds themselves weigh just 4,53 grams each.

New is the LED indicator on the side of the case. Three small lights roughly indicate the battery level. If only the bottom LED is lit, it's time to charge. Two or three white LEDs signal correspondingly higher remaining capacity. During charging, the indicator gradually fills from bottom to top.

Nothing also makes no experiments when it comes to wearing comfort. The Ear (3a) sit relatively flat in the ear and come with four pairs of silicone ear tips. This adds an extra size compared to the Ear (a), which should be particularly helpful for those with smaller ears. Thanks to their light weight, the earbuds are barely noticeable even during longer sessions and yet stay securely in place enough for sports.

Accordingly, both the earbuds and the charging case are now IP54-rated for dust and splash water protection. Sweat during a workout or a rain shower on the way home is therefore no problem.

In terms of construction, Nothing relies mostly on plastic. This is appropriate for the price range and looks decent overall, but it doesn't quite achieve the premium feel of the more expensive Ear (3) with its metal accents. On the other hand, the case remains more compact and lighter.

This time, a charging cable is not included. Given how many people now have a full cable drawer, this shouldn't be a major problem for most, but it's still worth mentioning.

Nothing Ear (3a): Operation and Nothing X app

Nothing continues to rely on pressure-sensitive areas on the handles for operation. I still prefer this to classic touch surfaces because an actual press is significantly less prone to accidental input.

A single press starts or pauses playback. A double press skips to the next track, a triple press goes back. A longer press allows you to switch between ANC and transparency mode, or adjust the volume. The actions assigned to each gesture can be customized in the Nothing X app.

In addition, Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair are included, making the initial connection with compatible devices quick and easy. Dual Connection connects the Ear (3a) to two devices simultaneously. This is particularly useful, for example, if you're listening to music on your laptop and receive a call on your smartphone.

A low-lag mode for games and videos is also included again. While the delay is hardly noticeable for normal streaming, the reduced latency can be quite helpful for mobile games.

Significantly better equalizer

The biggest leap forward for the Nothing X app is in the equalizer. With the old Ear (a), sound adjustment was quite rudimentary. The Ear (3a) now also features an expanded 8-band EQ, allowing for much more precise adjustment of individual frequency ranges.

Those who want to delve deeper can even work with the Q-factor and thus determine how broad or narrow an adjustment around a specific frequency is.

Users can save their own EQ profiles and share them with other users. Those who don't want to deal with frequency curves can still use the simpler view and pre-made presets.

Spatial audio remains a matter of taste.

Also new is static spatial audio. This artificially widens the stereo image to make music and movies sound more spacious. However, head tracking is not included.

The effect is audible, but quickly sounds somewhat artificial. Voices sound more distant, and music sometimes loses its directness. Spatial audio can be enjoyable for movies or TV series, but for regular music listening, classic stereo with a well-adjusted EQ is, in my opinion, the better choice.

Audio snapshot and call recording

New features on the Ear (3a) are Audio Snapshot and Call Recording. Both functions utilize the earbuds' internal 32MB memory and can be activated directly via pinch gestures.

Audio Snapshot lets you save a short clip of what's currently playing through your earbuds. A snapshot can be up to 60 seconds long, and optionally, the 30 seconds before it's triggered can also be saved.

 Call Recording, on the other hand, records ongoing phone calls and online meetings. A recording can be up to two hours long and is initially saved directly to the earbuds. It is then transferred to the Nothing X app, where it can be played back, exported, and transcribed.

There are two ways to transcribe audio. Standard transcription runs locally on your smartphone and therefore works offline. Pro transcription, on the other hand, uses cloud-based AI models and is designed to deliver better results, speaker recognition, and summaries, among other features. Three months of Pro are included with purchase, each month offering 120 minutes of audio.

Call recording isn't supposed to work completely discreetly. When a call recording starts, a non-deactivatable notification plays, alerting the other party to the recording.

Nothing Ear (3a): Sound

Technically, Nothing has significantly upgraded. Instead of an 11mm driver like in the Ear (a), each earbud now features a dynamic 12mm driver. The diaphragm consists of a rigid PMI center section and a flexible TPU rim. The frequency range extends from 20 Hz to 40 kHz.

The device supports SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs. The latter enables high-resolution streaming on compatible Android devices and remains a significant advantage in this price range. For the first time, the connection is made via Bluetooth 6.0.

They can do bass

It becomes clear after just a few minutes where Nothing is going with the tuning. The Ear (3a) speakers sound significantly more powerful and warmer than the Ear (a). They really deliver a punch, especially in the low bass.

Electronic music, hip-hop, and pop all benefit from this. Kick drums pack a punch, basslines have a solid foundation, and overall the Ear (3a) sound very lively. Anyone who likes a bit more oomph from their in-ear headphones will likely quickly appreciate this tuning.

At times, Nothing overdoes it with the bass. In songs that are already bass-heavy, the low frequencies become very prominent and can somewhat overpower vocals and instruments in the lower midrange. It's definitely not neutral. 

This is precisely where the new equalizer pays off. By reducing the bass slightly and boosting the midrange a bit, the sound becomes significantly more balanced.

The midrange is well-defined and vocals are clearly positioned in the soundstage, provided the bass gives them enough space. Instruments are easily separated, and even with more complex arrangements, the overall sound doesn't immediately collapse.

In the high frequencies, the Ear (3a) play it safe. They deliver sufficient detail and don't sound muffled, while avoiding unpleasant harshness. Compared to the more expensive Ear (3), they lack a little fine detail and airiness. The Ear (3) sound more open and confident overall, which isn't surprising given the price difference.

Nothing Ear (3a): ANC and Transparency Mode

Nothing has also improved its active noise cancellation. The adaptive ANC is designed to reduce noise by up to 45 dB and operates in a range of 40 to 5.000 Hz.

As with the Ear (a), the noise cancellation can be adjusted in several stages or automatically adapted to the environment. Particularly effective are consistent, low-frequency noises. The hum of an air conditioner, traffic noise, or the monotonous rattling in buses and trains are significantly reduced.

Voices, keyboard clicks, and other sudden noises still come through more clearly. However, this is perfectly normal for most in-ear headphones. For €99, the performance of the Ear (3a) is very good and more than sufficient for commuting, office use, or travel.

Transparency mode does the opposite, passing ambient sounds through the microphones to the ear. Voices sound relatively natural, allowing you to have conversations or understand announcements without removing the earbuds. While it doesn't sound quite like you're wearing nothing at all, the effect isn't disturbingly artificial either.

Nothing Ear (3a): Microphone and telephony

Each earbud contains three MEMS microphones for phone calls, for a total of six. An ENC algorithm is designed to detect ambient noise and emphasize the user's voice.

The voice quality is one of the Ear (3a)'s strongest features. In quiet environments, the voice comes through clearly and intelligibly to the other party. Even consistent background noise is filtered out effectively.

In strong winds or very noisy environments, the voice is naturally processed more intensely and loses some of its naturalness. However, the quality is perfectly adequate for phone calls on the go and is above average for this price range.

Nothing Ear (3a): Battery

With AAC and ANC turned off, Nothing claims up to 10 hours of playback time with the earbuds. With the case, the total runtime increases to up to 42 hours. Turning on ANC reduces these figures to 6 and 25 hours, respectively.

With LDAC, the situation is significantly different. Without ANC, you can still get up to 6 hours of playback time with the earbuds, or 28 hours including the case. With ANC enabled, the maximum is 4,5 hours per charge, and a total of 20 hours with the case.

Those who activate LDAC and use ANC simultaneously will therefore sacrifice a significant portion of their battery life compared to AAC. This is something to keep in mind if a longer trip is planned.

Each earbud has a 55 mAh battery, while the charging case holds 500 mAh. A full charge via USB-C takes approximately 70 minutes. Fast charging is also supported; five minutes in the case provides about an hour of playback. Wireless charging, as with the previous model, is not supported.