The Nothing Ear (a) are a value-driven set of buds that supply the brand's signature design and balanced frequency response with active noise cancellation (ANC) while thinning out the extras found in the top-tier Nothing Ear Truly Wireless. So, let's see if these balance most of what you need without too much additional fluff.
Our Verdict
The Nothing Ear (a) are great for sports and fitness use. They're very comfortable and lightweight, with a portable design. The buds are rated IP54 against dust and water splashes, and the charging case also offers some water resistance, with an IPX2 rating. Your audio is delivered with a smooth, slightly bass-forward, and warm sound that suits most genres, and the ANC does a decent job of silencing your surroundings. You can also toggle on transparency mode for greater situational awareness for outdoor exercises. Despite the lack of additional hooks or stabilizers, they're pretty stable, but if you find that a less invasive in-ear fit isn't reassuring enough, that may pose an issue.
- Good controls that you can customize.
- Comfortable fit.
- IP54-rated buds and IPX2-rated case.
Only satisfactory noise isolation performance.
- Lack of stabilizers.
The Nothing Ear (a) are decent for travelling. They're very portable, easily fitting into most pockets. Their comfortable fit allows you to tune out your surroundings thanks to the satisfactory noise cancellation for long stretches. That said, the ANC isn't the most impressive, even if it helps quiet your surroundings. Their default EQ sound is warm, with a smooth bass emphasis, and their app provides ample leeway to adjust it to your preferences. However, the continuous battery life is a little short, so you may need to give them a quick charge during intercontinental flights.
- Good controls that you can customize.
- Comfortable fit.
- IP54-rated buds and IPX2-rated case.
- Poor-sounding mic.
- Continuous battery isn't very long.
Only satisfactory noise isolation performance.
The Nothing Ear (a) are alright for office work. They feel good to wear, thanks to their lightweight design. They're also well-tuned by default to render music and voices as clear and natural. Their noise isolation is decent at cutting out background noises, but it won't totally silence your coworkers. However, their mic system sounds quite thin, limiting their usefulness for meetings. Although the mic rejects noise fairly well, if your voice sounds unnatural, it doesn't seem particularly professional. Additionally, the continuous battery life won't last through a full workday without a recharge.
- Good controls that you can customize.
- Comfortable fit.
- IP54-rated buds and IPX2-rated case.
- Poor-sounding mic.
- Continuous battery isn't very long.
Only satisfactory noise isolation performance.
The Nothing Ear (a) are Bluetooth-only earbuds and aren't compatible with most consoles for wireless gaming. Their latency is also high for mobile gaming purposes, even when using the low-lag mode in the app.
The Nothing Ear (a) are wireless and cannot establish a wired connection for gaming.
The Nothing Ear (a) are good for audio reproduction accuracy. Their frequency response matches our target well, with a bit more bass and a warmer top end. The smooth frequency response results from their impressive peaks and dips performance. Additionally, the L/R earbuds exhibit tight matching, and there's no audible coloration of your audio due to harmonic distortion at both regular and elevated listening levels.
The Nothing Ear (a) are decent for noise isolation. Their ANC is decent at filtering out background noise, though it's not the best available. It tackles the boomy and mid-rangy ambient sounds of traffic relatively well, but it won't fully isolate you from your environment.
The Nothing Ear (a) are sub-par for microphone use. The mic system captures a thin and not very natural-sounding version of your voice, although it does a satisfactory job of rejecting background noise.
The Nothing Ear (a) have excellent frequency response consistency. With the correctly sized ear tip, they provide a predictable sound and fit between listening sessions. As a result, you'll hear a tuning that is more or less the same with each wear.
Performance Usages
Changelog
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Updated Mar 24, 2026:
This review has been updated to Test Bench 2.1, which removes the Group Delay test and rebalances scoring for the Harmonic Distortion test and Audio Reproduction Accuracy performance usage. For more details, consult our full changelog.
- Updated Mar 24, 2026: This review has been updated to Test Bench 2.1, which removes the Group Delay test, and rebalances scoring for the Harmonic Distortion test and Audio Reproduction Accuracy performance usage. For more details, consult our full changelog.
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Updated Feb 27, 2026:
The Recording Quality section was updated to compare the Nothing Ear (3).
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Updated Jan 09, 2026:
We've updated the Sound Profile section of this review to add new measurements taken with the 'Bass Enhancement' preset, which acts as a loudness contour.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Nothing Ear (a) earbuds come in three colors: 'Black,' 'White,' and 'Yellow.' You can see the label for our unit in 'White.' We expect all of these to perform similarly. If you come across a different variant, let us know in the comments, and we'll add it to our review.
Popular Headphones Comparisons
If microphone quality isn't your priority, the Nothing Ear (a) earbuds are a value-driven alternative to their big brother, the Nothing Ear Truly Wireless. In an otherwise similar design and sounding set of buds, minor differences include a pared-back codec suite, no customized sound profiles based on your hearing, and the case's lesser IP rating against water and dust for the Nothing Ear (a) earbuds. If you need more battery juice and a bit more ANC coverage with a better mic, the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE Truly Wireless are a solid alternative, though, unlike the Nothing Ear (a) earbuds, these have more Android and Samsung-exclusive features like high-quality codecs.
For more options, check out the best sounding wireless earbuds, the best noise cancelling earbuds, and the best wireless earbuds for Android.
The CMF Buds Pro 2 and the Nothing Ear (a) share many commonalities, including the same companion app and LDAC Bluetooth codec. The CMF are bassier by default and have a slightly longer continuous battery life. The Nothing pinch controls are a bit more predictable to use with fewer misfires, though. Plus, the Nothing are slightly more stable and comfortable fitting with less pressure on your ears. Still, the CMF's ANC is more effective, so your choice depends on priorities and fit preferences. In any case, you can EQ both pairs to sound fairly alike.
Overall, the Nothing Ear are better than the Nothing Ear (a) but only incrementally. These have more in common than they have differences, but the Ear have a greater IP rating, custom sound based on your hearing, a longer battery life, LHDC codec support, and a slightly better mic. On the other hand, the Ear (a) boast similar ANC performance and sound, which is appealing if you don't use the mic or need a long battery. Still, it's clear that minor omissions to the feature set in the app and codec selection make the Ear (a) the budget-oriented alternative, but if you have no plans to take advantage of those, they're possibly a better buy.
The Nothing Ear (3) are a somewhat more feature-full set of earbuds compared to the Nothing Ear (a), but they're very alike overall. The Ear (3) have a better mic system, noise isolation performance, and a higher IP54 rating (for the buds and case) compared to the IP54 for the buds and IPX2 rating for the Ear (a). That said, the bassy sound profile may be polarizing on the Ear (3), and it differs from the Ear (a)'s more balanced frequency response, which is a matter of taste. You can EQ either model, but only the Ear (3) have a spatial audio DSP, too.
The Nothing Ear (a) and the Nothing Ear (2) are so similar that you may prefer whichever you can find at a better price. That said, the Ear (2) have a better mic and a higher IP-rated case, and the Ear (a) may receive updates for longer because they're a newer model, but that's not necessarily a reason to buy one over the other.
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You can also discover how we produce recommendations like this one so that you can find the best headphones (or earbuds!) for your needs.
Test Results
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