Since its inception, Nothing has announced TWS buds in addition to phones, but the former has sported pretty conventional designs. But with the launch of the Nothing Ear (open), the brand has introduced itself into the open-ear headphones category. Or, as the company calls it, its “first open wearable stereo (OWS) earbuds.
Despite the fancy name, the Ear (open) is pretty textbook open ear headphones. The bit that houses the 14.2mm drivers retain the look of the other audio products of the brand, but the tail end is extended with a hook that goes around the top of your ears. The headphones themselves also don’t go into your ear canal, and instead hovers just over it, with a design that directs the sound in instead to minimise leakage.
While the Nothing Ear (open) may look bigger than the brand’s previous offerings, it only offers a comparable battery life. The figures are eight ours on their own, or 30 hours when the case gets involved. No wireless charging here, but plugging in a USB-C cable for 10 minutes grants you two hours of music time.
Connectivity is handled by Bluetooth 5.3, with support for two simultaneous connections. Surprisingly, the Ear (open) also comes with what the brand calls “Low Lag Mode” for latency times of under 120ms.
The Nothing Ear (open) is priced at RM659, and will be generally available starting 14 October, but there are ways to get it early. The first is to get them from Crossover’s official online store on 28 September. Second and third are from the brand’s official store on Shopee and Lazada, on 1 and 5 October respectively.
