The complete review of nothing ear stick

The complete review of nothing ear stick. With its third release, Nothing is Back is coming back to audio. The Ear (Stick) headphones first look to be somewhat similar to the Ear (1) headphones from the previous year, however, there are many distinctions.

The Ear (Stick) is now Nothing’s cheap option at $99/£99 after a 50% price increase to its original set of truly wireless earbuds.

Design & Build:

• Half-in design
• Press controls
• Lipstick inspired case

The Ear (Stick) earbuds are almost perfectly like the Ear (1) when they are taken out of the case, but closer inspection reveals some minute differences.

They don’t have standard ear tips, which at first glance could be perplexing if you’ve never heard of an open design.

Although it isn’t new, it still occupies a small portion of the wireless earbud market and operates differently from conventional in-ears.

However, I was pleasantly pleased by how snugly the Ear (Stick) suited me. Ear tips assist keep earphones in place. Despite some pretty intense head pounding to a few tracks during testing, they fit my ears rather tightly and have never fallen out.

Being only 4.4g each, they are also incredibly comfortable for extended listening sessions.

Silicone tip absent Sticking down your ear canal prevents the headphones from creating an acoustic seal that would otherwise block outside noise.

It does offer a stress-free listening experience, however, that depends on personal choice.

Like Ear (1) and other competitors, Ear (Stick) lacks touch controls. Instead, each earbud’s stem has a small depression that serves as the “push control.”

To engage the button, you squeeze it. You may press and hold the button to modify the volume.

In contrast to the problematic touch controls on the Ear (1), they function pretty well overall once you get used to them.

There are audio clicks to assist you.

The case is rather unusual, but I don’t mean that negatively. Although less obvious than the Huawei FreeBuds Lipstick, the cylindrical shape resembles a lipstick case. You twist the case 180 degrees to open it and remove the earbuds.

The case is extremely enjoyable to use overall, however, I would have liked a small bit more room where the ends of the stems go. The biggest drawback of this design is dirt entering and finding it very difficult to exit. The Ear (Stick) has an IP54 dust and water-resistance certification, thus they should be suitable for both rain and perspiration. This is the final design point to be made.

Sound Quality & Features:

• Custom 12.6mm drivers
• In-ear detection
• Trio of mics

The Ear (Stick) provides the company’s “most sophisticated sound experience to date” and is less expensive than the Ear (1). Custom 12.6mm drivers that are 1mm larger than the ear are partially to blame for this (1).

Do they sound better than the Ear (1), the question is? And while it’s tough to give a definitive response to that, I’d argue that for the majority of individuals, the answer is no.

This mostly stems from the open-type fit’s inability to compete with standard ear tips acoustically. As was already observed, the lack of a sealed fit for noise isolation has a significant influence, especially on bass performance.

Nothing has added a feature known as Bass Lock to the Ear (Stick) Buds to aid with this. When you initially insert the earbuds, a tone is played to gauge how well they fit your ear canal and to automatically adjust the equalization for any lost bass.

Although I didn’t see this happen, you are welcome to go make the necessary equalization adjustments. However, even if you utilize it to amp up the bass to its highest level, they still fall short when put up against conventional headphones.

This is not to argue that I think the Ear (Stick) sounds poor. The earbuds sound amazing for the open design, and some individuals might appreciate the audio’s spaciousness. The fact that the music doesn’t alter much if the buds move about shocked me especially because I had anticipated that there would be a sweet spot that could be easily missed.

As long as you’re not a bass enthusiast who always listens to EDM (electronic dance music), having earbuds that don’t fall out or create discomfort is undoubtedly a better alternative if you struggle with ear tips.

Read more: How to set up a new iPhone

Budget earbuds sometimes lack extra capabilities, but these contain in-ear recognition.

which causes the music to cease when you remove them and resume when you put them back in. It works, however, if it annoys you, you can turn it off.

For calls, there is also Clear Voice Technology, which employs three mics. There is no guarantee that new algorithms can remove noise from factors like wind and people.

The Ear (Stick) is OK for calls, in my opinion, but if you frequently use earbuds for this purpose, the Jabra Elite 3 is a better option.

Software:

• Phone (1) integration
• Nothing X app

There is no need to download anything if you have a Phone (1) because the settings and controls are already included within the OS.

I’ve been using the brand-new Nothing X app because I don’t have the Phone (1).

Fast Pair and Microsoft Switch Pair are both accessible for Android users, and setup is simple. However,

it should be noted that the program is also available for iOS users.

The app allows you to access battery levels (but not for the case) and settings and is generally straightforward to use.

Each earbud features four controls, including a somewhat more difficult double push and holds that, by default, does nothing, but you might wish to set it to activate a voice assistant.

Additionally, the app allows you access to settings like find my earbuds and in-ear detection as well as equalization.

When you utilize the game mode on a Phone (1), the low latency option will be switched on automatically.

Battery Life & Charging:

• Seven hours on buds
• 22 more with the case
• Fast charging

A bit less than the Ear (1)’s 34 hours, the Ear (Stick) lasts for up to seven hours from the buds alone and an additional 22 hours in the case. With rapid charging, a brief 10-minute charge may provide two hours of playing.

I’d say the battery promises are very accurate, and depending on your usage, you could even get longer.

I frequently discovered that I could listen for around an hour on 10% of the charge. They undoubtedly outlast many of their competitors.

Although the Xiaomi Redmi Buds 3 Pro does offer this, there is no wireless charging like the Ear (1) due to the case design.

However, this is unusual in the affordable market anyhow.

The provided cable is quite nice—braided and plastic coated—but it’s painfully short at 25cm. You must charge the case through the USB-C connector on the end.

Price & Availability: 

The price of The Ear (1) has increased by 50% from its initial price to $149/£149/€149.

In almost 40 countries, including the US, where Nothing doesn’t sell its phones, you may get them via the official shop (1).

Open-design competitors like the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live and Huawei Freebuds 3 are more pricey, but our list of the top cheap wireless earbuds also includes some additional choices.

Specs:

• 12.6mm custom driver
• In-ear detection
• Microsoft Swift Pair
• AAC and SBC codecs
• Google Fast Pair
• Three high-definition mics
• 4.4g (per bud)
• 22 hours battery (case)
• USB-C
• 7 hours battery (earbuds)
• IP54