Nothing Ear 1 Evaluation: The sense of design does not depend on the price

Carl Pei and Pei Yu wooed Google’s venture capital division GV, former Apple executive Tony Fadel, etc., a new brand Nothing invested and established by well-known companies in the technology industry, finally officially released its first product the day before yesterday-true wireless earplugs Ear 1. Although much has been revealed in the warm-up phase, after getting the actual device, they will find that they have put great effort in design, and there is no high-quality product that will be priced at only 99 US dollars. The editor is fortunate to get the evaluation machine. Let me share with you my feelings about Nothing Ear 1.

Exterior

Nothing Ear 1 is operated by the Swedish brand Teenage Engineering. Their products have a sense of Nordic purity, so they are enough to make people look forward to. According to Pei Yu, the design of Ear 1 was inspired by the pipes of relatives. At that time, they also showed a concept drawing called Concept 1, with a circle as the main line. However, after the actual machine came out, it was not like that. At first glance, the actual device of Ear 1 still has the shadow of Apple AirPods Pro-on the white earphone body, there is a small rod extending obliquely. However, its uniqueness is more obvious and more handsome than other products that also borrowed AirPods Pro, so you don’t need to be too persistent.

The uniqueness of Ear 1 mainly comes from the transparent design, and it is quite a lot of use. This is the mainstream element in the 1980s and 1990s, so it will have a sense of retro, but at the same time it has a sense of future. The transparent part of Ear 1 earphone body is on the pole, and the Nothing ear (1) characteristic dot matrix text will be revealed underneath, which has a strong brand characteristic. Looking at it from the other side, you will even see the circuit board of the headset. Technology enthusiasts will get excited when they see it.

Not only is the headset body, the charging case of Ear 1 is also very good-looking. It is also wrapped in a transparent plastic shell, but the middle battery and other parts are hidden in a white box, and there is no “see-through circuit board” effect like earphones. However, this approach is a bit like an MD disc, and it looks cleaner. But Nothing didn’t stop there. Even the upper cover of the box had to be ingenious, and a semicircular groove was dug between the two earphones. Nothing didn’t explain why. Normally, you don’t need to use force to open the box and take the earphones. However, there is a kind of magic that makes people hide their fingers in the earphone box and turn the earphone box, just like the once-hot finger top. Take a closer look, the white part of the battery box is printed with the words ear (1) case, which is full of fun.

The wind turned and returned to the packaging box. When the Ear 1 was unpacked, it was very ceremonial to open the seal to see the small silver box inside, but for those who wish to keep the complete packaging , It is a challenge. Ear 1 comes with accessories of different sizes, USB-C charging cable and user manual. The charging cable is short, and also introduces a transparent element, which is made of a transparent outer skin wrapped with a cloth woven thread.

Function

On the Nothing Ear 1 priced at $99, this is a full-featured true wireless headset with active noise reduction capabilities. There are two levels of noise reduction, ambient sound, and EQ support. The app also has the function of searching for headphones. The operation method is through touch, click and swipe gestures to make playback, temporarily, adjust the volume, noise reduction mode, etc. What’s interesting is that the wearing detection of Ear 1 is actually not a common distance detection, because the belly is not dug out, but is achieved by contacting the sensor. The advantage is that the earphone shell reduces openings, which is even more necessary for this kind of earphones that pursue design aesthetics.

As for the battery, Ear 1 supports Qi wireless charging. The stand-alone playback time will be 4 hours after the ANC is turned on, 24 hours with the charging box, and up to 34 hours with the ANC turned off. Fast charging can also fill the headset with enough power for an hour of use in 10 minutes. The earphone body is IPX4 waterproof, so you can take it to the gym and just rinse it off with sweat.

Sense of hearing

As a headset, Nothing Ear 1 is equipped with a 11.6mm large unit, and it also emphasizes a 0.34cc cavity. In addition, Teenage Engineering, which is launching a music synthesizer, also assists in tuning. In fact, it can be expected from this that the tone color orientation of Ear 1 is clear, bass-dyed, and I feel the same. Although the headset itself supports Bluetooth 5.2, it does not have high-resolution encoding, only SBC and AAC. But the essence of Ear 1 is also good. When you listen to the streaming music platform easily, the dynamics of the song can be presented, the sound field is not too close, and it has a three-dimensional effect.

At the same time, as an active noise-canceling headset, Ear 1 seems to be a bit strenuous. Although the official stated that it can provide a noise reduction of -40db, when the editor wears headphones to take the bus or subway, the low-frequency noise is reduced, but the conversation between the uncle and aunt next to him is still audible. Fortunately, Nothing uses a universal short tube for Ear 1, which can match the ear cotton accessories on the market. Friends who value noise reduction may have to think about it.

in conclusion

As the first work of the brand, Nothing Ear 1 can be said to be an impressive success, because it first focuses on the two most sensitive aspects of consumers. The eye-catching low price and dazzling unique design are enough to make Open-minded friends give it a try. Then there is performance. As a headset, it is certainly not the top-notch, but it is also in this value. If everyone’s expectations are not high, I believe that they will be satisfied with it.

Pei Yu has already foreseen that Nothing will not be limited to headset products, and they have also accepted the brand of Essential mobile phones. Looking at the first work with such a texture, for everyone who has been numb by the same 3C products. I should look forward to the next work.