After leaving OnePlus behind, co-founder Carl Pei began Nothing—that is an organization known as “Nothing,” not the state of nonexistence. Its first product was a set of true wi-fi earbuds, and it adopted that up with a mid-range smartphone. Now, Nothing is taking one other swing at wi-fi earbuds with the poorly named Nothing Ear Stick. These AirPods-style earbuds drop some options from the primary pair of Nothing buds, however additionally they price simply $99. Apple’s earbuds are much more spendy, beginning at $170, and the Nothing Ear 1 are $150.
The Ear Stick buds have the identical clear aesthetic as Nothing’s different merchandise. They’ve the identical exterior stick part like the corporate’s Ear 1 buds (and AirPods, for that matter), however they relaxation within the outer ear fairly than poking into the ear canal. If the Ear 1 are Nothing’s AirPods Professional competitor, the Stick are akin to the entry-level AirPods. Inside, the Ear Stick buds sport a customized 12.6mm driver and sufficient battery for about seven hours of playback time. Nothing has quite a lot of confidence within the audio high quality, however connectivity is restricted to SBC and AAC—there are not any high-quality Bluetooth codecs like LDAC or aptX.
The case can be extremely stylized with a clear outer shell that reveals off the earbuds once they’re locked in place. Merely rotate the tube-shaped case to take away them. There isn’t any wi-fi charging this time, however that helps make the earbuds cheaper. The identical goes for energetic noise canceling, which was accessible on the Ear 1 however not right here.
Even with the lacking options, the Ear Stick may outperform the corporate’s different earbuds in some methods. Nothing says it has improved the antenna design, transferring the module farther down the stick, which makes the connection extra dependable. This was a difficulty with the Ear 1. In addition they help Google Quick Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair to make it simpler to get the Stick earbuds related to your varied gadgets. Once more, that was an issue for the Ear 1. There is a companion app to manage the brand new earbuds, however should you’re utilizing a Nothing Cellphone, the buds will combine with the system UI for management.
Nothing doesn’t promote its smartphone within the US, however you’ll be able to order the brand new earbuds stateside. Pre-orders are stay as we speak for $99. Nevertheless, anybody with a Nothing Cellphone can get 10% off the acquisition. Nothing expects to start transport the Ear Stick on November 4th.
