Nothing just entered the world of open ear headphones with the Nothing Ear Open. The open ear design is great when you want to listen to your music and stay aware of your surroundings at the same time. But this advantage usually comes at the cost of sound quality. So, do the Nothing Ear Open fall into those same traps or are they the first to get it right? Are they really the best open ear headphones?
Well, I spent a week or so with these earbuds. For those new to the open-ear design, it positions the driver outside your ear canal instead of inside it. This design is popular among athletes who want to stay alert without a seal, allowing everyday sounds to reach your ears uninterrupted.
Nothing Ear Open – the best open ear headphones?
So, greet the new Nothing Ear Open and their cool futuristic design (as if they’re straight out of a sci-fi universe 🙂 ). In fact, they’re so futuristic-looking that they’re not even labeled left and right. Red is your right earbud, and white is your left. The charging case itself is extremely thin. It’s only 19 millimeters thick, but its pill shape is a little wide.
The earbuds do snap into place nicely, but I did notice a bit of rattling going on.
It’s not quite a box of Tic Tacs, but it is noticeable if you’re walking around with the case and earbuds in your pocket. Honestly, I find them comfortable to wear. They’re lightweight on your ears.
I really like the hook-shaped design. They stay in place while running or cycling, which is exactly what I want. The Ear Open uses a much more ergonomic design that gets the driver closer to your ear canal instead of at an almost 45-degree angle like some other models.
This design improves your listening experience and is made better by one very interesting feature. Lastly, both the earbuds and the charging case feature an IP54 protection rating.
Controls and usability
The Nothing Ear Open operates via pinch controls – one on each earbud. I find them pretty intuitive to use.
Single pinch to pause your music, double pinch for the next track, triple pinch to go back. You know the deal. However, there is a slight one-second delay before each command is registered.
Not the end of the world, but it’s a little annoying after a while. You do have the option of customizing them along with your sound via the Nothing X app. Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about this app. There are plenty of valuable features beyond control customization, like multipoint pairing, Find My Earbuds, Google Fast Pair, and even setting up voice commands for ChatGPT.
But the key feature that truly makes the Nothing Ear Open the best open-ear headphones is their EQ options.
You can use the simple option if you just want to increase the bass or reduce the treble, but the advanced option is a full-on parametric EQ. You get the entire frequency range to work with and even Q control. Go ahead, crank up 20 hertz if you’re feeling saucy.
Jokes aside, this thing is powerful. Just a few tweaks here and there can really elevate your listening experience while using the Nothing Ear Open earbuds.
Connection and battery
In terms of connection, the Nothing Ear Open connects to your device via Bluetooth 5.3 and supports AAC and SBC only. There are no higher bitrate listening options, but again, these aren’t designed for critical listening, so it really shouldn’t be an issue for most people.
When it comes to battery life, Nothing advertises eight hours of playback on a single charge, which is roughly on par with other open earbuds. Nothing also states that you can achieve 30 hours of playback in total with charging case top-ups.
Sound quality
The Nothing Ear Open are the best-sounding open-ear headphones that I have reviewed thus far. A big part of that comes from their more ergonomic design, which brings the driver closer to your ear canal.
And yes, there are a few strange treble spikes in the frequency response, but there’s also finally a bump in the low end. Combined with powerful EQ, you can get a decent bass response out of the Ear Open. And you can tame those wild treble frequencies while you’re at it.
When it comes to MDAC’s results, I see lower scores in the open-ear category due to driver placement and its inability to produce enough low-end that most listeners crave. To my surprise, the Nothing Ear Open achieved some of the highest results I’ve seen for this category, with an overall score of 3.6. Clearly, Nothing is doing something right with its design.
While the sound quality is pretty good for open-ear earbuds, I found the microphone to be just okay.
You get decent performance in ideal conditions, but I found that they struggled to reject wind noise in various outdoor tests.
Best open-ear headphones: Alternatives & final thoughts
If you’re not sold on looking like you’re from the future with the Nothing Ear Open, I suggest you check out the Anker Soundcore Aerofit series. The Aerofit features a similar hook-shaped design, a comparable charging case, and an IP rating for protection against the elements.
There’s also the Aerofit 2 coming down the pipeline in the near future, which may be promising.
So, if you’re looking to stay aware while enjoying your favorite workout tunes, should you buy the Nothing Ear Open?
Yes. Yes, you should.
Similar products are priced north of $200 – and if you’re looking at Bose, closer to $300. The Nothing Ear Open provides some of the best sound quality you can get at a much more affordable price. They’re comfortable to wear, and again, thanks to their design and that powerful EQ, you can fine-tune them to your heart’s desire.
Thank you so much for reading! Make sure to check out my reviews of the Best Closed-Back Headphones and the Best Earbuds for Phone Calls. Stay tuned!
Disclaimer: This “The BEST Open Ear Headphones I’ve Tested – Nothing Ear (Open)” page contains several affiliate links which I receive a small % of the sale if you buy something. This is at no additional cost to you (sometimes you can even get a discount). I do my best to review only products and services worth your attention.