[PC Gamer} Nothing Ear (a) review
[PC Gamer} Nothing Ear (a) review
EarFun Air Pro 4 earbuds (which I rate highly) have wireless charging. It does have an IP54 rating, though, which should mean it's safe from light rain and a little dust.Nothing Ear (a) specs
(Image credit: Future)Drivers: 11 mm dynamic
Frequency response: 20–20,000 Hz
Connection: Bluetooth (dual connection)
Battery life: 9.5 hours with buds, 42.5 including case (without ANC/transparency)
Extras: Charging case, USB-C connector, 3x different-sized ear tips
Price: $99 / £89I like the on-ear controls, as they work by squeezing the stems rather than the usual touch controls, which is a little easier to get right and less prone to accidental presses.Audio is very impressive for this price point, too, although you will of course find better audio in slightly more expensive audiophile buds, not to mention ones that can do more than just Bluetooth since this compresses audio.The main thing I noticed upon trying out the Nothing Ear (a) for the first time was that the soundstage feels very wide and full. With the Bass Enhance setting enabled and set to level three (out of five) the bass is plenty punchy, and the audio in general feels more open than it does from some competitor earbuds such as the (admittedly cheaper) Air Pro 4.It's not quite as crisp or as lively as the EarFun buds were after I tinkered with the EQ, and the amount of tinkering you can do with the Nothing's EQ is limited, to say the least (the 'custom' option only allows you to change three bands: bass, mid, and treble).
(Image credit: Future)But despite this, I find myself preferring the audio from the Nothing Ear (a) to the audio from the Air Pro 4. And that's both for music and for games—in the latter, the full and wide sound combined with the more punchy bass (from gunshots, for example) helps with immersion.my weird little ears quite easily. I reckon that's just because my ears are very small and so the buds don't have enough space to rest comfortably, but it's something to be aware of if you struggle with similar. I didn't have the same problem with the Air Pro 4 earbuds, and I think that's because the part of the earbud that sits outside your ear canal is smaller.
(Image credit: Future)The second reason, though—and the most relevant to PC gamers—is that even with 'low lag mode' enabled, there's still noticeable latency over the Bluetooth connection. It's pretty unplayable without that mode enabled, but even with it enabled the delay is a little noticeable in a way that it's not with the EarFun buds. And it seems to turn this setting off every time you put the earbuds away, meaning you have to go back in-app each time to enable it.Buy if...
You want stylish buds for music: If you don't care about latency for gaming, these earbuds are fantastic for style, ease of use, and audio quality for the price.Don't buy if...
You play responsive games: If you want to use these for gaming in anything that benefits from responsive sound (gunshots, competitive shooters, and so on), the low latency will be a bit of drag.The final main reason I reach for other earbuds rather than these is that the mic is pretty rubbish on them. People I spoke to over the phone noticed my voice audio had gotten worse as soon as I started using these instead of the EarFun buds or the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds. My voice is audible, but it's not ideal, even for earbuds.I should also note that these earbuds do feature ChatGPT integration via voice assistant, but I turned that off pretty much straight away because I'm wanting to plug in earbuds, not Big Brother's annoying Little Brother. Okay that's a lie, I disabled voice control because it called someone random in my phonebook when I asked it for the weather.For just listening to music or other non-interactive things where latency and voice doesn't play a part, these are fantastic earbuds. They're stylish, easy to use (plug-n-play, pretty much), with simple and sleek software, and they sound fantastic. They even have good ANC and transparency modes. But for gaming, the poor latency is hard to look past, and even some cheaper earbuds with better latency will be a better option.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/earbud ... -a-review/
(Image credit: Future)Drivers: 11 mm dynamicFrequency response: 20–20,000 Hz
Connection: Bluetooth (dual connection)
Battery life: 9.5 hours with buds, 42.5 including case (without ANC/transparency)
Extras: Charging case, USB-C connector, 3x different-sized ear tips
Price: $99 / £89I like the on-ear controls, as they work by squeezing the stems rather than the usual touch controls, which is a little easier to get right and less prone to accidental presses.Audio is very impressive for this price point, too, although you will of course find better audio in slightly more expensive audiophile buds, not to mention ones that can do more than just Bluetooth since this compresses audio.The main thing I noticed upon trying out the Nothing Ear (a) for the first time was that the soundstage feels very wide and full. With the Bass Enhance setting enabled and set to level three (out of five) the bass is plenty punchy, and the audio in general feels more open than it does from some competitor earbuds such as the (admittedly cheaper) Air Pro 4.It's not quite as crisp or as lively as the EarFun buds were after I tinkered with the EQ, and the amount of tinkering you can do with the Nothing's EQ is limited, to say the least (the 'custom' option only allows you to change three bands: bass, mid, and treble).
(Image credit: Future)But despite this, I find myself preferring the audio from the Nothing Ear (a) to the audio from the Air Pro 4. And that's both for music and for games—in the latter, the full and wide sound combined with the more punchy bass (from gunshots, for example) helps with immersion.my weird little ears quite easily. I reckon that's just because my ears are very small and so the buds don't have enough space to rest comfortably, but it's something to be aware of if you struggle with similar. I didn't have the same problem with the Air Pro 4 earbuds, and I think that's because the part of the earbud that sits outside your ear canal is smaller.(Image credit: Future)The second reason, though—and the most relevant to PC gamers—is that even with 'low lag mode' enabled, there's still noticeable latency over the Bluetooth connection. It's pretty unplayable without that mode enabled, but even with it enabled the delay is a little noticeable in a way that it's not with the EarFun buds. And it seems to turn this setting off every time you put the earbuds away, meaning you have to go back in-app each time to enable it.Buy if...
You want stylish buds for music: If you don't care about latency for gaming, these earbuds are fantastic for style, ease of use, and audio quality for the price.Don't buy if...
You play responsive games: If you want to use these for gaming in anything that benefits from responsive sound (gunshots, competitive shooters, and so on), the low latency will be a bit of drag.The final main reason I reach for other earbuds rather than these is that the mic is pretty rubbish on them. People I spoke to over the phone noticed my voice audio had gotten worse as soon as I started using these instead of the EarFun buds or the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds. My voice is audible, but it's not ideal, even for earbuds.I should also note that these earbuds do feature ChatGPT integration via voice assistant, but I turned that off pretty much straight away because I'm wanting to plug in earbuds, not Big Brother's annoying Little Brother. Okay that's a lie, I disabled voice control because it called someone random in my phonebook when I asked it for the weather.For just listening to music or other non-interactive things where latency and voice doesn't play a part, these are fantastic earbuds. They're stylish, easy to use (plug-n-play, pretty much), with simple and sleek software, and they sound fantastic. They even have good ANC and transparency modes. But for gaming, the poor latency is hard to look past, and even some cheaper earbuds with better latency will be a better option. Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/earbud ... -a-review/
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