Nothing announced a refresh to its headphone line today. The naming conventions are a bit confusing here, but Nothing’s Ear is an update of Nothing’s Ear (2), while Nic’s Ear (a) is a more spiritual successor to the Nothing’s Ear Stick.
However, the most notable part of today’s news is probably Nothing’s embrace of ChatGPT this time around. As the world’s “artificial intelligence smartphones” battle it out with devices like Humane’s Ai Pin and Rabbit R1 in sharing thoughts, the London-based mobile company appears to have skipped a step by integrating the technology into its novel in-ear headphones.
More specifically, if you have the ChatGPT app installed on your connected Nothing phone, you’ll be able to ask questions to the AI generative program by squeezing the stem of the headphones. Think Siri/Google Assistant/Alexa-style access on a pair of earbuds, only this one connects directly to the wildly popular OpenAI platform.
“Nothing will also improve the user experience of the Nothing smartphone on the Nothing OS by embedding system-level entry points into ChatGPT, including sharing screenshots and Nothing-style widgets,” the company notes. This feature will be exclusive to both novel handsets.
Nothing in Your Ear Review (1).
Pre-orders for both buds begin today. Nothing says that the in-ear headphones deliver better sound compared to their predecessors, thanks to the novel driver system. This, in the meantime, allowed for more space for the battery and ensured up to 25% longer battery life than in the case of the ear (2). The “intelligent” lively noise cancellation system adjusts according to ambient noise and checks for “leakage” between the headphones and the ear canal.
The Ear(a) also boasts noise-cancelling improvements, but what doesn’t really seem to push the envelope is the glowing yellow color scheme, which breaks up the black and white aesthetic that has defined these devices.
Both the Ear and Ear(a) are available at reasonable prices of $149 and $99 respectively. Shipping starts on April 22.