Android flagships have no dearth of options when it comes to good earbuds. Most people prefer TWS (True Wireless Stereo) earbuds these days, thanks to the popularity of AirPods. However, there are more options that you can get if you are open to different form factors. On the rise these days are OWS (Open Wearable Stereo) earbuds, and Nothing is jumping early on the bandwagon with the new Nothing Ear Open.

OWS earbuds, popularly known as open earbuds, have tips that do not enter or seal the ear canal. Since the earbuds rest more gently in your ear, they often have designs with long over-ear stems that help keep the earbud in place and pack in more tech. The design also favors transparency by letting environmental sounds naturally enter your ear. Conversely, the open design often leads to sound leakage, no noise cancellation and compromised audio quality compared to more conventional earbuds.

The Nothing Ear Open is the company’s attempt at an OWS earbud, and it is immediately recognizable as a Nothing product. It continues Nothing’s design philosophy with a transparent case lid and a transparent earbud design. The company also boasts that the earbuds case is just 19mm thick, one of the thinnest in the OWS category. The earbuds feature what the company describes as a three-point balance system and silicone ear hooks to provide a secure fit across ear shapes.

On your ear, the Ear Open has a Sound Seal System and directional speakers that aim to minimize sound leakage. These earbuds also claim to sound great, with a 14.2mm dynamic driver, custom diaphragm, titanium coating, an ultralight driver, and a stepped design. Nothing’s Bass Enhance algorithm provides a richer bass experience, while the Clear Voice Technology uses AI-enhanced processing for clear voice calls.

Nothing claims that the Ear Open can provide up to eight hours of playback on a single charge of its 64mAh battery and up to 30 hours with the charging case’s 635mAh battery. Charging via USB-C for 10 minutes will give you two hours of listening time, though we could not locate any mention of wireless charging for the case.

Other features of the Ear Open include Bluetooth 5.3, dual connection capabilities for seamless device switching, a low lag mode for minimal audio delay during gaming, and an IP54 rating for the earbuds and the case. Much like other Nothing products, the Ear Open also comes with ChatGPT integration via the Nothing X app for hands-free access to the chatbot. The earbuds are compatible with iOS and Android, and also support Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair.

The Nothing Ear Open is available to preorder from today, September 24, 2024, at Nothing’s website in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe. You can purchase the Ear Open starting October 1, 2024, for $149 / £129 / €149. There is only a singular white color available right now, and the company has not indicated whether other color variants are in the works. You can read our thoughts on these earbuds in our Nothing Ear Open review.