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HIGHLIGHTS

  • ear (1) truly wireless earphones will be available in India from August 17 on Flipkart.
  • It has been launched at Rs 5,999.
  • The transparent design of the truly wireless earbud is something that looks unique, and you will not feel like it is so common that every second product looks the same.

Nothing ear (1), the first product from the all-new venture of Carl Pei, is finally here. No one thought that a new venture named Nothing could create so much hype around a product that would eventually be a truly wireless earbud. This has been a long journey for Pei, who was earlier associated with OnePlus and only left the smartphone company last year to start something of his own.

If there’s something that tech companies, especially the big ones including Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo, need to learn from a small venture, Nothing, then it has to be around the design. How to keep your product design under wraps ahead of the launch, which is something that big tech companies have been struggling to keep a check on. But more on that in a bit.

We had predicted that Nothing’s ear (1) could be the push the TWS segment needed for a long time, and we are glad that our prediction seems to be on the right course. The transparent design of the ear (1) looks out of this world. The biggest thing here is that consumers will not feel like they are using a product that’s so common that five different companies end up with a similar design. Even Carl Pei pointed out this during the virtual global unveiling of the ear (1) on Tuesday.

While we cannot talk about our experience yet (because embargo…), we will keep our observations limited to product shots revealed by Nothing.

The product images of the ear (1) are good enough indicators for anyone who loves aesthetics and has an inclination towards unique propositions. For starters, it looks nothing like we have seen yet. The transparent design gives a sneak-peek into different components used on the earbuds, like the microphones, magnets and circuit board. Teenage Engineering has a lot bigger role behind the design of the ear (1), and it is also among the founding partners of Nothing. The company, back in February, announced it.

Nothing has kept its transparent design philosophy to the charging case as well. The case packs a 570mAh battery and supports wireless charging as well as fast charging. The entire package is unique, in our opinion, and should blow away people who love design innovation.

We also liked the fact that Nothing hasn’t gone all out with transparency on the entire case and earbuds. Instead, it has hard plastic material towards the top of the earbud and in the middle area of the case. This is an excellent balance to the design that can be seen in official images revealed so far.

One of the reasons why the launch of the ear (1) was exciting was that the earbuds’ actual design wasn’t revealed until the launch, and that made fans and enthusiasts glued to the YouTube live stream. This was rare, in our opinion. The leaks and rumours have spoiled big launches ahead of announcements, but this was not the case with the ear (1), and big companies should take notes from Nothing.

However, earbuds with a transparent design aren’t common, and that’s for a reason. We had an opportunity to talk to Manu Sharma, Vice President and General Manager, Nothing India, ahead of the launch, where he gave us a lot to understand the context behind the design of the ear (1). “Everything that is ear (1) is there with purpose, for example, it doesn’t have L or R marks on the earbuds like everyone. Instead, it has something that’s instantly recognisable.”

“It has a red colour signal that notifies that it’s for the right ear,” Sharma adds. “The ear (1) has been designed in such a way that it offers advanced comfort and comes with pressure-relieving vents on the earbud,” he adds.

Sharma also talked about how hard it was to bring different aspects of the design in one place, like the transparent housing and the glue work, which is crucial for a product like the ear (1).

He went on to suggest that two magnet factories along the way fired nothing because the process to polish the magnets needed additional effort, and not everyone wanted to put extra effort into small things. Notably, Pei had also discussed the difficulties with magnet manufacturers in a previous interview.

While talking to Sharma, we also realised that it isn’t easy to design a product like the Nothing ear (1) with a transparent body. So there’s a reason why people are not launching earbuds or any products with this sort of design philosophy. Among plenty of reasons, there’s also the limitation of manufacturing plants that don’t support such designs because it requires additional effort, and most of the OEMs as well do not want to take so much hassle for design.

The Nothing ear (1) isn’t just about the design only. There are features that can shy away some premium truly wireless earbuds in the market. It comes with an active noise cancellation feature, which uses three high definition mics to bring music into sharp focus, Bluetooth 5.2 and fast charging support. There are also features that are crucial for a product like TWS, like in-ear detection, wireless charging, and up to 34 hours of music playback with a charging case.

Nothing leaving no stone unturned, they have also announced a dedicated app called ear (1) app that offers additional features to users like Find My Earbud, Equaliser setting, Active Noise Cancellation, and Gesture Control customisations. It also comes with sweat and water splash resistance with IPX4 certification.

If you’re interested in the all-new Nothing ear (1), you’ll have to wait a bit before the product is available on Flipkart. In India, the ear (1) will be available starting August 17 at Rs 5,999.

We will be putting out our Nothing ear (1) review soon, so stay tuned for it

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India today

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