Does anyone imagine Eliza Doolittle wandering the streets of London singing “Nothing Ear Open!” to the tune of The morning has brokenin a long-lost draft version of the opening scene of My fair lady? Okay, maybe it’s just me… but you have to admit, this is the funniest name for a set of earbuds you’ve heard in a while.
And that’s what was spotted in the wild! Gadget discovery site 91 Mobiles posted an image According to the online publication, the new Nothing audio product has been included in the certification of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
The listing confirms the marketing name “Ear Open” with Nothing as the brand, along with a model number, B182 (easy to remember for Blink 182 fans), and a “low power device” listing category – i.e. something that connects via Bluetooth. Crucially, the device description mentions “true wireless earbuds” which, if the leak turns out to be genuine, is a pretty compelling indication that new Nothing earbuds are in the pipeline.
Just to be clear, the earbuds above are not the Nothing Ear Open – but don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t recognise them. These are the CMF by Nothing Buds Pro 2 in blue, coming out July 2024, which we just finished testing (we’ll publish that review soon).
Nothing Ear Open: What to Expect
Of course, the sum of the information in the leak has now been shared, leaving us with very little concrete evidence. But if I know Nothing (and I think I do), the company’s naming strategy is generally as transparent as its products – who could forget the tall, thin housing that came with the Nothing Ear Stick, for example?
I’m pretty sure we can expect a set of open-ear earbuds from Nothing – something like the Bose Ultra Open, OneOdio OpenRock Pro, Oladance OWS or pretty much any of the other options in our roundup of the best open-ear headphones.
Most, but not all, earbuds have a spiral design (think ammonite, if you’re into fossils). The driver housing or “tip” sits in the middle, close to but not in your ear canal, while the other end of the spiral slides behind your ear, sometimes clicking gently into place.
Regular readers will know that Nothing won the ChatGPT race in May 2024, bringing pinch-to-speak functionality to all of its audio products when used with a Nothing phone, including the inaugural Nothing Ear (1), subsequent Ear (stick) and Ear (2), plus the cheaper CMF Buds, CMF Neckband Pro and CMF Buds Pro. So it makes sense to assume that Nothing’s virtual voice assistant USP will carry over to the Nothing Ear Open.
Then there’s Nothing’s groundbreaking sound personalisation mode. That’s reserved for the flagship models – you get it in the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (2); you don’t get it in the Nothing Ear (a) – but as Nothing’s first foray into the world of open-ear offerings, I’d expect to see the feature in some form, albeit in a slimmed-down form (because delivering a bespoke audio experience in designs that sit outside the ear canal is a tricky business). Active noise cancellation? That’s unlikely, as the main reason to buy a pair of open-ear headphones is to better hear your surroundings.
Finally, if recent reviews of the excellent Nothing Ear(a) and Nothing Ear 2024 earbuds are anything to go by, the sound might actually be something, you know? In short – and if the prices are as reasonable as Carl Pei’s recent 2020 startup offerings – I predict a huge hit.
When can we see Nothing Ear Open? Impossible to say with any certainty. For now we wait…