Can anyone else imagine Eliza Doolittle, wandering the streets of London singing “Nothing Ear Open!” to the tune of The morning has arrivedIn a long-lost draft version of the opening scene of My beautiful lady? Well, maybe it's just me… but you have to admit, that's the funniest name you've heard for a pair of headphones in a long time.
And that’s what’s been spotted on the net! Gadget discovery site 91 Mobiles has posted an image of what the online publication claims is a listing for the new Nothing audio product within Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) certification.
The listing confirms the ‘Ear Open’ branding with Nothing as the brand name, along with a model number – B182 (easy to remember for Blink 182 fans) – and a listing category of ‘low-power device’ – i.e. something that connects to Bluetooth. Crucially, the gear description says ‘truly wireless earphones’, which, if the leak turns out to be genuine, is a pretty conclusive hint that new Nothing earphones are in the works.
For the avoidance of any doubt, the earbuds pictured above are not the Nothing Ear Open, but don’t feel too guilty if you don’t recognise them. They’re the CMF by Nothing Buds Pro 2 in blue that are due to be released in July 2024 and which we’ve just tested (we’ll be publishing that review soon).
No open ears: what to expect
Obviously, all of the information contained in the leak has already been shared, leaving us with very little concrete evidence to go on. But if I know of Nothing (and I think I do), the company's naming strategy is typically as transparent as its products (who could forget the long, thin case that came with the Nothing Ear Stick, for example?).
So, I'm pretty sure we can expect a pair of open-back headphones from Nothing, something like the Bose Ultra Open, OneOdio OpenRock Pro, Oladance OWS, or indeed any of the options in our roundup of the best open-back headphones.
Most, but not all, of these types of earphones have a spiral-shaped design (think ammonite, if fossils are your thing), where the driver housing or “bud” part sits in the center, close to the ear canal but not inside it, while the other end of the spiral slides behind your ear, sometimes gently snapping into place.
Regular readers will know that in May 2024, Nothing won the ChatGPT race and brought tap-to-talk functionality to all of its audio products when used with a Nothing phone, including the inaugural Nothing Ear (1), the subsequent Ear (stick) and Ear (2), plus the more affordable CMF Buds, CMF Neckband Pro, and CMF Buds Pro. So it makes sense to assume that the unique selling proposition of Nothing’s virtual voice assistant will carry over to the Nothing Ear Open.
Then there’s Nothing’s innovative sound customization mode. It’s reserved for the flagship models (you get it on the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (2); you don’t get it on the Nothing Ear (a)), but since this is Nothing’s first foray into the world of open-ear headphones, you might expect to see this feature in some form, albeit in a scaled-back form (because delivering a personalized audio experience on designs that sit outside the ear canal is a tricky business). Active noise cancellation? That’s unlikely, because the whole reason to buy open-ear headphones is to hear your surroundings better.
Finally, if recent reviews of the company’s excellent Nothing Ear (a) and Nothing Ear headphones, due out in 2024, are true, the sound could be truly spectacular, you know? Bottom line, and if the price is as reasonable as Carl Pei’s startup’s recent offerings from 2020, I predict a big hit.
When will we be able to see the Open Ear of Nothing? It is impossible to say for sure. For now, we wait…
