You can’t have escaped the news: Prime Day dates have been confirmed and this year, it’s a full-on four day extravaganza. Sounds exhausting, no?
I’m here to tell the gentle, kind music-lovers among us it’s OK – you don’t need to get stressed out about something happening in July. Why? Because the deal of the year on cheap noise-canceling earbuds is already live, as far as I’m concerned.
You also cannot have escaped the outstanding, five-star Nothing Ear (a) – top of the shop in our best budget earbuds guide soon after their release last year. They’ve also been in our top 3 affordable earbuds mini-roundup and on the receiving end of so much praise from us that I’m struggling for fresh superlatives…
Except no I’m not. Because right now, ‘incredible value’ is of paramount importance, along with three other factors that make these buds a cut above anything that’s tried to beat ’em in 2025.
1. Simple sound-per-pound value
As I mentioned in the ‘Sound’ section of my glowing five-star review of the Nothing Ear (a): you get LDAC codec support here, (the Sony-developed codec that lets you stream high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps, if your device supports it and the file can deliver it) which is basically unheard of for this money. Got a Sony smartphone? Oh, you’re going to love it.
But even lossy Spotify tracks (or much better Apple Music songs) are handled admirably here, with ample texture and space that other earbuds at this price simply can’t reach – and you should know that I’ve tested them.
For dynamic build, the Nothing Ear (a) are meaty and arresting, with a broad and expansive soundstage across the frequencies. Worried they may lack detail refinement? No, although the sonic tuning here does emphasize fun and energy over that integrated hi-fi listen some might prefer. Personally, I cannot find fault. I simply won’t – especially not when they’re at least $20 or £20 cheaper than their original and already-reasonable MSRP.
No, they’re not sonically superior to something triple the price (such as the Technics EAH-AZ100, maybe). If they were, we could all give up and go home. But for the money, Nothing has knocked it out the park with the Ear (a) – and I’ll keep saying it ’til everyone gets it!
2. Stunning transparent design (and excellent fit)
I don’t do a self-titled ‘Floral Photoshoot’ for just any earbuds, reader. But I wanted to shine a light on the pride of ownership I still feel a year after procuring a pair (they actually arrived in April 2024) – they’re just way too good-looking for the money.
It’s the details: the red and white dots at the top of the stems and in the case so you know which bud goes where; the transparent case lid so you know you haven’t lost one; the various ear tips in the same color as the driver housing to keep the lines clean; the super subtle branding; the fact that when I put them in, they stay…
3. ChatGPT squeezy stems (and other features)
Nothing won the ChatGPT race back in May 2024, so if you’re considering the Nothing Phone 3 (landing in July), simply install the ChatGPT app on your phone and you’ll be able to access the AI chatbot simply by squeezing the stems. It’ll also work with current Nothing smartphones. Cool, no?
Add to this great call handling – yes, it’s far better than older Nothing earbuds in this respect, with recipients telling me my voice was unusually clear. I mean, it checks out when you see that the Clear Voice Technology was upped from v2.0 in the Ear (2) – or 1.0 with Bass Lock software in the Ear (Stick) – to 3.0 here, but it’s still worth giving the Ear (a) its flowers (see what I did there?).
OK, there’s no onboard spatial audio wizardry side-sauce and you don’t get the Ear (2)’s splendid personalized hearing tests, but you do get in-ear detection (to pause music when they’re out and resume it when they’re in), multipoint to two devices, a low lag toggle for gaming, an ear tip ‘fit test’ and a Find My Earbuds feature, which issues a very cool rattlesnake-style sound from whichever bud you’re trying to locate.
All in all, I love this feature set for Nothing.
4. ANC in a different league to anything in its price bracket
Yes, I’m giving you Much Ado About Nothing – and nothing is largely what you’ll hear when you deploy the Ear (a)’s vastly-superior-for-the-level noise cancellation.
After deploying ANC (rather than ‘Transparency’ or ‘Off’), you can pick either High, Mid, Low, and Adaptive profiles in the companion app. High is very good: the hairdryer we use in our meticulous and methodical testing was largely gone to my ears. Let’s just say, I can see why it drops the battery life from 9.5 hours without ANC to 5.5 with it.
The quoted improvement over Nothing’s older buds is 45dB over 40dB of ambient noise nixing and if that’s hard to imagine, know that when I sat down at home wearing Ear (a) with ANC on High in our small flat, I didn’t realize the oven extractor fan was on – my other half was making breakfast. As soon as I switched to Ear (2)? Easily perceptible.
Look, it’s my job to tell you the best earbuds at various price points, and the Nothing Ear (a) are a shoo-in for the best at this low price. I’ve said what I needed to say. Don’t thank me! Don’t say a word – say nothing…
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becky.scarrott@futurenet.com (Becky Scarrott)
