Nothing is already a year old. Started with Nothing Ear (1) last year, then Nothing Phone (1) this year and they come with another TWS which is Nothing Ear (stick). For a new company, it's pretty amazing how fast they grow.
But what about the quality of their products? After more than a month, I made the Ear (stick) as my daily TWS, I was actually quite surprised by the quality of this product. But the question is, is it suitable for everyone, or only for fans of Nothing? The selling price is over RM400, which is quite high for semi-open type TWS or earbuds.
Specifications And Design
Nothing Ear (stick)
Partial open type (earbud)
Dynamic 12.6 mm Audio Driver
PEN (Polyethylene Naphthalate) + PU (Polyurethane)
Tuned by Nothing
SBC & AAC
Microphone 3x microphone
Bluetooth 5.2 sensor
Auto pause
7 hours continuous battery
29 hours with charging pod
9 hours with 10 minutes charge
Bluetooth tethering
Google Fast Pair
Microsoft Swift Pair
USB-C charging
Nothing X app support (built into Phone (1))
Android, iOS
Pinch Control
IP54 waterproof capability
Selling Price RM469
Like Ear (1), Nothing offers only basic specifications on their TWS such as only supporting SBC and AAC codecs and nothing more. The most striking thing about the Ear (stick) is its design by using plastic construction material on the charging pod and each earphone and maintaining the transparent element. The ear (stick) also does not support active noise cancellation, environmental noise cancellation, or even wireless charging.
This time, the control on this TWS is by squeezing the stem like on AirPods Pro - only it has no haptic vibration effect and just makes a sound as if a button has been pressed. The audio driver is larger which is 12.6mm dynamic type and PEN (Polyethylene Naphthalate) + PU (Polyurethane). Nothing no longer works with Teenage Enginering for audio profiles. Instead everything is self-designed. Connectivity is via Bluetooth 5.2 with support for Microsoft Swift Pair and Google Fast Pair. It also supports the feature of pausing music every time the earphone is removed from the ear.
Three microphones are included for calls and voice recording. The battery is said to last up to 7 hours continuously or up to 29 hours with the help of a charging pod that doubles as a storage space.
IP54 protection is included for splash or sweat resistance during exercise. It's just that I don't encourage using Ear (stick) for exercise because it's not very tight in the ear and it's easy to come off.
Nothing Ear (stick) uses a transparent cylindrical design with textured white rough plastic material. The transparent plastic on the outside can be rotated to remove the earphones and keep them on. There's nothing below but above there's a USB-C port for charging and a power/docking button designed to look like it's encased in a plastic case.
On each audio bud, it uses an Ear-like design (1) with a transparent stalk showing the electronic components inside while on the top it looks like AirPods 3 with a silver lattice and a sensor array on the other side.
The main problem with the Ear (stick) design is that it is very easy to scratch and get dirty. Only two weeks of use, I can already see dust in the cylinder which is difficult to clean. But there is no denying that rotating this TWS charging pod is satisfying and feels cool because it provides a different usage experience than others. This scratch issue has been going on since Nothing Ear (1) and strangely no improvements have been made to use a more durable transparent plastic material to solve it.
Audio Quality
The audio quality on the Ear (stick) is satisfactory and better than the Ear (1). But because it's not an in-ear type (earbuds) it's automatically not my favorite and I'm more willing to use the Ear (1) because I care more about comfort for long-term use.
Bass/Lows
In terms of bass, this TWS provides quite a good thump for a semi-open type. What I can say is the bass that is produced is not defined and not deep enough because the bang that is produced seems to be lacking and not lively enough. This is because it is a semi-open type and not an in-ear type, where the bass has been contaminated with ambient noise that seeps in without isolation.
Vocals/Mids
The vocals produced by TWS are quite satisfying. The variety of music I tested, all suited me and felt this audio profile was what Nothing should have included on the Ear (1) from the very beginning. Every piece of music I listen to I live with full devotion and no distractions. What I noticed is, women's voices are slightly drowned and men's voices are louder and pleasant to hear.
High Tone/Highs
Music with instruments that produce high notes when using the Ear (stick) is quite good. It has a good level of loudness for a mid-range TWS, not too loud and about the same as the Ear (1). It's not drowned out either, but what I hope is that the highs on this TWS should be able to stand out more.
Audio Staging & Isolation
Nothing tries their best to make this mid-class TWS Ear (stick) look like a flagship class. But of course it has limits and for this TWS it has an audio staging that tries to be wide but still close to the user's face. It is not wide enough to provide immersive audio and long-term use such as after an hour can feel suffocating and tiring. Audio isolation is quite good actually, every instrument if scrutinized can be heard well.
Low Interval Mode
As with most TWS now, there will definitely be a low time lapse mode included. This mode is usually dedicated to playing games rather than music, so the audio quality will be lowered. In my usage, this mod is quite good and works very smoothly.
Microphone
Three microphones are included on the Nothing Ear (stick), which have high definition quality. In the Nothing Phone (1) voice recorder application, the recorded voice sounds very clear and loud and there is no noise. Even in a voice call when asked to the person on the other side, they were also satisfied with my clear voice.
Battery
For the Nothing Ear (stick), Nothing promises a battery life of up to 29 hours with the charging pod or 7 hours continuously. Charging is via USB-C and there is no wireless charging support like Ear (1). As far as I have been using it for more than a month, I can say that this is one of the TWS that I like because the battery lasts very long.
My daily usage is only around 2 hours and I will put it back in the charging pod, where each earphone will come back to full power and only after more than a week I have to recharge these TWS. In other words, the Ear (stick) has no battery problems and their claims are true and the charging period is also short.
Applications And Controls
After the Ear (stick) was launched, Nothing updated the Nothing Ear application (1) to Nothing X. The application can be found on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store or for Nothing Phone (1) users, Nothing X is already built into Nothing OS directly in the settings Bluetooth every time TWS Ear (1) or Ear (stick) is tethered.
This application is very easy to use because it is simple and user-friendly. On the main page of the application, it displays the battery status of both the earphones and also the charging pod. Then there's the option to change the controls for squeezes like a single squeeze on the stalk to pause the music, and a longer squeeze to invoke the digital assistant on the phone in use.
On the main page of the application there is also an equalizer for users to choose an audio profile that suits their taste. But I use Balanced mode because it's the most comfortable and balanced for the majority of situations it's used in.
The application is also easy to use and also comes with features to update firmware, find lost earphones and tether Ear (1) and Ear (stick) simultaneously. In this application too, there are controls to turn on/off the auto-pause feature, low time-lapse mode, or even turn on the HD Audio AAC codec.
We highly recommend the installation of the Nothing X application to Ear (stick) owners because various feature customizations can only be changed using it. Without Nothing X, the earphones would still be wearable but would be too limited. Only Nothing Phone (1) users do not need to download as this feature is built directly into the device's operating system.
In the box
These are the contents of the box with every Nothing Ear (stick) purchase.
One unit of Nothing Ear (stick)
USB-C to USB-C charging cable
Manual
Conclusion
Nothing Ear (stick) is undeniably a good TWS with solid, tasty and satisfying audio. It also once again comes with a very unique design, providing an interesting user experience and trying to draw people's attention to how special this product is. It's just a shame, the selling price is RM469.
For semi-open type TWS or earbuds, the price above RM400 is quite expensive. The ear (stick) also lacks ANC support which at this price should be included. For me, I recommend you buy Nothing Ear (1) because it has a more stable audio quality after dozens of updated versions, supports ANC, wireless charging, a more beautiful and simple design and some sellers are already selling it at around RM400 as well.
Pro
Pretty solid audio.
Unique and attractive design.
Easy control with just a squeeze on the stalk.
User-friendly Nothing X app.
Cons
Not the in-ear kind.
No ANC support and wireless charging.
A body that is easily dirty and scratches that are difficult to wash.
A relatively high selling price for the type of earbuds.