The Nothing Ear 3A deliver great, but sometimes buggy, performance for the price
The Verge has reviewed Nothing's new Ear 3A wireless earbuds, priced at $99, finding they offer strong overall performance for the money despite some minor software quirks. The earbuds continue Nothing's distinctive transparent design language, now available in a new pink colourway alongside yellow, black and white, and the brand has improved both active noise cancellation and audio quality over previous models, though buggy behaviour that has affected earlier Nothing earbuds persists in areas such as adaptive ANC.
The Ear 3A use 12mm dynamic drivers and support the high-resolution LDAC codec alongside SBC and AAC. Out of the box the sound is notably bass-heavy, which the reviewer felt overwhelmed vocals and guitars, though a robust equaliser in the companion app — including four presets, a 3-band custom EQ and an 8-band parametric EQ — allowed for significant tonal adjustment. Noise cancellation was praised for effectively filtering low-frequency drones such as air conditioning or aircraft cabin noise, with mid and low ANC settings also available, though the adaptive ANC mode and call quality showed occasional inconsistencies during testing.
- Nothing's $99 Ear 3A earbuds reviewed by The Verge
- Strong sound and ANC, but adaptive ANC has minor bugs
- Robust in-app EQ fixes bass-heavy default sound signature