Nothing wants you to talk to your earbuds’ charging case

Modern earbuds often tout how many microphones they have on each bud, each helping contribute to crystal-clear calls and heavy duty noise cancellation. Nothing’s Ear 3, announced today, may be the first to boast about how many they have on the charging case instead. 

There are two, for what it’s worth, and they make up a system Nothing is calling “Super Mic.” Activated by a surprisingly prominent “Talk” button on one side of the case, you can use the microphones for calls, voice notes, or memos in the AI-powered Essential Space on Nothing phones. You still need the buds to be out of the case and connected to your phone though, which limits the use cases a little, but Nothing says you’ll get clearer audio from the case than from the buds’ own microphones, which may make it worthwhile. I’ve been testing the Ear 3 a little already and haven’t found a huge improvement in call clarity so far from Super Mic, but I’ll push it a little harder before my full review next week.

It’s surely designed to take over TikTok too, fitting neatly into the trend for handheld lav mics, though it’s unexpectedly limited there — Nothing says Super Mic won’t work with the default camera apps on either iOS or Android. It will be supported by some third-party video apps though, including Blackmagic.

“Most of these apps default to the phone’s native microphone and don’t give users the option to select another input,” explains Andrew Freshwater, Nothing’s head of global smart products marketing. “That’s an OS and app-level decision, not ours. We’d love to see this flexibility opened up so more people can benefit from Super Mic.”

Beyond Super Mic, these are another pair of midrange earbuds much in the line of the previous Nothing sets. They repeat the semi-transparent design in either black or white, with clear plastic used to hint at the earbuds’ technical innards. Both the buds and charging case have now been reinforced with some metal parts, which Nothing says add improved durability and better antenna performance.

12mm drivers deliver the sound, with support for spatial audio, LDAC Hi-Res, and a personalized EQ based on an in-app hearing analysis test. Nothing promises five and a half hours of battery life with ANC on, and 22 total including the case, which is acceptable enough, but nothing special. There’s wireless charging too.

The biggest confusion might be the name — Nothing’s Ear 1 and Ear 2 were followed simply by Ear last year, but now we’re back at 3, which does raise some concerns about the company’s numerical acumen. So long as that doesn’t put you off, the Ear 3 will set you back $179, with preorders opening today ahead of a full release on September 25th.