Earbuds are typically not a game-changer in your ability to sculpt your calling experience. The Nothing Ear 3 does, though, with a nifty trick: the charging case also acts as a noise-filtering microphone for calls and voice notes. Combined with sub-$180 pricing, upgraded drivers, and higher-bitrate Bluetooth audio, these buds punch above their weight.
A charging case that makes phone calls better
Nothing’s “Super Mic” bakes a dual-microphone array into the Ear 3 charging case, which means you can whip out the case and hold it up to your mouth (like a, well, mini handheld mic). That closer proximity to voice sources raises signal-to-noise ratio and lowers atmospheric pickup — a basic audio engineering fact that companies like Shure and groups like the Audio Engineering Society have been hounding people about for as long as anyone can remember. Whether in the loud outdoors of a city street or the breezy open air of a park, that subtle shift can make all the difference between clipped, thin speech and clear conversation.
The earbuds themselves aren’t slouches, either. Each bud is equipped with three directional mics and bone-conduction sensors designed to help sift your voice out of background sound. An algorithm built into the device targets speech while reducing wind and traffic noise. But when things get louder and rowdier, holding the case gets you more of a “lapel mic” sound with less interference.
There’s a productivity angle, too. Owners of the company’s most recent phone can activate voice notes for its AI-powered hub via the mic on the case — handy when inspiration strikes but you’re not in the mood to fumble around through settings. Even without that ecosystem connection, the case’s mic serves just fine for standard calls and short recordings.
The audio upgrades that you’ll notice day to day
Nothing says the driver size has ballooned to 12 mm, larger than the tiny transducers used in most small earbuds. Bigger drivers can, in theory at least, help low-end authority and lower distortion levels at modest volumes. In practice, that means your kick drums will have more body and less smearing when you dial the volume up.
Equally important is codec support. The Ear 3 flips to Sony’s LDAC, which can do up to 990 kbps at 24-bit/96 kHz in ideal environments — a standard audio engineers themselves have reportedly been clapping for, since it retains more detail than the default codec, SBC. Many of the latest Android phones made by Google and Samsung offer LDAC out of the box. If you’re on iPhone, you’ll be forced into the more stable (though still efficient) AAC, as this format won’t support LDAC’s increased data rates.
Battery life and ruggedness for real-world use
The Ear 3 pledges up to 10 hours of continuous listening just from the earbuds themselves, showing an improvement over the previous generation. For commuters and hybrid workers, that means you can blaze through a full workday of playlists and meetings without worrying about finding a midday charge.
It has an IP54 rating against ingress of dust and splashing water, according to the IEC 60529 standard. Translation: gym sweat, a drizzle on the walk home, or a stray mist of coffee shouldn’t ruin your style. But it’s not swim-friendly, although it’s robust enough to stand up to everyday accidents.
Price and rivals: one of a kind at just $179
At $179, the Ear 3 undercut some flagship earbuds that cost nearly double the price. Buds like Apple’s top-of-the-line buds, Sony’s WF-1000XM5, and Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra are more expensive — and none have a case-based microphone for calls. Those models are great at active noise cancellation and pleasing tuning, but if your goal is to be heard clearly in messy surroundings, Nothing’s design solves a problem that most of the competition glosses over.
It also helps that LDAC gets the audio chain closer to what an audiophile might want on Android. Codec differences are just one piece of the quality puzzle, but the ability to choose a high bitrate at this price point is worth keeping in mind; audio reviewers have kindly nudged us toward LDAC when possible.
Where the case mic truly shines in noisy places
Consider where your calls actually occur: on a windy sidewalk, in a rideshare with the air conditioning at full blast, in your office kitchen during lunch hour. Conventional earbud mics are tiny and far from your mouth, and overall they’re fighting physics. By allowing you to reposition the primary mic so it is closer to your face, the Ear 3 minimizes the distance sound (i.e., your voice) must travel through a field of noise and therefore heightens intelligibility without resorting to aggressive suppression that can make speech sound robotic.
Journalists in the field, as well as anyone who makes quick interviews or memos, will appreciate that flexibility. Rather than yelling into your earbuds, you quietly bring the case to your lips and deliver cleaner audio in one take.
Bottom line: a smarter mic makes these buds stand out
The Nothing Ear 3 packs in a smart, practical innovation — the case-as-microphone — as well as significant audio and battery improvements, for less than $180. If what’s going into your ears is as important to you as how it sounds, these are among the most appealing mid-priced earbuds on the market right now.