Wireless earbuds are convenient, but they come with their own caveats. Charging hassles, sub-par battery longevity, and above all, the bad mic. Save for a few high-end (read: expensive) options, the onboard mic on a majority of earbuds will make you sound tinny, suppress the volume, or just crackle randomly. Nothing’s latest earbuds try to solve the problem by having you speak in the charging case.
What’s the big deal?
The new Nothing Ear (3) earbuds come with a sleek charging case with a built-in dual-microphone array. Dubbed Super Mic, it can cancel some of the background noise, which is a huge sigh of relief if you take calls on the go or hope to record content for social media. Some of us wear earbuds all the time, so imagine the daily frustration.
“It focuses on your voice and cuts through all other noise (up to 95 dB) for complete clarity on calls and voicenotes,” says the company. There’s a “talk” button on the charging case that supports tap and hold gestures, depending on whether you want to take a call or record a voice memo.
Now, these mics are pretty special, and they rely on the same fundamental tech that you would find on expensive office communication gear. We’re talking about MEMS with beamforming technology, which essentially focuses on the speaker’s voice while tuning out ambient noise signals.
It’s a bit odd, but I’ll take it
I have lost count of the occasions where I kept yelling “hello” and “can you hear me” into the earbuds’ mics, and eventually had to run outside. Or, I was forced to take the call with the built-in speaker-mic assembly on my phone. Even Nothing’s previous-generation earbuds have tested my patience.
Now, the idea of talking into the charging case may look odd (and it surely will), but it solves a tangible problem. I will gladly take that convenience. Plus, for the short bursts where I need to record a quick clip for social media, they will definitely come in handy. I’ll just imagine it’s a proper mic, and a case. Or, a case that looks like a mic.
But do keep in mind that the Nothing Ear (3) only pushes the Super Mic for voice calls and notes. As TechRadar reports, they won’t assist you with WhatsApp voice messages, but calls are kosher. In a nutshell, pray that the communication app of your choice plays nice.
Nothing Ear (3) earbuds are priced at $179 and will be up for grabs late in September.
