Image Credit: Nothing

Consumer technology venture from OnePlus’ ex-CEO and co-founder Carl Pei debut their first product, the ear (1) wireless earbuds.

In September, Carl Pei left OnePlus to start his new consumer hardware electronics venture “Nothing”. Last February, Pei announced Nothing’s first product would be earbuds, due to launch in summer. Today we got our first glimpse at ear (1) from their official launch event held on one of the most successful tech YouTube channels Unbox Therapy. Carl Pei and more of the Nothing team joined Lewis Hilsenteger from Unbox Therapy, along with YouTuber and Nothing investor Casey Neistat.


ear (1) are wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation. Featuring a unique transparent design, Nothing stress how they created the earbuds from scratch, rather than following the design of AirPods as so many other companies have done. At just 4.7g, each earbud is ultra light, with pressure-relieving vents, an ergonomic design and customisable fit thanks to three liquid silicon tips to ensure maximum comfort. The composite mesh design improves sweat and water resistance, with an IPX4 rating.

11.6mm speaker drivers and spacious air chambers hope to provide advanced bass, mid and treble performance, with sound tuned by the audiophiles at Swedish consumer electronics and audio company Teenage Engineering. As is now common among wireless earbuds, active noise cancellation removes unwanted background noise such as airplane engines or office chat, while Transparent mode bring in outside noises with a touch, so you can stay aware of your surroundings. For calls, Clear Voice Technology and three high-definition mics, as well as advanced algorithms isolate and amplify your voice by referencing a million voice and sound combinations. This can even remove wind noise up to 40km/h.

Image Credit: Nothing

Nothing’s ear (1) connect to your phone via Bluetooth 5.2. The buds automatically pause when when they’re removed from your ears and pick up where they left off when re-entered. In the ear (1) iOS and Android app, you’ll find customisation options for the equalizer and touch gestures, plus Find My Earbuds to help you track your lost buds. Fast Pair enables one-touch connection with compatible Android devices by simply opening the case. On a single charge, the earbuds will last 5.7 hours, with the case providing a total of 34 hours. These number are reduced to 4 hours and 24 hours respectively with ANC turned on.

Image Credit: Nothing

Nothing’s ear (1) earbuds will go on sale for $99 on August 17th across 45 countries. A limited sale will take place on the Nothing site on 31st July. Click here and enter your email address to sign up to information on availability. We’re looking forward to seeing how these perform once they start shipping.