Nothing Ear Stick review: I wish they stuck in my ears
The Nothing Ear Stick is the brand’s third product release, following thePhone 1andEar 1. They’re instantly recognizable as a piece of Nothing tech, with liberal use of transparent plastic and plenty of attention-grabbing, unconventional design choices.
Despite the Ear Stick’s radical look, they’re a pretty pedestrian pair of earbuds for day-to-day use. By this point, Carl Pei’s post-OnePlus startup has established a pattern of releasing pretty-good products that look more interesting than they really are. At $99, the Ear Stick are a fine pair of buds in very flashy packaging, and there’s plenty to like about them — as long as they fit in your ears.
Nothing Ear Stick
The Nothing Ear Stick are a pair of fashion-focused earbuds from the company behind the Ear 1 and the Nothing Phone 1. In addition to Nothing’s signature transparent look and a lipstick-inspired case, the Ear Stick offer good audio quality and decent battery life. Fit isn’t customizable here, though, and they may not sit comfortably in your ears.
Nothing Ear Stick: Design, hardware, what’s in the box
Like both of Nothing’s previous products, the Nothing Ear Stick earbuds sport a delightfully unconventional design. The buds have the same white-and-clear-plastic look as the Ear 1, and Nothing says the Ear Stick’s tubular charging case is inspired by “classic cosmetics silhouettes,” and I can see that. The case opens with a twisting motion (with a solidclickwhen it reaches its fully open or closed position), and reminds me of a thick tube of lipstick. And while pretty much allgood true wireless earbudscome in small cases, the Ear Stick’s is especially thin and pocketable, which I appreciate. Overall, the case has a unique design that’s fun to interact with.
But as cool as the case is, it’s not entirely practical. The inner piece that houses the buds is made of finely knurled white plastic, which gives it an interesting look and satisfying texture. But after just a few weeks of careful use, my unit started collecting grime around the opening that the buds go in and out of, and dust and dog hair made their way between the inner white plastic and clear outer shell. Also, because the case isn’t meant to be disassembled, it’s not easy to clean. I shudder to think what these earbuds might look like after a year or two of rolling around in bags and pockets.
It’s not easy to keep the Ear Stick’s case free of dust and debris.
At least the earbuds are easy to keep clean. They’ve got hard plastic tips with no folds of silicone or other crevices to collect dirt. Because they don’t come with multiple-size ear tips to customize their fit, though, the Nothing Ear Stick won’t work in everybody’s ears. Theyalmostwork for me; sitting still, the buds stay nestled where they’re supposed to. But any physical activity jostles the earbuds around, and I’m always afraid I’ll lose one. When wearing the earbuds at my desk for a few hours, they move around, and I have to adjust them to get the driver back where it’s supposed to be. Ear shapes vary, but for me, this fit just doesn’t cut it.
There’s not much included with the Nothing Ear Stick in their clever little oblong box — just some literature and a matching USB-C-to-USB-C cable for charging.
Nothing Ear Stick: Audio and features
Being hard plastic buds, the Ear Stick offer little sound isolation, so even moderate environmental noise can make them difficult to appreciate your media. Compound that with the fact that the earbuds refuse to stay put in my ears, and the listening experience is not ideal. That said, in quiet environments with the earbuds properly seated, they sound nice for $99, and maintaining some awareness of your surroundings is great when ambient noise isn’t overwhelming.
Audio here isn’t as clear or detailed as what you’ll get out of earbuds that cost two or three times as much, but the Nothing Ear Stick don’t have the telltale compressed sound of some cheaper earbuds. Crashing cymbals don’t get warbly, and it’s easy to pick out individual instruments and sounds, even in busy tracks. There’s ample bass, too — until the earbuds shift in my ears and their drivers aren’t pointed the right way. The earbuds only support the SBC and AAC codecs (no aptX), but that’s not surprising at this price point.
The Ear Sticks are good for calls. I don’t generally like the fit or feel of AirPods-style hard plastic earbuds, and that’s true here, too — but being able to clearly hear my own voice while I’m talking makes conversations feel more natural. They also handle background noise pretty handily, and I’ve had no complaints about the clarity of my voice during phone calls or video meetings.
Unlike the Nothing Ear 1, which had touch controls, the Ear Stick are controlled by squeezing their stems. A single squeeze on either bud is play/pause; two squeezes skip forward, and three squeezes move backward. Squeezing and holding the left earbud lowers your media volume, while holding the right bud raises it. I really like this familiar setup, as it’s more tactile than touch controls, and not having to precisely position my fingers on a tiny touch surface to adjust the volume is a relief. The buds also make a really satisfying faux-analogticksound when you squeeze or release a stem.
You get Fast Pair support, which is always appreciated, but there’s no multipoint connectivity, and there’s no ANC — though, as the Galaxy Buds Live taught us, ANC in open-style earbuds like these doesn’t do much anyway.
The Nothing X app — preinstalled on the Nothing Phone 1 and available on the Play Store elsewhere — lets you tweak the Ear Stick’s sound profile using a three-way equalizer. There’s a handful of preset options and a custom setting that lets you tune treble, mids, and bass manually; I’ve been keeping mine on theMore Basspreset, which makes for a warmer sound that doesn’t feel exaggeratedly bassy.
You can also change the controls by choosing what each earbud does when you double and triple pinch, pinch-and-hold, and double-pinch-and-hold. The double-pinch-and-hold action isn’t used by default, so I set it to call the Google Assistant on my phone. Aside from that action, I think the control scheme is pretty ideal as is, so I didn’t see a reason to change anything.
Nothing Ear Stick: Battery life
Battery life in the Nothing Ear Stick is decidedly good at about seven hours of playback per charge. That’s not terribly impressive considering there’s no noise cancellation at work here — sets like the $200Pixel Buds Procan swing seven hours with ANC — but seven hours should be enough to get you through a full workday if you can find a few minutes to recharge. The buds' slick little case can top the Ear Stick up about three times before needing a recharge itself.
The case has USB-C charging but doesn’t support wireless charging. That’s a shame, but considering the case’s unique shape, there probably isn’t room for a charging coil. Wireless charging isn’t guaranteed in buds around this price; thePixel Buds A-Seriesdon’t have wireless charging, either.
Nothing Ear Stick: Competition
The Ear Stick cost $99, the same price the Nothing Ear 1 used to be. Between the two, I’d absolutely choose Ear 1. I prefer earbuds with silicone tips, and the Ear 1’s decent ANC is a huge advantage compared to the Ear Stick, which don’t feature noise cancelling at all. But the Ear 1recently jumped $50 in price, so the Ear Stick are retroactively a lower-end offering. Still, if you can stretch your earbud budget to $150, the Ear 1 offer most of what’s good about the Ear Stick in a better-rounded package with features like ANC and wireless charging.
Google’s Pixel Buds A-Series are similar to the Ear Stick in many ways. Both earbuds retail for $100 and have a design that lets in environmental sound. The Ear Stick have better battery life — seven hours, versus the A-Series’s five — but the Pixel Buds come with silicone tips in multiple sizes and feature hands-free Google Assistant access. The Pixel Buds A-Series are a little flaky with Bluetooth connections, though, causing some interference and occasional skips.
We’ve got all kinds of recommendations for affordable earbuds from other manufacturers, too. Check them out if you’re unconvinced by any of these options.
Nothing Ear Stick: Should you buy them?
I’m kind of torn on the Nothing Ear Stick overall. There are things I love about them: they look great, their case is probably the coolest I’ve ever seen in wireless earbuds, and they sound plenty good enough for their price. But that cool case gets dirty fast and is hard to clean, and more importantly, the things don’t fit in my ears comfortably.
Assuming they stay put in your ears, and you don’t need the sound isolation that comes with silicone tips (or ANC), the Nothing Ear Stick are a good pair of midrange earbuds. Just be ready to return them if, like me, you may’t get a comfortable fit.
Buy them if…
Don’t buy them if…
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