Product Review: AirPod Pro vs Nothing ear(1)
I’ve owned the AirPod Pros for a little over a year and the Nothing ear(1) for about 2 weeks as of this writing. Below I share some personal experiences and opinions which may help in deciding if caught in a dillema between the two amazing products.
Official product links:
Let’s get started…
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)
This is a close one at least in my ears. They both keep out noise pretty well. For any normal human out there, you will not be able to pick any difference.
There are only minor differences I’ve observed:
- The ear(1)s give a slight hiss, whereas the AirPods do it very cleanly.
- When the wind is blowing you will hear the wind on the ear(1)s while there’s barely any on AirPods.
Again these are so minor it doesn’t even matter.
Battery
The earpods themselves without the case are similar on paper. With their cases, the ear(1)s are supposed to give a whopping 34hrs while AirPods give about 24hrs.
👍 ear(1)s
👎 AirPods
Case
👍 The AirPods are definitely miles ahead on this. Much more compact and feels very solid.
👎 The ear(1)s have a lot of empty space which means wasted real estate. It is also flimsy. Would easily break if you drop it on a flight of cement stairs.
Connectivity
👍 AirPods like every other Apple product in the ecosystem. It is seamless. Connects with every Apple device in your arsenal like it was one.
👎 ear(1)s don’t even support multi device connections like other bluetooth earphones. You’ll have to put it on the case, press the button, then connect.
Controls
👍 AirPods I feel are more intuitive here. I am more of an analog person so the actuall pressing of something is better.
👎 ear(1)s are touch based and they can be configured on the app. Haven’t personally faced this but some reviews talk about the controls getting activated when lying sideways on the pillow.
The one area where ear(1) beats the AirPods is the volume control which is missing on the AirPods.
Comfort
👍 ear(1). Not sure if there’s some unconscious bias at play here because I just got it and still spanking new.
👎 AirPods kind of hurt after continuosly using for hours on end. Not much but there’s some slight discomfort.
Microphone
Haven’t gone out of my way to put it to test but no one has complained so far for any. But if I were to choose one based on some youtube reviews I’d go with AirPods. The ear(1)s seem to have some noise mixed in.
Price
👍 ear(1)s are only 1/4th the price of AirPods. (₹~7K)
👎 AirPods like every Apple product is priced at a premium. (₹~24K)
Weight
👍 ear(1)s are definitely lighter on paper and feels lighter on the ear too.
👎 AirPods feel like a pair of lead compared to ear(1). There’s a feeling of high quality from the weight but lighter is always better when wearing them.
Conclusion
So there you have it. Those are some things which I would have liked to know while shoping around. To conclude, for the best bang of your buck the Nothing ear(1)s are amazing. But if you have extra money lying around under your bed then go with the AirPod Pros 😛