{
  "licence": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
    "attribution": "DataDesign (https://datadesign.one)"
  },
  "url": "https://datadesign.one/wireless-earbuds/nothing-ear-3/",
  "product": {
    "id": "nothing-ear-3",
    "name": "Nothing Ear (3)",
    "brand": "nothing",
    "category": "wireless-earbuds",
    "aliases": [
      "Nothing Ear 3",
      "Ear (3)"
    ],
    "lifecycle": {
      "status": "current",
      "released": {
        "value": "2025-09-18",
        "source": "techradar-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "TechRadar states 'Released on September 18, 2025'; Trusted Reviews' spec table gives the same date as its first-reviewed date."
      },
      "predecessor": null,
      "successor": null
    },
    "msrp": [
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "amount": 179,
        "source": "techradar-nothing-ear-3",
        "as_of": "2025-09-18",
        "note": "Launch price per TechRadar ('Priced $179 / £179 / AU$299'); SoundGuys' product box and Trusted Reviews' spec table also list $179. Tom's Guide says street prices often fall to $149 in sales."
      }
    ],
    "specs": {
      "battery_life_hours": {
        "value": 5.5,
        "source": "nothing-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "Per earbud with ANC on (up to 10 h off). Measured with ANC on: SoundGuys 5 h 12 min, RTINGS 5.3 h, Trusted Reviews about 5 h, GSMArena 6.5 h (AAC); Tom's Guide 3 h with LDAC. See spike-report.md."
      },
      "battery_life_case_hours": {
        "value": 38,
        "source": "nothing-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "Nothing: 'The case delivers up to 38 hours', ANC condition unstated. TechRadar, Tom's Guide and Reviews.org give the total as 22 h with ANC on, 38 h with ANC off, so 38 is probably the ANC-off figure, not comparable with the ANC-on earbud figure."
      },
      "weight_g": {
        "value": 5.2,
        "source": "techradar-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "Per earbud, from TechRadar's spec table; HardwareZone also says 5.2 g and Tom's Guide lists 0.18 oz. The Nothing page we read gives no weight. Case figures vary by outlet (see spike-report.md)."
      },
      "anc": {
        "value": true,
        "source": "nothing-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "Adaptive Noise Cancellation that recalibrates every 600 ms; Nothing claims up to 45 dB, which SoundGuys could not reproduce in its lab (up to 35 dB low-frequency and 38 dB high-frequency attenuation)."
      },
      "water_resistance": {
        "value": "IP54",
        "source": "nothing-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "Nothing's page gives IP54 without saying whether it covers the case. SoundGuys, GSMArena and HardwareZone say both earbuds and case are IP54; TechRadar's spec table lists IP54 for the buds only."
      },
      "multipoint": {
        "value": true,
        "source": "soundguys-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "Nothing calls it Dual Connection and the page fetched from Nothing does not mention it. SoundGuys says it supports two devices at once, off by default; Tom's Guide, TechRadar, GSMArena and HardwareZone also report multipoint."
      },
      "wireless_charging": {
        "value": true,
        "source": "nothing-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "Case charges wirelessly at up to 2.5 W per SoundGuys and GSMArena."
      },
      "driver_size_mm": {
        "value": 12,
        "source": "nothing-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "12mm dynamic driver; HardwareZone and Reviews.org differ on the diaphragm (PMI+TPU versus 'ceramic'); Nothing's page says PMI & TPU."
      },
      "codec_support": {
        "value": [
          "SBC",
          "AAC",
          "LDAC"
        ],
        "source": "soundguys-nothing-ear-3",
        "note": "Nothing's page names only LDAC. SoundGuys, GSMArena, HardwareZone and Tom's Guide list SBC, AAC and LDAC; HardwareZone says LHDC support from the previous Nothing Ear was removed."
      }
    },
    "evidence": [
      {
        "source": "soundguys-nothing-ear-3",
        "rating": {
          "value": 8.1,
          "scale": 10,
          "scale_basis": "structured-data",
          "note": "The page text shows no overall score; its schema.org structured data gives a rating of 8.1 out of 10."
        },
        "pros": [],
        "cons": [],
        "notes": [
          "SoundGuys recommends the earbuds mainly for first-time Nothing buyers and Nothing Phone (3) owners, and says existing owners of recent Nothing earbuds should skip the upgrade.",
          "Measured ANC attenuation of up to 35 dB at low frequencies and up to 38 dB at high frequencies, which SoundGuys says reduces perceived loudness by about 82%, 7% more than the Nothing Ear (2024) average; it also reports the ANC struggled with even slight wind.",
          "Measured 5 hours 12 minutes of battery life with ANC on, against Nothing's 5.5 hours.",
          "Calls the tuning bass-heavy and V-shaped, more extreme than earlier Nothing Ear models, fixable with the parametric EQ; its listening-panel MDAQS overall score is 4.7 on a 1.0-5.0 scale, and it found distortion very low.",
          "Says the Super Mic works well for voice memos but sounds muffled and robotic on calls, with audio lag when recording video and no support in standard Android camera apps.",
          "Calls the Nothing X app one of the best companion apps, praising the parametric EQ, but preferred the default tuning to the Personal Sound hearing-test profile.",
          "Frames the extra $30 over the previous model as paying mainly for the metal case and the Super Mic; suggests the CMF Buds 2 Plus or CMF Buds Pro 2 as much cheaper alternatives.",
          "No pros/cons list is published on the page."
        ],
        "verdict_quote": "If you already own recent Nothing earbuds, I don’t think the Ear (3) offers enough meaningful improvements to justify an upgrade."
      },
      {
        "source": "rtings-nothing-ear-3",
        "pros": [
          "Lots of EQ tuning available.",
          "IP54-rated buds.",
          "Good mic system."
        ],
        "cons": [
          "Continuous battery life is pretty short.",
          "Some settings and controls benefit from configuring in the app."
        ],
        "notes": [
          "RTINGS structures its verdict by usage (Sports and Fitness, Travel, Office Work) rather than one overall pros/cons box; the pros/cons above are the deduplicated union of those sections, each bullet copied verbatim.",
          "Says the default sound is far more bass-heavy than earlier Nothing Ear models and somewhat V-shaped, a matter of taste that the parametric EQ and imported presets can change.",
          "Calls noise isolation excellent but notes the ANC is not especially powerful in the mid-range.",
          "Says the earbuds' own microphones capture an intelligible if slightly congested voice and reject a wide range of background noise; the Super Mic captures higher-fidelity audio but is only as convenient as holding up a small square case.",
          "Cites a 5.3-hour continuous battery life with ANC on, shorter than the 7.5 hours it quotes for the previous Nothing Ear, and says the buds can fall out during vigorous activity because they lack stabilizers.",
          "Says the Ear (3a) is better value unless the improved microphone matters, while the Ear (3) adds wireless charging and Quick Pair for iOS.",
          "Numeric test scores and measurement tables are member-only; only the openly published verdict text is cited here."
        ],
        "verdict_quote": "the Ear (3) are poised to give you most of what you want, if what you want are bassier Nothing earbuds"
      },
      {
        "source": "techradar-nothing-ear-3",
        "rating": {
          "value": 4,
          "scale": 5,
          "scale_basis": "structured-data",
          "note": "The page text shows only section scores; its schema.org structured data gives an overall rating of 4 with a 0 minimum."
        },
        "pros": [
          "Vigorous, exciting sound",
          "Advanced EQ; personal hearing tests",
          "Chic and elevated design"
        ],
        "cons": [
          "Poor battery life",
          "Pricier than previous Nothing buds",
          "Occasional harshness through treble"
        ],
        "notes": [
          "Scored by section: Features 4.5/5, Sound quality 4/5, Design 4.5/5, Value 3/5.",
          "Finds the ANC solid but no better than the cheaper Nothing Ear (a), and says that with the older Nothing Ear (a) selling for about half the price (around $89), the Ear (3) is harder to recommend.",
          "Found the Super Mic useful for calls on a windy coast, but says it is a standout feature mainly for Nothing phone owners who get transcription, and it did not support WhatsApp voice notes.",
          "Reports the spatial audio is static only, with no head tracking, and a little clunky compared with Bose, LG or Apple.",
          "Found the earbuds less comfortable than the AirPods Pro 3 and harder to fit with small ears, possibly due to the larger 12 mm driver.",
          "Says the sound is energetic and bass-forward but loses some backing vocals and strings, with occasional wearying treble harshness."
        ],
        "verdict_quote": "I'm not quite sure the extra perks here do enough to justify the extra outlay."
      },
      {
        "source": "gsmarena-nothing-ear-3",
        "pros": [],
        "cons": [],
        "notes": [
          "Calls them arguably the best earbuds Nothing has made, while advising caution on some of the maker's claims.",
          "Reports the case and buds together weigh 71 g, 10 g more than the predecessor, because of the aluminum case base.",
          "Measured 6.5 hours from the earbuds with ANC on over AAC, above Nothing's 5.5 hours; says LDAC limits playback to 3.5 hours with ANC on and 5.5 hours with ANC off.",
          "Describes the bass as overpowering but fun, with a wider soundstage and less distortion than the previous model, and says the 8-band EQ can balance the V-shaped default tuning.",
          "Calls the ANC quite good with the right tips but not as potent as the Sony WF-1000XM5, and says flagship Sony and Apple buds isolate better.",
          "Says the Super Mic gave noticeably better voice pickup than the earbud mics, with call partners saying the voice sounded as good as the phone's own microphone, though it only works with the native dialer, assistant and recorder.",
          "No overall score and no pros/cons list is published on the page."
        ],
        "verdict_quote": "At their core, Ear (3) are a great pair of earbuds"
      },
      {
        "source": "hardwarezone-nothing-ear-3",
        "pros": [],
        "cons": [],
        "notes": [
          "Concludes the Ear (3) is hard to justify at S$259, about S$30 more than its predecessor, for a push-button case microphone that it found less useful than the earbuds' own mics.",
          "Found the Super Mic recordings lower in quality than the earbuds' mics except in quiet rooms, saying it muffled the voice, and judged the bone-conduction voice pickup better at rejecting noise.",
          "Calls the sound an aggressive V-shape with recessed mids and treble that is borderline harsh on some masters, and says the app EQ should be used rather than the default tuning.",
          "Criticizes the move from ceramic to PMI+TPU diaphragms, the removal of LHDC and the below-average battery life, which it measured at 5.5 hours at best with AAC and ANC on and 3.5 hours with LDAC.",
          "Says multipoint (Dual Connection) works well, with no dropouts or latency, and that the ANC removes background noise quite effectively.",
          "No overall score and no pros/cons list is published on the page."
        ],
        "verdict_quote": "We don’t see the point in paying more and still having to do more to make the Nothing Ear (3) play well."
      },
      {
        "source": "tomsguide-nothing-ear-3",
        "rating": {
          "value": 4,
          "scale": 5,
          "scale_basis": "structured-data",
          "note": "The page text shows no overall score; its schema.org structured data gives a rating of 4 with a 0 minimum."
        },
        "pros": [
          "Futuristic, sci-fi design",
          "Comfortable fit",
          "Powerful bass and nuanced vocals",
          "‘Super Mic’ offers great mic quality",
          "Excellent, detailed companion app"
        ],
        "cons": [
          "Treble is occasionally overzealous",
          "Subpar battery life"
        ],
        "notes": [
          "Says the earbuds sound warm and detailed out of the box with strong sub-bass, and that the treble can be piercing on hi-hats and cymbals.",
          "Found the ANC effective indoors but not outdoors, where cars were still audible on the high setting, and says the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds block noise better.",
          "Measured 3 hours with ANC and LDAC on and 9 hours with both off, and compares the battery unfavorably with the Bose QuietComfort and Sony WF-C710N (8.5 hours each) but favorably with the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 and Apple AirPods 4.",
          "Says multipoint must first be enabled as 'Dual Connection' in the app, which it finds unnecessary.",
          "Describes the Super Mic as cutting out disturbances on indoor recordings, with vocals a little muffled.",
          "Lists a $179 price, Bluetooth 5.4, 20 Hz-40 kHz frequency response and IP54 in its spec box."
        ],
        "verdict_quote": "the Ear (3) still easily warrant a recommendation."
      },
      {
        "source": "trustedreviews-nothing-ear-3",
        "rating": {
          "value": 4,
          "scale": 5,
          "scale_basis": "structured-data",
          "note": "The page text shows no overall score; its schema.org structured data gives a rating of 4 with a 0 minimum."
        },
        "pros": [
          "Useful Super Mic feature",
          "Personal Sound mode based on your own hearing",
          "Unique design with premium feel"
        ],
        "cons": [
          "Treble a little harsh",
          "Sound quality varies wildly with different settings enabled",
          "Noise cancelling could be better"
        ],
        "notes": [
          "The verdict section shows two unlabeled bullet lists; they are recorded here as pros and cons based on their content.",
          "Says the Super Mic was clearly better than the earbud or phone mics at cutting background noise, but the Talk button is easy to trigger accidentally in a pocket.",
          "Calls the noise cancelling decent but not market-leading, and says the sound profile was hit and miss, with treble that sounded harsh on some hi-hats and consonants depending on ANC, spatial audio and Personal Sound settings.",
          "Reports roughly five hours of battery life from the earbuds with ANC on, behind the AirPods Pro 3's claimed 8 hours.",
          "Says the fit is generally comfortable but the earbuds slipped slightly while walking or working out.",
          "Calls them a bit of a no-brainer at their launch price."
        ],
        "verdict_quote": "It’s a solid pair of buds for Android users though, particularly those in the Nothing ecosystem."
      },
      {
        "source": "reviews-org-nothing-ear-3",
        "rating": {
          "value": 4,
          "scale": 5,
          "scale_basis": "structured-data",
          "note": "The page text shows no overall score; its schema.org structured data gives a rating of 4 with a 0 minimum."
        },
        "pros": [
          "Great companion app",
          "Decent sound quality",
          "Long battery life"
        ],
        "cons": [
          "Finnicky touch controls",
          "External microphone is more trouble than it is worth"
        ],
        "notes": [
          "Reviews.org lists the A$299 Australian price, and calls the noise cancelling not industry-leading but a force to be reckoned with for the price.",
          "Says the Super Mic is awkward to use and easy to trigger by accident, and that its recordings were not clearly more usable than the earbuds' own microphones, which performed better than expected.",
          "Describes the sound as well above expectations for the price and the earbuds as very comfortable.",
          "Describes the driver as having a ceramic diaphragm, which disagrees with Nothing's PMI & TPU and HardwareZone's PMI+TPU.",
          "Calls the quoted 5.5-hour (ANC on) and 10-hour (ANC off) battery figures respectable and competitive, and did not report its own battery measurement."
        ],
        "verdict_quote": "Despite the gimmicks, Nothing's third-generation earbuds still offer plenty of value."
      }
    ],
    "consensus": {
      "score": 79,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "n_sources": 5,
      "breakdown": [
        {
          "source": "soundguys-nothing-ear-3",
          "normalized": 0.81,
          "weight": 0.5
        },
        {
          "source": "trustedreviews-nothing-ear-3",
          "normalized": 0.8,
          "weight": 0.4936
        },
        {
          "source": "techradar-nothing-ear-3",
          "normalized": 0.8,
          "weight": 0.4
        },
        {
          "source": "tomsguide-nothing-ear-3",
          "normalized": 0.8,
          "weight": 0.4
        },
        {
          "source": "reviews-org-nothing-ear-3",
          "normalized": 0.8,
          "weight": 0.3229
        }
      ],
      "computed_at": "2026-10-04"
    }
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "nothing-nothing-ear-3",
      "url": "https://nothing.tech/products/ear-3",
      "publisher": "nothing",
      "type": "manufacturer",
      "title": "Ear (3) | Audio",
      "author": null,
      "published": null,
      "updated": null,
      "accessed": "2026-10-04",
      "products": [
        "nothing-ear-3"
      ],
      "note": "Manufacturer product page. States 5.5 h per earbud with Adaptive ANC, up to 38 h with the case, wireless charging, 12mm driver, IP54, LDAC and 10 hours of playback from a 10-minute charge. The fetched text omits footnotes and the spec table: no price, weight, multipoint, Bluetooth version or full codec list. No publish date shown."
    },
    {
      "id": "techradar-nothing-ear-3",
      "url": "https://www.techradar.com/audio/earbuds-airpods/nothing-ear-3-review",
      "publisher": "techradar",
      "type": "expert-review",
      "title": "Nothing Ear (3) earbuds look fantastic next to my phone and the ANC is solid – but I'm not sure the audio quality is good enough for this money",
      "author": null,
      "published": null,
      "updated": null,
      "accessed": "2026-10-04",
      "products": [
        "nothing-ear-3"
      ],
      "note": "The page shows 'First reviewed: September 2025' and no day, so no publish date is recorded. The byline appears only as a first name (Becky) in the author bio. Tested for 13 days."
    },
    {
      "id": "soundguys-nothing-ear-3",
      "url": "https://www.soundguys.com/nothing-ear-3-review-144486/",
      "publisher": "soundguys",
      "type": "lab-measurement",
      "title": "Nothing Ear (3) review: Great earbuds with a not-so Super Mic",
      "author": null,
      "published": null,
      "updated": null,
      "accessed": "2026-10-04",
      "products": [
        "nothing-ear-3"
      ],
      "note": "The page's date line is self-contradictory: 'published on March 24, 2026, and was updated on October 2, 2025, to include our video review', so no publish date is recorded. Review unit supplied by Nothing; tested for one week on firmware 1.0.1.59. No author byline in the fetched text."
    },
    {
      "id": "rtings-nothing-ear-3",
      "url": "https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/nothing/ear-3-in-ear",
      "publisher": "rtings",
      "type": "lab-measurement",
      "title": "Nothing Ear (3) Review",
      "author": null,
      "published": null,
      "updated": "2026-07-30",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04",
      "products": [
        "nothing-ear-3"
      ],
      "note": "Numeric usage scores render as locked 0.0 placeholders and the measurement tables are member-only, so only the readable verdict text is cited and no rating is recorded. No original publish date is shown; the changelog's latest entry is Jul 30, 2026."
    },
    {
      "id": "gsmarena-nothing-ear-3",
      "url": "https://m.gsmarena.com/nothing_ear_3_review-amp-70036.php",
      "publisher": "gsmarena",
      "type": "expert-review",
      "title": "Nothing Ear (3) review",
      "author": null,
      "published": "2025-10-25",
      "updated": null,
      "accessed": "2026-10-04",
      "products": [
        "nothing-ear-3"
      ],
      "note": "Fetched from the mobile AMP page. No overall score and no pros/cons list is published on the page; no author byline in the fetched text."
    },
    {
      "id": "hardwarezone-nothing-ear-3",
      "url": "https://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/lifestyle/audio/nothing-ear-3-singapore-price-specs-audio-battery-life-microphone",
      "publisher": "hardwarezone",
      "type": "expert-review",
      "title": "Nothing Ear (3) review: Paying more for Nothing, or less?",
      "author": null,
      "published": "2025-12-24",
      "updated": null,
      "accessed": "2026-10-04",
      "products": [
        "nothing-ear-3"
      ],
      "note": "Page note: 'This review was first published on 24 December 2025.' No overall score and no pros/cons list is published; prices are in Singapore dollars. No author byline in the fetched text."
    },
    {
      "id": "tomsguide-nothing-ear-3",
      "url": "https://www.tomsguide.com/audio/earbuds/nothing-ear-3-review",
      "publisher": "tomsguide",
      "type": "expert-review",
      "title": "I’ve been testing the Nothing Ear (3) for a week — they look super stylish but the sound is the real star",
      "author": null,
      "published": null,
      "updated": null,
      "accessed": "2026-10-04",
      "products": [
        "nothing-ear-3"
      ],
      "note": "No publish date shown in the fetched text. The author bio names a Senior Writer by first name only (Nikita). The text mentions the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 and Sony WF-1000XM6, so it was written or updated well after launch."
    },
    {
      "id": "trustedreviews-nothing-ear-3",
      "url": "https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/nothing-ear-3",
      "publisher": "trustedreviews",
      "type": "expert-review",
      "title": "Nothing Ear 3 Review",
      "author": null,
      "published": "2025-09-18",
      "updated": null,
      "accessed": "2026-10-04",
      "products": [
        "nothing-ear-3"
      ],
      "note": "Date is the 'First Reviewed Date' (18/09/2025) in the page's spec table. Tested for one week paired with a Nothing Phone (3). No author byline in the fetched text. The page's closing sentence is cut off mid-line."
    },
    {
      "id": "reviews-org-nothing-ear-3",
      "url": "https://www.reviews.org/au/technology/nothing-ear-3-review/",
      "publisher": "reviews-org",
      "type": "expert-review",
      "title": "Nothing Ear 3 review: A messy but modest riff on a familiar formula",
      "author": "Fergus Halliday",
      "published": "2025-10-24",
      "updated": null,
      "accessed": "2026-10-04",
      "products": [
        "nothing-ear-3"
      ],
      "note": "Australian edition; prices are in Australian dollars."
    }
  ]
}