Nothing's New Earbuds Put A Microphone In The Case

Nothing Technologies Ltd., the consumer tech startup known for its quirky hardware designs, has an unusual pitch for its new earbuds: use the case as a microphone.

The headphones, called the Ear 3, have a “Super Mic” feature that lets owners speak into the charging case for clearer voice calls. When you press a Talk button on the side of the case, the earbuds switch over to a built-in dual-microphone system. The user’s voice is relayed from the case to the buds over Bluetooth. The company says the Super Mic function is designed to be used for voice and video calls and supports popular communications apps such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, WhatsApp and WeChat.

But Nothing cautioned that the feature isn’t intended for recording in-app voice messages and won’t work when capturing video; the earbuds’ regular mic takes over in that scenario. 

The Ear 3 will be available on Sept. 25 for $179 — a $30 increase over the company’s previous model.

The product unveiling comes days after London-based Nothing announced that it raised $200 million at a valuation of $1.3 billion. The five-year-old company, which also operates the budget brand CMF, currently sells a mix of smartphones, earbuds and smartwatches. Nothing said it will use the new funding to develop AI-powered hardware products. But for now, it’s sticking to a core category: audio. 

Beyond the new Super Mic trick, Nothing said the Ear 3 earbuds offer richer audio quality, including a wider sound stage and deeper bass. Battery life has been extended to a maximum of 5.5 hours with noise cancellation enabled, up slightly from the previous model. And while the buds support both iPhone and Android handsets, they offer higher-fidelity Bluetooth playback if used with the latter.

The new earbuds also broadly have the same overall shape and signature see-through design as the company’s earlier offerings, but they add metallic accents. 

When paired with one of Nothing’s smartphones, users can also access OpenAI’s ChatGPT assistant and the company’s in-house artificial intelligence features with gestures like a double pinch.

It’s unclear how enthusiastic consumers will be about the idea of holding a case up to their mouth and talking into it. But Nothing’s new feature continues a trend of earbud makers finding clever applications for their charging cases. JBL, a unit of Samsung Electronics Co., has added displays to some of its earbud cases. Other companies like LG Electronics Inc. have used the case as a wireless transmitter, allowing owners to plug non-Bluetooth audio sources — like a plane’s entertainment system — into the case and route that audio to the earbuds.