Nothing today announced a pair of refreshes to its earbud line. The naming conventions are a touch convoluted here, but the Nothing Ear is an update to the Nothing Ear (2), while the Nothing Ear (a) is more of a spiritual successor to the Nothing Ear Stick.
The most notable bit of today’s news, however, is probably Nothing’s embrace of ChatGPT this time out. As the “AI smartphones” of the world are battling with devices like Humane’s Ai Pin and the Rabbit R1 for mindshare, the London-based mobile company seems to have skipped a step by integrating the tech into their new earbuds.
More specifically, if you have the ChatGPT app installed on a connected Nothing handset, you’ll be able to ask the generative AI program questions with a pinch of the headphones’ stem. Think Siri/Google Assistant/Alexa-style access on a pair of earbuds, only this one taps directly into OpenAI’s wildly popular platform.
“Nothing will also improve the Nothing smartphone user experience in Nothing OS by embedding system-level entry points to ChatGPT, including screenshot sharing and Nothing-styled widgets,” the company notes. The feature will be available exclusively for both of the new earbuds.
Preorders for both buds start today. Nothing says the Ear buds bring improved sound over their predecessors, courtesy of a new driver system. That, meanwhile, has allowed for more space for the battery, with up to 25% more life than the Ear (2). A “smart” active noise-canceling system adapts accordingly to environmental noise and checks for “leakage” between the buds and the ear canal.
The Ear (a) also brings noise-canceling improvements, but what Nothing really seems to be pushing is the bright yellow colorway, which bucks the black and white aesthetic that has defined its devices.
The Ear and Ear (a) are both reasonably priced at $149 and $99, respectively. Shipping starts April 22.