Imagine having a conversation like this with a friend:

Person A: Do you know what would make a great companion during my journey back to my hometown for Chinese New Year?
Person B: What?
Person A: Nothing.
Person B: What are you talking about?

At this question, Person A fishes out a transparent casing with much pomp and circumstance and calmly places it on the table.

Introducing the Nothing Ear (1) Wireless Earbuds, brought to you by Carl Pei, the former co-founder of One Plus.

The transparent casing comes with a minimalist design and, at first glance, I thought, “Do these even fit in my ears, just as the Honor Earbuds 2 Lite did? Will they stay in my ears while I’m chewing my food (in case you haven’t already noticed, this is how I test my earbuds)? Are they good enough to block out the whole world?”

Yes to all of the above.

Slipping them into my ears truly felt as if they belonged. More snugly than the Honor Earbuds 2 Lite (sorry, Honor, but you’ve been deposed!).

If you thought Honor’s Earbuds 2 were great, wait until you’ve used Nothing as it saves you from everything (it almost sounds ridiculous saying that out loud).

Whether you’re tuning into TED Talks on YouTube or priming your song lists on Spotify, the Active Noise Cancellation feature is your new best friend. Pop the buds in and activate it for some peace and quiet. Even if you just want to have the buds in your ears and are not playing any music, they can still block out the world for you, and bathe you in silence.

To use the earbuds, search for the app, Nothing X, on the Google Play Store or the App Store and download it. Once you have it installed, it would look something like the image above.

Press the ‘Start’ button to begin your journey into Nothing and beyond. The app shows you the left and right earbuds and what you can do with them.

You can toggle between four different equaliser modes to enjoy music the way you want to. You can even personalise your sound and gesture controls via the app.

If you thought the case was minimalist in design, wait until you see the app! It has a similar design, it is user-friendly, and it is easy to navigate. You can even select between light and dark modes, depending on your mood.

There are puns aplenty when it comes to a brand name like this. I’m not kidding.

Nothing delivers exceptional bang for your buck.
Was the hype really all for Nothing?
Why do I find such joy in Nothing?
If you really want Nothing but peace and quiet, try this.

Who knows, you might not want your AirPods anymore either!

Personally, I find the Nothing (1) Earbuds a great joy to use for these reasons alone:

  • Gives out a great sound
  • Excellent noise-cancelling lets you hear literally nothing
  • Comfortable fit in your ears (and they stay in too!)
  • Supports wireless charging (in addition to USB-C charging)
  • Has IPX4 rating
  • Promotes auto play/pause

What’s there not to like about Nothing?