Nothing ear(1) earbuds
Guess I bought into the hype? My TWS earbuds, and I wanted ANC without breaking the bank (though I did consider the cheaper Jabra Elite 3s for a second). Barely got them out of the packaging, impressions so far are decent, not fantastic. They're a bit sharp in the high end, which I hope rounds off after some play time, once the membranes wear in. Lower midtones are also a bit weak, but vocals sound great. Bass is fine, reasonably controlled, punchy enough for my tastes, and distinct. Not boomy or muddled at all. But I could see some thinking they are too weak in the lows. Handles complex instrumentation (
my preferred track for that) excellently.
ANC seems impressive so far - no pressure feeling with it on, and it did a very good job at blocking out background hum and outside traffic noises while sitting at my desk. No idea how it handles more complicated situations though. Transparency seems fine, though a bit noisy (expected, really).
Pairing was straightforward and had no issues on my Poco X3 NFC, though it apparently doesn't support fast pairing. Oh well, it's a one-off procedure. Haven't tested the signal strength/integrity in any meaningful way. Ear detection play/pause is a tad slower than I would want, but works reliably. The touch controls work well, and I'm extremely happy there's a sliding touch volume control on the "stem" (rather than needing tap gestures for that). The case seems well built and solid, and the magnets that keep it closed and keep the buds in place work well.
The only stand-out negative so far (and it's nothing major): there's a
very slight electronic interference noise in my left earbud. It's very faint, only barely audible at the worst, but it's there. I don't really mind - I'll no doubt forget about it, and it's in no way bothersome even when I'm aware of it - it's just not loud enough. I can only really make it out if I have the buds in, no audio playing, and ANC or transparency mode on. ANC off or any type of audio playing, and it's completely unnoticeable. But it's worth being aware of, as I doubt my pair are particularly unique.