Before the pandemic, lipsticks were trying to escape its form factor in way of markers and squeezable plastic vials instead of the traditional twist-up metal tubes. The experimentation sort of stopped because the sale of lipsticks went down in the era of masks (thankfully things are looking up). Here’s a tech company taking cue from the design of the lipstick case to achieve a simple objective — make tech fun.
Nothing, the London-based company from Carl Pei, has a third product (after Ear 1 and Phone 1) — the Ear Stick, a new truly wireless audio product. To make things clear, it’s not a replacement or successor to Ear 1 because the feature set is different here. (A question for Team Nothing: Why isn’t it called Ear Stick 1?)
Design dive
The design team at Nothing obviously had a lot of fun working on the Ear Stick and the inspiration is obvious — the lipstick. There are a few advantages the new design enjoys. First, it’s so slim and compact that it can fit into any pocket or bag. Second, if the device falls from your hand, unlike the usual earbuds, the box won’t open up, making the sound cans fly out. Third, it’s a fun design and women may love it more than men.
The downsides of the design cannot be overlooked. First, you can’t keep it flat on the table because it will roll off. Second, not having a flat side means no wireless charging but to give Nothing credit, they have planned the product for those who don’t need wireless charging. Third (and only time will tell), it doesn’t appear easy to clean. Fourth, inside the pocket of men’s trousers, the shape of the device may look odd.
Nothing Ear Stick takes inspiration from the lipstick
Zero compromise on sound
To get the buds out, the box opens up with a swivel and the transparent stems are as stunning as on the Ear 1. The first thing you will notice is the absence of rubber tips, which obviously has an effect on sound. There are people who like active noise cancellation and for them a rubber seal is needed. Personally, I am a fan of ANC because I tend to use sound cans while travelling and like to cut myself off from the noises around me. My wife hates ANC and prefers an open-ear design, which is what Ear Stick offers. So, the world is divided, perhaps down the middle, on ANC versus open ear.
Either way, the fit is fantastic and even after hours of listening to music over the weekend I didn’t have any earache. Expect roughly seven hours from the earbuds and up to 29 hours from the charging case, which is as good as from any big brand.
How is the sound? It’s excellent. In case you find a better product in the market, chances are you would be spending two-three times the price of the Ear Stick.
There is a custom-designed 12.6mm dynamic driver, which offers a well-balanced sound. The bass is rich and the highs are nice and clear. The treble is just right while the entire soundstage shines. Listening to the mid-tempo Break My Soul from Beyonce on the Ear Stick captures the keyboard bass sound well while the dirty blues sound of the ZZ Top repertoire has a wow feel. Since there is no rubber tip, there will be sound leakage but the software, in a way, tackles it with something called Bass Lock. The software tweaks the equaliser curve to reduce the lack of a full seal. I also like the custom EQ which allows adjustment to the bass, mids and trebles but I miss granular controls.
Nothing Ear Stick and Ear 1 (right)
There are three high-definition mics with an upgraded algorithm. It can filter out louder background sounds more than Nothing Ear 1. It isolates and amplifies your voice and it should help in street environment or windy places. Does it beat the AirPods? Not yet but Ear Stick does a far better job than most brands in the market.
Nothing keeps listening to suggestion and perhaps that’s best seen in the touch controls. This time there are no accidental touches; you need to make a purposeful touch to make features work.
There is in-ear detection, so music will stop as soon as you take the earbuds out and resume as soon as the earbuds are back in the ears. Plus, you have support for Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair while you can use it with any Android Phone (running Android 5.1 and above) or the iPhone (running iOS 11 and above).
Should you buy it?
Make no mistake, this is a conversation starter and technology that’s fun and engaging. There are many who don’t like ANC, making this device a great choice. The sound is great and the microphone quality is more than good. There is also IP54 dust and water resistance. My only two quibbles — keeping it flat on the table is difficult and no multipoint connectivity support. Nothing Ear Stick shows that the company is thinking out of the box to make tech fun.
The transparent design of the Ear 1 has been retained
At a glance
Device: Nothing Ear Stick
Price: Rs 8,499
High notes
- Excellent sound quality
- Good battery life
- Out-of-the-box design
- There is app support
Muffled notes
- No multipoint connectivity
- No wireless charging
- Not easy to keep it flat on the table