Nothing Ear (a), the brand new pair of earbuds from the brand, has now arrived in India at a price point of Rs 7,999. It has a decent list of features, such as LDAC support, dual connection, up to 42.5-hour playback, low-lag mode, ChatGPT integration, and more. However, other options for TWS earbuds are available in the market that may suit you better than nothing for various reasons. Here’s a list of the top 3 alternatives for the Nothing Ear (a) TWS earbuds in India.
OPPO Enco Air 3 Pro
At Rs 4,999, you’ll get the Enco Air 3 Pro in India, which has an industry-first bamboo fiber-designed driver. It packs a 12.4mm dynamic unit and also supports LDAC technology, enabling high-definition audio for an immersive listening experience. The Enco Air 3 Pro also features OPPO Alive audio for spatial surround sound during movie viewing on smartphones.
It incorporates Golden Sound 2.0, which customizes the ear canal model based on the user’s hearing. The earbuds have received TÜV Rheinland certification for their noise-cancellation performance. Speaking of it, the buds support up to 49dB active noise cancellation.
They offer an ultra-low Latency of 47ms with Bluetooth v5.3 and a runtime of 7 hours on a single charge, which can be extended up to 30 hours with the charging case. The earbuds support fast charging; a 10-minute charge provides 2 hours of juice. They come equipped with DNN Noise Cancellation for Calls, automatically filtering out background noise.
Finally, the earbuds are IP55 dust and water-resistant, suitable for outdoor activities. They offer touch controls, Google Fast Pair, HeyMelody App support, and the ability to connect with two devices simultaneously.
For a Rs 3,000 cheaper price tag, you get the same features as Nothing with even stronger noise cancellation and spatial audio effect over the Ear (a). The downsides, however, include inferior battery life, no IP rating for the case, and no ChatGPT integration. We’d say the tradeoffs are minimal for a justified price difference, thereby making the Air 3 Pro one of the best and worthy alternatives to the Nothing Ear (a).
Read More: April 2024: TWS Earbuds, Neckbands Launched in India
OnePlus Buds 3
For Rs 5,499, the OnePlus Buds 3 has a good amount of features on offer as well, serving as one of the strong alternatives to the Nothing Ear (a). These buds comprise a dual driver setup comprising a 10.4mm woofer and a 6mm tweeter. Each earbud gets 3 microphones with -38dB sensitivity. They also enable 49dB adaptive noise cancellation. The stems support pressure-sensitive touch controls for media and call management, and you can also swipe up and down for volume controls.
It gets support for AAC, SBC, and LHDC 5.0 codecs and Hi-Res Audio support as well, which is Japan Audio Society (JAS) certified, according to OnePlus. It features a low-latency mode that can bring down latency up to 94ms, along with Google Fast Pair support. The dual connection mode also allows you to connect the OnePlus Buds 3 with two devices simultaneously.
The OnePlus Buds 3 offer up to 6.5 hours of playback with ANC enabled and up to 28 hours with the charging case. With ANC turne off, the TWS headset can offer 10 hours of continuous use, and up to 44 hours playtime with the charging case.
Each earphone has a 58mAh battery and the charging case has a 520mAh battery — OnePlus says a 10-minute charge is good for up to 7 hours of battery life. The OnePlus Buds 3 have an IP55 rating for dust and splash resistance.
In comparison with the ear (a), you get better battery life, the same TPU drivers for a cheaper price tag (but the sound will differ for obvious reasons), stronger ANC, and LHDC 5.0 codec, which could both be an advantage or a drawback depending on whether your device supports the codec or not. Again, a cheaper price tag accounts for almost the same subset of features as the Nothing Ear (a), but you do miss out on the LDAC codec, ChatGPT integration, and IP rating for the case.
Realme Buds Air 5 Pro
For Rs 4,499, the Buds Air 5 Pro gets an 11mm bass driver with a 6mm micro-planar tweeter. It connects wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.3 and supports LDAC, AAC, and SBC audio codecs with Hi-Res certification and 3D spatial sound effects. The 6-mic design enables ANC up to 50dB, along with 40ms Super Low Latency Gaming Mode.
There’s dual device connection support, touch controls, IPX5 rating for the buds, and up to 40 hours of total playback time with Fast charging support present as well. Compared to the Nothing Ear (a), the Buds Air 5 Pro have one major advantage and that’s its price tag that makes it much more affordable with almost the same amount of features. What they lack over the ear (a) is ChatGPT integration, IP rating for the case, no dust resistance for the buds, as well as slightly less battery backup also.
Despite the drawbacks, it supports an even more powerful ANC mode that’s much stronger than what you get with Nothing ear (a), making Buds Air 5 Pro one of the most affordable alternatives to the Nothing earbuds.