Nothing Ear (a) and Ear go to pre-order as TWS buds with adaptive ANC and ChatGPT

Nothing's Audio division has revamped its TWS line-up as promised with the inaugural Ear (a) buds that accompany the first-gen Ear (2) set at their launch. Both variants have a series-first AI assistant based on ChatGPT built in, although it only activates in the presence of a paired Phone (2).

As standalone wireless buds, both variants have custom-tuned 11 millimeter (mm) drivers, although a novel ceramic diaphragm that apparently reduces distortion and boosts clarity for Hi-Res Wireless-certified audio is exclusive to the new flagship Ears. 

Nevertheless, even the Ear (a) buds benefit from ANC rated to block unwanted sounds of up to 45 decibels (dB, compared to 40dB in the outgoing Ear (2)s) within a 5,000Hz range rated, furthermore, to adjust intelligently to any "leakage" from a less than optimal ear-tip seal to maintain the noise cancellation.

Both Ear variants have cases with a 500mAh battery, rated to keep the Ears and Ear (a)s going for up to 40.5 and 42.5 hours (without ANC) respectively.

Then again, LHDC 5.0 support is exclusive to the higher-end Ears, which augments the AAC/SBC/LDAC over Bluetooth 5.3 profile of the Ear (a)s. The new budget models are also the slightly heavier, thicker and chunkier-looking buds, especially in the new yellow colorway that debuts as an alternative to the traditional Nothing black and white options.

The Nothing Ear (a) buds are now available to pre-order in all 3 SKUs for $99/€99, whereas the black or white versions of their Ear counterparts are $149/€149, which means their starting price remains nearly unchanged compared to the Ear (2)s as listed on Amazon.