FIT'S NOW OR NEVER
Stuff South Africa
|February/March 2025
You can't keep putting it off: it's time to feel good and look great with the best gear for powering out of your sluggishness
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The thunder of you
'Open' means sound leakage is inevitable. The drivers point at your ears and reverse soundwaves are fired outwards, but people close by will hear your music.
RUNNING
NOTHING EAR OPEN
Nothing has pumped out several Ngenerations of wireless earbuds now, but all have pretty much stuck to the same style. The Ear Opens are out to change that, with an open fit that adds a distinct fitness focus.
Rather than going down the 'clip-on' route of the Huawei FreeClip and Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, these have hook-style rivals like the Shokz OpenFit in their sights. You can instantly tell you're looking at a Nothing product: the see-through charging case, high-contrast buds and transparent casing are all present and correct. But there are no colour choices this time - white is the only option at launch.
An IP54 rating is decent, if not quite class-leading for fitness 'phones like these. They'll still survive the sweatiest workouts, though, and won't lose it in the rain.
We found the fit to be a mixed bag. The right bud looped perfectly over our outer ear, lining the driver up nicely, but the left one didn't feel quite as secure. The hook design meant it never actually came off, even while running, but there was always a slight imbalance to the sound.
They did put in a very good showing on battery life, lasting pretty much dead on Nothing's claimed 8hrs of playback. The case packs almost three full recharges.
This story is from the February/March 2025 edition of Stuff South Africa.
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