Nothing’s Ear 3 buds introduce what they call “Super Mic.” This means there are a couple of mics in the earbuds’ case, which can be activated to replace the buds’ built-in mics.

Nothing claims that the case’s beamforming microphones provide superior audio quality and enhanced noise canceling. This is likely because you can hold the case near your mouth, providing an optimal placement for microphones rather than having them sit inside your ears.

I’ve tested the Ear 3 over a week during a trip to New York, and tried out the Super Mic feature. It’s true that it offers an audio quality boost over the buds alone, especially in calmer environments. The sound is less tinny and my voice sounds fuller. However, during a call with my partner, she barely noticed a difference, suggesting the improvement might be subtle for some, particularly if there are connection issues.

In noisier environments, the results vary. Nothing incorporated strong noise cancellation in both sets of mics. It effectively blocks external noise—so much so that I couldn’t hear a nearby jackhammer in a recording. However, the process is so aggressive that it distorted my voice, making it cut in and out as if during a poor connection on a train. This issue affected both the earbuds and Super Mic equally.

The bigger issue for video users is latency. Using the Blackmagic camera app, I noticed better sound quality with Super Mic on, but the audio quickly went out of sync with the video, misaligning with my lip movements. While this isn’t a concern for voice calls, it could be problematic for video calls and recording videos for platforms like TikTok, limiting the Super Mic’s usefulness.

There are other downsides to Super Mic. Holding the case to your mouth means, well, holding the case. Buds don’t always sound great, but they are hands-free, and this isn’t. Moving it too far away from your mouth or pointing it in the wrong direction will also ruin your audio pretty quickly. That might make it annoying for longer calls, especially on the go, but probably won’t bother you too much if you just need to record a quick voice note or video.

Compatibility is a headache too. Super Mic will work anywhere that your regular earbud microphones would — your phone actually can’t tell the difference, since the switch between microphones is handled by the buds themselves — but that means it doesn’t work everywhere.

Most voice and video calls support it, including the likes of Zoom and WhatsApp, along with some audio recording apps, like iOS Voice Memos. But you can’t use it to record WhatsApp or SnapChat voice notes, and most Android phones’ camera apps only work with the phone’s own microphone. iOS 26 just added the option to select an external microphone for video recording at least, so compatibility is actually better for iPhone users, despite Nothing making its own Android phones.

The company wants to be clear that this isn’t its fault. “Most of these apps default to the phone’s native microphone and don’t give users the option to select another input,” Andrew Freshwater, head of global smart products marketing at Nothing, said when I asked about the limits to support. “That’s an OS and app-level decision, not ours. We’d love to see this flexibility opened up so more people can benefit from Super Mic.”

I’ll be testing Super Mic out more over the next few days, along with the rest of the Ear 3’s audio, for a full review next week.

Photography by Dominic Preston