Nothing Ear 3 adds Super Mic case mics, preorder Sept 18, price 179

Nothing unveiled its Ear 3 wireless earbuds this week, pitching a mix of hardware upgrades and a novel microphone feature aimed at people who make calls or record voice notes in noisy environments. The company said the buds are priced at 179 and that global preorders begin Sept. 18 with wider availability on Sept. 25, though some retailers and outlets have listed units as available immediately.

The headline addition is Super Mic, a dual microphone system built into the earbuds charging case. Nothing said the case microphones use beamforming and ambient filtering to lock on to a speaker’s voice and reduce background noise by as much as 95 decibels, and that a dedicated Talk button on the case switches audio from the in-ear mics to the Super Mic for calls or voice recordings. When paired with a Nothing Phone 3, Super Mic can capture voice memos that sync to the company’s Essential Space hub for AI-powered transcription and organization, the company added. Nothing warned, however, that app support is uneven; the case mic is supported in many major calling apps but cannot override default microphone inputs in some messaging and camera apps.

Inside each bud, Nothing put three...