Home Wireless Earbuds Ultimate Ears Drops Vs. Nothing Ear 1

A Review By Comparison of the Ultimate Ears Drops Vs. Nothing Ear 1

Last updated on Apr 19, 2023   7 minute read
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Ultimate Ears Drops

Ultimate Ears Drops

Reasons why you might like the Ultimate Ears Drops

Overall Score 6 Represents average audio ecosystem compatibility score.

  • Battery Life of 6 hours
  • Has Usb Type-C
  • Number Of Microphones of 2 only
  • Has Ambient Sound Mode
VS
Nothing Ear 1

Nothing Ear 1

See price on Amazon

Reasons why you might like the Nothing Ear 1

Overall Score 6 Represents average audio ecosystem compatibility score.

  • Ingress Protection (Ip) Rating of IPX4
  • Has Active Noise Cancellation (Noise Control)
  • Battery Life of 5 hours
  • Has Usb Type-C
  • Number Of Microphones of 6 only
  • Has Ambient Sound Mode

A summary of the review by feature comparison

Category Features Ultimate Ears Drops Nothing Ear 1
DESIGN ingress protection (ip) rating ipX4
weight 9.4g
has no wires or cables
wingtips included
sweat resistance
is dust proof and water-resistant
has stereo speakers
SOUND QUALITY has active noise cancellation (noise control)
has passive noise reduction
driver unit size 9.2mm 11.6mm
lowest frequency 20hz 20hz
highest frequency 20,000hz 20,000hz
sound pressure level 110db/mw
POWER battery life 6hours 5hours
battery life of charging case 9hours 29hours
charge time 1.5hours
has wireless charging
has a battery level indicator
CONNECTIVITY has usb type-c
bluetooth version v4.2 v5.2
maximum bluetooth range 10meters 10meters
has aac
has aptx adaptive
MICROPHONE number of microphones 2only 6only
has a noise-canceling microphone
EXTRAS has ambient sound mode
has in/on-ear detection
has find earbuds feature
supports fast charging
multipoint count 2only
has a mute function
control panel placed on a device
warranty period 1years
has voice prompts
travel bag is included
See price on Amazon

A breakdown of the review per specifications

Design

Ingress Protection (Ip) Rating

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1 ipX4

Ingress protection ratings is the rank of protection given by an enclosure, against solids and water. The letters 'IP' are followed by two values The first value of the IP rating represents protection against solids say dust, while the second refers to protection against liquids (sweat).

Scoring IPX4, the Nothing Ear 1's rating for solids indicates that no data available to specify a protection rating, and of liquids that they can withstand low pressure spray similar to that of a shower head when tilted at 180° for 10 minutes.

Weight

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1 9.4g

Nothing Ear 1 have a weight of 9.4g . We prefer a lower weight better for the reason that lighter devices are more comfortable to move with.

Has No Wires Or Cables

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

True wireless devices have no cables linking any part of the device together, Ultimate Ears Drops are true wireless for this matter since they have no wires. This is a key difference since wireless earbuds have cables linking the 2 earbuds together.

Nothing Ear 1 also is true wireless because it has no cables connecting the two earbuds .

Wingtips Included

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Ultimate Ears Drops come with wingtips, these are reserved for workout earbuds and are usually an optional add-on to the separate silicone ear tip for a better fit.

Sweat Resistance

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

Ultimate Ears Drops have sweat resistance

Nothing Ear 1's resistance to sweat makes both devices good for use during long-distance running, marathons, cardio sweat workouts , etc

Is Dust Proof And Water-Resistant

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Ultimate Ears Drops are both dustproof and water-resistant.

Has Stereo Speakers

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

Ultimate Ears Drops have stereo speakers, devices with stereo speakers deliver sound from separate channels on both left and right sides, creating a richer sound and a better listening experience.

Both Nothing Ear 1 and Ultimate Ears Drops have stereo speakers

Sound Quality

Has Active Noise Cancellation (Noise Control)

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

ANC makes use of more advanced kind of tech to actively cancel noise. How it works, it studies the sound pattern outside and inside the earbud and after inverts the soundwaves to cancel it out. In simple terms, it's like having +1 (sound from your surrounding) and adding -1 (inverted noise) to make 0 hence "diluting" the noise.

Nothing Ear 1 have ANC allowing you to listen at lower volume levels, causing less ear fatigue as you don't have to crank up the earbuds volume to outcompete background noise.

Has Passive Noise Reduction

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Ultimate Ears Drops stay tightly in place, this creates an acoustic covering that reduces your environment sounds well as preventing the earbuds music from leaking out at the same.

Both Nothing Ear 1, and Ultimate Ears Drops have passive noise reduction which implies that they reduce ambient noise instead of actively using ANC to cancel it out.

Driver Unit Size

Ultimate Ears Drops 9.2mm
Nothing Ear 1 11.6mm

Ultimate Ears Drops driver unit is 9.2mm in diameter, bigger drivers are more powerful, therefor producing better bass. The driver unit is the component that makes sound in the device, the unit size corellates with the loudness of the earbuds.

Nothing Ear 1 driver unit is 11.6mm in diameter, making them have a larger driver unit than that of Ultimate Ears Drops by 2.4mm , as many tend to believe that driver units of a bigger size automatically produce better sound quality.

However, large drivers find it difficult to produce high frequencies so yeah, larger drivers can generate louder sound, but this does not imply that they produce better quality sound.

Lowest Frequency

Ultimate Ears Drops 20hz
Nothing Ear 1 20hz

Ultimate Ears Drops's lowest frequency is at 20Hz, low-frequency response inidcates how well a particular audio device generates low frequencies that can be heard, and if it makes any changes to the signal while at it.

Nothing Ear 1's lowest frequency is at 20Hz, this means that both devices produce equal bass

Highest Frequency

Ultimate Ears Drops 20,000hz
Nothing Ear 1 20,000hz

The Ultimate Ears Drops's highest frequency is at 20,000Hz, high-frequency response tells how well an audio device generates high recognizable frequencies and if it makes any adjustments to the signal on its way through.

Nothing Ear 1's highest frequency is at 20,000Hz, this means that both devices can produce equal treble

Sound Pressure Level

Ultimate Ears Drops 110db/mw
Nothing Ear 1

The sound pressure level, is the pressure level of sound, in decibels, dB, Ultimate Ears Drops's measurement is 110dB/mW. Devices with a higher sound pressure level are generally louder when supplied with any given audio source.

Power

Battery Life

Ultimate Ears Drops 6hours
Nothing Ear 1 5hours

The Ultimate Ears Drops's battery life is 6 hours, these last longer than 5 hours of listening which is considered average before recharge. A device's battery life is usually given by the manufacturer, and with longer battery life, you get to use it for longer and have to charge the device less often.

Nothing Ear 1's battery life is less than that of Ultimate Ears Drops by 1 hours . Each time you recharge your device, they get a little less playing time. The effect is barely noticeable at first, but over a few years, your wireless earbuds will no longer play for long like they used to.

Battery Life Of Charging Case

Ultimate Ears Drops 9hours
Nothing Ear 1 29hours

The battery life of the charging case is given by the vendor, and Ultimate Ears Drops's case is said to have a full charge of 9 hours. A charging case with more battery hours allows you to recharge your earbuds on the go multiple times before having to recharge the case itself.

Nothing Ear 1's charging case has a battery life of 29 hours, more than that of Ultimate Ears Drops by 20 hours

Charge Time

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1 1.5hours

It takes 1.5 hours to fully charge the Nothing Ear 1's battery. It is highly adivsable to fully charge the battery before using the earbuds for the first time.

Has Wireless Charging

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

Ultimate Ears Drops, the device supports wireless charging. To charge the device, you simply put down on a compatible charging pad.

Nothing Ear 1 also support wireless charging, always look out for the charging standard of the earbuds.

Has A Battery Level Indicator

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

Ultimate Ears Drops have a battery level indicator, an indicator shows you when the device has a low battery. The battery indicator lights show the charging status of your earbuds and charging case.

Nothing Ear 1 too have a battery level indicator, these enable you tell the charging state of your device, if charged fully, or the battery is running low.

Connectivity

Has Usb Type-C

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

Ultimate Ears Drops support USB TYPE-C, a standard connector for transmitting both data and power through a single cable.

Nothing Ear 1 too have USB TYPE-C. This USB-C plug is part and parcel of most current laptops, phones, and tablets.

Bluetooth Version

Ultimate Ears Drops v4.2
Nothing Ear 1 v5.2

Ultimate Ears Drops have Bluetooth version of 4.2, Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard that enables data movement between devices placed in close proximity, using short-wavelength, ultra-high frequency radio waves.

Nothing Ear 1 has a Bluetooth version of 5.2, newer than that of Ultimate Ears Drops . Newer versions provide faster data transfers.

Maximum Bluetooth Range

Ultimate Ears Drops 10meters
Nothing Ear 1 10meters

The Ultimate Ears Drops have a 10meters distance to connect via Bluetooth.

Nothing Ear 1 have a maximum range of 10meters, equal to that of the Ultimate Ears Drops

Has Aac

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

Ultimate Ears Drops support AAC, a codec that is used for Bluetooth audio. It supports 24-bit audio at 250kbps. Since it uses psychoacoustic modeling, it provides better results than other codecs at a similar bit rate.

Being the highest quality codec that any Bluetooth-supporting Apple product supports, the Ultimate Ears Drops will work fine with your MacBook. If you intend on using these with Android you need to pay even closer attention to codec support for if they only have AAC they won't provide the best audio quality possible, ensure that they also support aptX HD, LDAC, or LHDC as well.

Has Aptx Adaptive

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Ultimate Ears Drops support APTX Adaptive, an audio codec for Bluetooth devices that are developed by Qualcomm. It has a variable bit rate (between 279kbps and 420kbps).

Microphone

Number Of Microphones

Ultimate Ears Drops 2only
Nothing Ear 1 6only

The Ultimate Ears Drops have 2 microphones.

While the Nothing Ear 1 microphones are 6, more than that of Ultimate Ears Drops by 4 . More microphones record better sound quality and help the device to filter out noise.

Has A Noise-Canceling Microphone

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Nothing Ear 1 use a noise-canceling type of microphone, these microphones are intended to reduce background sounds from the desired sound.

Extras

Has Ambient Sound Mode

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

Ultimate Ears Drops support ambient sound mode, which uses microphones to channel ambient sound to still be heard even while wearing the earbuds

The Nothing Ear 1 support ambient sound mode as well, helpful when you want to listen to music while being aware of your surrounding, say you’re having a jog but would still want to be able to hear traffic.

Has In/On-Ear Detection

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Nothing Ear 1 support in/on-ear detection, the sensors in the earbuds can detect when they are removed from your ears .

Has Find Earbuds Feature

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

When misplaced in a room, or can't be found in your bag, Ultimate Ears Drops support the find earbuds feature.

Nothing Ear 1 also have the find earbuds feature. Simply use the device app on your smartphone to play an alarm from your device to find them.

Supports Fast Charging

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Ultimate Ears Drops support fast charging. Most often, technologies like MediaTek’s Pump Express, are used to reduce the amount of time it takes to charge the earbuds.

The Nothing Ear 1 too support fast charging. It's very similar to regular charging, only that the battery fills up much faster. Say, with Quick Charge 3.0, the battery is charged to 50% in just thirty minutes.

Multipoint Count

Ultimate Ears Drops 2only
Nothing Ear 1

The Ultimate Ears Drops support multipoint of 2 connections, the multipoint feature allows you to link to more than one Bluetooth device and switch between them. Say, you can easily switch calls from one device to another without manually disconnect and reconnect.

Has A Mute Function

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Ultimate Ears Drops have a mute function, they have the feature to mute/unmute a conversation directly from the device.

Control Panel Placed On A Device

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Ultimate Ears Drops, so you can easily access the volume control, pause, play, mute, etc whichever features are supported on the device.

Nothing Ear 1 too have a control panel on them.

Warranty Period

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1 1years

Nothing Ear 1 have a warranty period of 1 Years, the period of time that warrant free repair and adjustment services in case of a malfunction occurring under normal use following instruction manuals.

Has Voice Prompts

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

Ultimate Ears Drops support voice prompts. With voice prompts, you receive information via audio messages, like if there is an issue with the connection.

The Nothing Ear 1 too support voice prompts .i.e the device will notify you when the battery is low, and it's time to recharge them.

Travel Bag Is Included

Ultimate Ears Drops
Nothing Ear 1

The Ultimate Ears Drops come with their own special pouch. Carrying earphones without a case, or putting them inside your bag without a casing may easily damage them.

Nothing Ear 1 too have a travel bag included, which is useful for safe transportation.

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