The ethos of the British tech firm Nothing is compelling: make well-priced, value-focused products with an emphasis on beautiful, unique design. The Nothing Phone (2) only costs $549, but with it’s thoughtful, stylish software experience and transparent hardware, it looks as premium as the latest iPhone. When mobile photography does not present a priority, it stands as the best value phone in the market. The same applies to their budget Phone (2a) and their great earbud line, which have good performance for the money, and look far more expensive than their pricetag.

The same holds for their new open earbuds, the Nothing Ear (open); and they’re good, but the technical challenges of an open earbud have tested Nothing harder than their other products.

For those unfamiliar, open earbuds do not plug into the ear. Instead, they rest slightly outside, letting you hear your surroundings while listening to music or podcasts. For cycling and other situations that benefit from situational awareness, they excel; but without strong physical contact, open earbuds have trouble with audio quality. And the Ear (open) are no different.

Like all Nothing products, there’s nothing to complain about in the design work though. They have a long arc shape — which hooks over the back of the ears — and come in a long transparent case, and combined with Nothing’s signature white and transparent industrial design, look they premium and indisputably futuristic. Out of the box, I wished they had went for a more traditional, compact, pocketable case but this long flat shape is more visually striking, and very easy to use. Combined with the hook shape of the buds, these are the easiest open earbuds to put on.

Surprisingly though, this hook shape isn’t that comfortable. They’re easier to put on than the clip-on-earring style Bose Quiet Ultra Open earbuds, but you can easily forget you’re wearing those, whereas the ear(open) put pressure on the top of your ear, and that grows more noticeable the long that you wear them.

Then there’s the sound, which has to be broken into two categories. If you’re listening to podcasts, these are basically as good as any other open earbuds. Voices are clear, sound natural, and always get loud enough. In contrast though, they sound like inexpensive earbuds when listening to music. The sound profile is quite airy, with lighter, distant highs, and very uneven bass. Mid bass is very absent, so they pump up the low end — so much that you can feel the earbuds vibrating against your ears on a bass-heavy song. But this tuning also muddies the bass that is there.

Listening to Big Sean’s “On Up” on the Bose Ultra Open, the bass has a lot more depth and sharpness; the drum hit on the beat is front and center in the mix; and there’s a lot of dynamic range in the song. It sounds pretty great, even if the bass isn’t at full power. By contrast, the Ear (open) are a lot flatter and muted, without that dynamism, with the drums a lot further back in the mix, and a muddier bass.

They are tuned to put the vocals right in front, which is the right move — particularly given that people will mostly listen to podcasts on these — but it does make the rest of the song seem flat by comparison. You can mitigate this somewhat by increasing volume, but if you like music with a lot of mid-bass — rock, hip-hop, etc. — I would not default to these. They are surprisingly fun for listening to jazz on, and other songs that benefit from a wide sound-stage, which these are tuned to take advantage of.

The Ear (open) are an interesting product. They’re an OK addition to the space sonically, but look better than any other open earbuds you can buy; and though I’m not impressed with their sound quality for music, they are more than capable enough for listening to podcasts on. Perhaps most importantly though: they’re inexpensive. My favourite open earbuds, the Bose, are $299. These are half the price of those at $149.

If you enjoy listening to music whilst hearing your surroundings, and like the added comfort and security of the Bose, I think they’re worth the upgrade. But if you like a more interesting design, and are just going to listen to podcasts, then it’s hard to find a pair I’d recommend over these.