Huawei removal could cost Europe up to €40 billion, GSMA estimates
GSMA expects reduced competition to increase telecom equipment prices significantly
Experts disagree over the true financial impact of Huawei's removal
The European Union's plan to remove supposedly high-risk telecom vendors such as Huawei and ZTE could cost far more than Brussels currently estimates, new figures have claimed
The GSMA trade body has said that direct replacement costs would reach €30 to €40 billion - roughly four times higher than the European Commission's own estimate of €10 to €13 billion in total.
Under the Commission's own projections, the transition away from Chinese equipment would cost between €3.4 billion and €4.3 billion annually across a three-year rollout - that annual estimate equates to a total cost of roughly €10 to €13 billion once the full three-year period concludes.
GSMA's €30 to €40 billion figure is a one-time total, and it breaks down into fixed networks at €5 billion and transport networks at €9 to €12 billion.
It also projects an extra €8.5 billion in costs between 2027 and 2030 from reduced competition among equipment manufacturers, a cost the Commission's figures do not appear to include.
GSMA attributes that added expense to fewer companies competing for contracts once high-risk vendors are excluded entirely from the market.
Telecom operators across the bloc have already begun pressing regulators for financial compensation tied to the mandated equipment replacement.
Experts clash over whose numbers are accurate
Some economists dispute GSMA's figures, arguing the estimates fail to separate new costs from expenses that would have occurred regardless.
"GSMA estimates are gross, not incremental," said Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director at think tank ECIPE.
He argued that subtracting replacement costs that would have occurred anyway would bring the totals close to the Commission's own figures.
Lee-Makiyama's critique suggests the true gap between industry and Commission estimates may be lower. The European Commission had not responded to requests for comment on the dispute.
GSMA's report arrives as negotiations over the Cybersecurity Act continue among EU member states and telecom industry representatives.
Any eventual compensation scheme would likely require agreement among national governments already divided over how quickly to remove Chinese vendors.
This is not the first time GSMA's figures have contrasted sharply with the European Commission's or individual analysts' estimates.
The Walking Dead franchise shuffles on as we return to Dead City (or New York’s Manhattan) for another outing. And this time out, it looks like Maggie (Lauren Cohen) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) may finally have put their differences aside. Read on for how to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3onlinefrom anywhere with a VPN — a potentially for FREE
At the heart of season 3 is the new community that Maggie and Negan hope to build, and having both headed up supposed safe havens in the past — to varying degrees of success — the pair seem the perfect survivors for the job. However, when choas erupts and threatens to destroy the burgeoning society, the TWD OGs are forced to question whether a utopia is truly possible in their post-apocalyptic world.
After a patchy first couple of seasons, it certainly sounds like Dead City has found its feet, rebooting Maggie and Negan’s relationship to where it was when the mothership show concluded. With some interesting questions to be asked around the idea of community and responsibility, and some great new additions to the cast, including siblings Renata (Aimee Garcia) and Luis (Raúl Castillo) alongside returning favourites, season 3 could shape up to be the most satisfying stint in apocalyptic NYC yet.
We’ve got all the info on where to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 online and stream every episode from anywhere.
Can I watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 for free?
Kiwis are in luck with The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 being streamed for FREE on TVNZ+ in New Zealand, with episodes airing every Monday from July 27.
Abroad? Use NordVPN to unlock your free stream of The Walking Dead: Dead City S3.
How to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City S3 online from abroad
For those away from home looking to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3, you’ll be unable to watch the show as normal if you're outside NZ due to regional restrictions. Luckily, there’s an easy solution.
Downloading a VPN allows you to stream geo-blocked services online, no matter where you are. It's a simple bit of software that changes your IP address, meaning that you can access on-demand content or live TV just as if you were at home. Our favorite is NordVPN – it's one of the best VPNs on the market.
Use a VPN to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3from anywhere:
Not having a VPN is like leaving your front door wide open in a busy city — anyone can walk right in and take a peek.
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How to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City S3 in the US
US viewers can watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 on AMC from Sunday, July 26 at 9pm ET/PT. New episodes air weekly.
Don’t have cable? You can also tune in on AMC Plus, which costs from $7.99 per month, after a 7-day free trial.
You can also watch AMC through Sling TV, or subscribe to AMC+ directly or as an add-on through Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, The Roku Channel, and other supported platforms.
Away from the US?Use a VPN to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 from abroad.
How to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City S3 in Canada
Canadian viewers can watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 on AMC+ from Sunday, July 26 at 9pm ET/PT.
It’s CA$7.99 a month after a 7-day free trial, and includes TV shows and movies from Shudder and Sundance TV, as well as hit shows like Mad Men and Gangs of London.
Not at home in Canada?A VPN will let you tune in to your usual stream as you would back home.
How to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City S3 in Australia
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 is available to watch on Australian streaming service Stan every Monday, starting July 27.
Stan's pricing starts at $12 per month for a single SD stream, followed by $17.99 per month for three HD streams, and $23.99 per month for four 4K streams.
Travelling outside Oz? You could use a VPN to access your usual Stan stream from anywhere.
How to watch The Walking Dead: Dead City S3 in the UK
UK viewers can watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3on Sky Max, although the release date is yet to be confirmed.
It will be available to stream via the Sky Go service.
If you're not a Sky customer, you can check out our dedicated guide to Sky TV deals and packages for today's best prices.
Kiwi in Blighty? You can use a VPN to watch on your regular free stream.
Watch he Walking Dead: Dead City S3 for free in New Zealand
You can watch The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3 in New Zealand via the free streamer TVNZ Plus, with episodes landing every Monday, starting July 27.
Outside New Zealand? Kiwis abroad can use a VPN to tune into TVNZ Plus, and watch Dead City season 3 for free, just as they would normally.
What you need to know about The Walking Dead: Dead City season 3
The Walking Dead: Dead City S3 trailer
The Walking Dead: Dead City S3 cast
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan
Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee
Logan Kim as Hershel
Gaius Charles as Perlie
Željko Ivanek as The Croat
Aimee Garcia as Renata
Jimmi Simpson as Dillard
Raúl Castillo as Luis
The Walking Dead: Dead City S3 release date and episode schedule
Season 3 of TWD: Dead City will premiere in North America on Sunday, July 26 and in Australia and New Zealand on Monday, July 27. A UK release date is TBC. The full release schedule is as follows:
Episode 1 - "Trillium": Sunday, July 26
Episode 2 - "Haven": Sunday, August 2
Episode 3 - "Emigrants": Sunday, August 9
Episode 4 - "Found/Lost": Sunday, August 16
Episode 5 – "Imperialis": Sunday, August 23
Episode 6 – "Genesis": Sunday, August 30
Episode 7 – "Hourglass": Sunday, September 6
Episode 8 – "Tenebrae": Sunday, September 13
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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Stream Shark Week 2026 on Discovery via YouTube T...
Shark Week 2026 dates: Sunday, July 26 – Saturday, August 1
Findulge your inner child and learn something new along the way by diving into Shark Week, a celebration of one of the natural world's most endlessly intimidating and captivating animal groups, playing out over seven days and 20 specials.
Adrenaline-junkie Molly Carlson is embracing that spirit a little too literally for our liking in Ultimate Shark Dive, by attempting a record-breaking freefall dive from a helicopter into a narrow cage surrounded by reef sharks – some species of which are known to be aggressive and/or a little too curious for comfort.
Yes, one of Shark Week's missions has traditionally been to undo the reputational damage wreaked by Jaws, but with titles like Air Jaws: Red, White and Breach, Bull Shark Dinner Bell, Chum Island: Catching a Killer, What Shark Attacked? and Secrets of the Great White Kill also prevalent on the schedule, you can forgive us for staying out of the water for its duration (and beyond).
After all, you never know where Big Rose might be. Here's hoping Dr Neil Hammerschlag and Paul de Gelder manage to track the supersized great white down in Invasion of the Mega Sharks. Expedition X: Atomic Sharks, Phil Torres and Heather Amaro's study of sharks living amongst nuclear waste, and Dr Tristan Guttridge's intelligence-testing How to Train a Great White sound especially fascinating too.
Read on as we explain how to watch Shark Week 2026 from anywhere and potentially for free. Scroll right down to the bottom for the full lineup of specials.
Can I watch Shark Week 2026 for free?
Yes. YouTube TV, which carries Discovery, offers new subscribers a 5-day FREE trial, which would let you watch almost the entirety of Shark Week 2026 for free.
Traveling abroad right now? You can use a VPN to access your usual streaming services from anywhere with a VPN.
Use a VPN to watch Shark Week 2026 from anywhere
A VPN is a handy piece of software that can make your device appear as if it's back in your home country and unlock your usual streaming services. The best VPN right now? We recommend Surfshark – it does everything and comes with up to 85% off.
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How to watch Shark Week 2026 in the US
Shark Week 2026 airs on Discovery on seven consecutive nights from Sunday, July 26 to Saturday, August 1. A triple-header of specials will start at 8pm ET/PT each evening, with a double-header to close.
The Discovery channel is available on a streaming basis from several OTT operators, including YouTube TV, which comes with a 5-day FREE trial.
Alternatively, the HBO Max streaming platform will let you stream Shark Week programming too. Plans start from $10.99 per month, or you can pay more to add live sports and bundle in other streaming services like Disney Plus and Hulu.
If you have a subscription but you're away during Shark Week 2026, you can unlock access your usual streaming services from anywhere by using a VPN.
How to watch Shark Week 2026 in Canada
In Canada, Shark Week 2026 airs on Discovery to exactly the same schedule.
Cord cutters can tune in via Discovery+, which starts at CA$5.99/month.
Away from Canada right now? Use Surfshark to access your subscriptions from anywhere.
Can I watch Shark Week 2026 in the UK?
Although Discovery+ is home to Shark Week programming in the UK, they tend to hit the streaming service in dribs and drabs, instead of airing as an event.
At the time of writing, it isn't clear when any of the Shark Week 2026 specials will be available to watch in the UK.
For now, a VPN will help you tune in if you're spending time in the UK from the US or Canada. Surfshark is our recommended provider, and you can find out why with our in-depth Surfshark review.
How to watch Shark Week 2026 in Australia
Shark Week 2026 goes out on HBO Max in Australia from Sunday, August 16.
Prices start from AU$11.99 per month.
If you'd rather not wait that long, a VPN will help you tune in if you're an American or a Canadian spending time abroad. The solution? Try using a VPN.
Shark Week 2026 – Need to Know
Shark Week 2026 trailer
Shark Week 2026 episode guide
Shark Week 2026comprises 20 specials, which will air in North America on the following schedule:
Sunday, July 26 8pm – “K-Pop Shark Heroes” 9pm – “Air Jaws: Red, White and Breach” 10pm – “Invasion of the Mega Sharks”
Monday, July 27 8pm – “Bull Shark Dinner Bell” 9pm – “House of Sharks” 10pm – “Biggest Mako on Earth”
Sunday, July 26 8pm – “Jurassic Sharks” 9pm – “Jaws vs Orca” 10pm – “Chum Island: Catching a Killer”
Sunday, July 26 8pm – “What Shark Attacked?” 9pm – “How to Train a Great White” 10pm – “Ultimate Shark Dive”
Sunday, July 26 8pm – “Secrets of the Great White Kill” 9pm – “Sharkzilla Takes New York” 10pm – “My Strange Shark Addiction”
Sunday, July 26 8pm – “Great White Highway” 9pm – “Thresher Shark: Stun to Kill”
(All times ET/PT)
VPN services are evaluated and tested by us in view of legal recreational use. For example:a) Access to services from other countries, (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).b) Safeguarding your online security and making your online privacy more robust when abroad.Future plc does not support nor condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. We do not endorse nor approve of consuming pirated content that is paid-for.
It's still unclear whether employers should train workers, or if workers should train themselves
Most organizations would still pay a premium to have employees who know a thing or two about AI
AI is increasingly common in performance reviews and promotion decisions
New research has claimed, three in four (77%) UK organizations now expect AI proficient to become a baseline requirement across most non-technical roles within the next year.
But despite a clear demand for AI skills, whose responsibility it is to upskill workers is still very much hotly challenged, the report from HiBob says.
For example, a near-identical number of companies are investing in AI upskilling (82%) and have clear strategies for finding candidates who already have strong AI skills (80%).
Employers are recruiting for AI-proficient workers
When it comes to training workers, employers are using a mix of funding opportunities for employees (33%), providing dedicated time for workers to experiment (33%) and offering pre-built prompts and workflows (31%), indicating that there's not yet a single way forward.
While the report doesn't shift the responsibility onto either party, with more than three in five considering AI when making promotion decisions (63%) and including AI in regular performance reviews (61%), workers are clearly required to take at least some ownership over their upskilling.
"The winners in the AI era will be the organisations that can define a shared language of skills, identify where capability truly sits, and pivot talent to where it creates the most value," CEO Ronni Zehavi wrote.
Regardless, with nearly all (97%) employers prepared to offer at least a 10% salary premium for AI proficiency, demand for such skills isn't going anywhere and the workers who take initiative could be the ones to see the most success in the short term, as organizations battle getting to grips with how to support their workforces.
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There are some very good and obvious reasons why ...
There are some very good and obvious reasons why a VPN should be part of your summer holiday plans.
Anyone who's ever had to rely on crawling hotel Wi-Fi speeds or faced blocks on their regular home streaming services while abroad will understand the frustration, and a VPN is a great solution for both of those.
A VPN will mask your online activities to make sure you can access whatever you like on public Wi-Fi without the network restricting your bandwidth or recording the sites and services you go to.
You can also use a VPN to supply you with an IP address of any country in the world, of course. That means that your device can appear to be connecting from back home and you won't get blocked from accessing iPlayer, Sling or any of your other regular streamers.
All good VPNs offer these things, and for a few dollars a month, it's well worth downloading one for this year's summer vacation.
If you are going to give that a try, then you should have a think about IPVanish. It's a very good VPN – not the best VPN, but a very good one – but the reason it's a good choice for your travels this time is that an IPVanish subscription currently comes with a free eSIM to use for 30 days too.
Get a 3GB eSIM with IPVanish: $2.19 per month IPVanish is only one of two recommended VPNs that come with a free eSIM. ExpressVPN is the other one. But the deal is far better with IPV's. For $2.19 per month, the Essential plan includes use of a 3GB eSIM for 30 days. With ExpressVPN, it's around twice the price, and you only get 3 days of usage. Try IPV's Advanced plan if you want to up the data to 5GB. Try out IPVanish with a 30-day money-back guarantee.View Deal
Compare that to ExpressVPN – the only other recommended VPN company that offers a free eSIM right now. First, ExpressVPN's plans are twice as expensive ($2.19 per month vs $4.49 per month) but, secondly, you only get access to your eSIM for 3 days with ExpressVPN!
Sign up to the IPVanish Essential plan ($2.19 per month) and you'll get 3GB for 30 days. If you go for the Advanced plan ($3.29 per month), then it's 5GB for 30 days.
The other good reason to try Advanced is that it comes with access to a cloud based browser called Secure Browser. This means that you'll do all your browsing and service accessing from IPVanish's cloud servers, instead of your own device, while on shared Wi-Fi networks. There's no way that any restricting network will have any idea of what you're doing and that should mean you're scot-free to access whatever you need with minimal disruptions.
You can read more about IPVanish and Secure Browser here. Have a great vacation and happy travels!
Sometimes, reviews are written with a heavy heart, and this is exactly that. I've championed Nothing's affordable "(a)" earbuds for well over two years — with the updated pink set for 2026 appearing to be right up my strasse. But all is not as it first appears.
The issues don't concern their cost. Like before, they come in at just under $100 and are therefore a candidate for our best budget earbuds guide.
Bizarrely, for the review star rating, I also have very few bones to pick with audio quality, which is still best pals with LDAC and now with Bluetooth 6.0 for a stronger connection. I recommend you tweak the sound profile from the box, mind — it's overly bassy by default — but that's hardly unheard of for earbuds at this level, and it can be rectified with a little effort.
It would have been lovely if Nothing had allowed its special sonic tests (for personalised EQ profile curation done by Nothing's software, rather than you tweaking sliders or blobs yourself) to be made available here, but the company has clearly decided that its three-minute hearing test is flagship only — although there is a new "Advanced" 8-band EQ tab with "Q factor" (more on this later).
What of the comfort levels and overall build quality? Here you get everything you'd expect of Nothing: rock-solid, colorful, and with just a couple of new flourishes to enjoy. Battery life has taken a knock, but that might possibly be down to having to work a bigger driver.
So what's the main problem? Actually there are two: Call Recording and Audio Snapshot (sometimes referred to as Audio Capture in Nothing's extensive marketing). Nobody asked for these features and, honestly, they're not the USP I wanted — even as a journalist who interviews people regularly.
None of the best noise-cancelling earbuds we recommend come with these features, but that's hardly a problem in itself. Such tech exists in the world, obviously; I point you to the Viaim RecDot, for example. But the Viaim's buds publicise their raison d'etre; there's a visible "record" button on the case, a light for in-person meetings, and a business-class $249.99 / £185 price tag. That's not the case with Nothing's version, where a surreptitious squeeze of the stem kicks off audio capture of your current call (or whatsapp voice note) in a set of buds that otherwise seem to scream "I'm a bit of fun!"
As with the RecDot, Nothing offers tech to transcribe your recordings (and not just on its own phones, either) — to a point. You get three months of its Pro Transcription service for free, with 120 minutes to use each month. And after the trial? Nothing tells me official pricing hasn't yet been finalised, but will be decided in August. If it was hard to recommend such a package before, it's even harder now when one doesn't know how much it will cost.
I can't help but feel that Nothing has taken a wrong turn here. I'd much rather have seen fan-favorite features such as personalised sound profiles and/or wireless charging rather than in-call recording. Some TechRadar team members have suggested I make like Elsa and just Let It Go, but in a year when consumer tech already feels uncomfortably intrusive (Meta, I'm looking at you with those smart glasses), adding call and voice note recording feels like a step too far. It's important to question where these features are taking us.
At $99 / £99, the price is definitely right. I'm just not sure the feature set is…
FutureFutureFuture
Nothing Ear (3a) review: Price & release date
Released on July 7, 2026
Priced $99 / £99 / around AU$192, same as the 2024 Ear (a)
The Nothing Ear (3a) cost the same as their predecessor, priced at $99 / £99.
Although the name might suggest otherwise, these are the direct successors to the excellent, five-star Nothing Ear (a) from 2024 – there was never a Nothing Ear (1a) or Nothing Ear (2a). They also slot nicely alongside the still-current but more expensive Nothing Ear (3), with the shared 3 denoting that they're part of the same generation.
The Ear (a) are some of the best budget earbuds I've ever had the pleasure of testing, and I'd looked forward to their update ever since word was out that it was coming.
Key rivals to the Nothing Ear (3a) include the Apple AirPods 4, which offer gesture control alongside a few other iPhone-exclusive features, or, for a little less, the five-star Cambridge Audio Melomania A100. If you're tempted by open earbuds instead, the Huawei FreeArc or even clip-style SoundPEATS Clip1 can both be picked up for less than the Nothing Ear (3a) right now, making them excellent-value alternatives.
Nothing Ear (a) on the left, Ear (2) on the right. Yes, there are key differences (Image credit: Future)
Nothing Ear (3a) review: Specs
Drivers
12mm custom driver
Active noise cancellation
Yes
Battery life
Up to 6 hours (ANC off); up to 4.5 hours (ANC on); up to 25 hours with case (ANC off) or up to 18 hours (ANC on)
Weight
4.53g per earbud
Connectivity
Bluetooth 6.0 with LDAC, USB-C
Frequency range
20Hz – 40kHz
Waterproofing
IP54
Other features
Wideband Active Noise Cancellation up to 45dB, 3 MEMs mics per earbuds with AI ENC, Nothing X App support, Custom 8-band EQ, Find My Earbuds, Low Lag mode, auto-off, Dual Connection, extra ear-tip, Audio Snapshot and in-call recording
Hello, yellow! (Image credit: Future)
Nothing Ear (3a) review: Features
Bluetooth 6.0 (15m range) with LDAC support
Improved ANC (cancellation up to 45 dB, effective to 5 kHz)
Pinch stems for Call Recording/Audio Snapshot, no Nothing phone required
It would be easy to say, "Look, you don't like the cutesy branding of Nothing's new 'Audio Snapshot' offering? Don't use it — there's still plenty to like for $99!" but let's dig in to see why the take is not so simple.
Firstly, we should get granular on what Audio Snapshot and Call Recording do, and what they cannot do. I mentioned above that as a journalist, I regularly record interviews, often over Zoom, Google Meet or even Microsoft Teams. When set up as an interview, my subjects usually take it as a given that I will be recording — and where I reside in the UK, it is legal to record calls, even without consent from the other party. I still always ask.
In the US, however, the laws on recording phone calls are different, varying from state to state. For calls crossing state lines, the stricter 'two party consent' law (as per the Federal Wiretap Act) applies, where both parties on a call must consent to a recording.
So what is Nothing doing about it? In its reviewers' guide, the company says it "aligns with internationally recognised privacy standards ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and EN 18031". To this end, during setup, the Nothing X app also displays a short tutorial reminding users to obtain permission before recording calls — as shown below.
Interestingly, on a traditional phone call made in the UK, the "prompt" Nothing promises will be played to everyone on the call is a simple beep. On Google Meet, a female voice announces "This call will be recorded in 3, 2, 1", presumably so anyone not OK with that can scream "Oh no you don't!". From smartphone to smartphone, there's no vocal.
Thanks to the Nothing Ear (3a)'s 32MB of onboard storage, you can start recording with just a pinch of the stems, storing up to two hours of audio on the earbuds themselves. You can also record and transcribe voice notes from apps such as Instagram or WhatsApp — and from August, Nothing says it will add summaries of call recordings, speaker identification and the ability to create calendar reminders based on what was discussed.
Nothing (app screen grabs by Future) Nothing (app screen grabs by Future)
What these earbuds can't do is record conversations that take place around you, or indeed your own voice. So, thankfully, there's no scope for eavesdropping around the water cooler.
However, my thoughts on this are clear— I'm not wholly OK with it. It puts the onus on buyers to adhere to laws, and opens the door for flouting rules of consent. I tried muting my mics to see whether the beep could be silenced, but it still plays for the person on the other end of the call to signal that recording has begun. Nevertheless, I think I've made my concerns around this feature clear.
Elsewhere, you get Bluetooth v6.0 and LDAC support for hi-res audio (the Sony-developed codec that lets you stream high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps, if your device supports it and the file is up to scratch). While the predecessor did also include the latter, it remains a valuable inclusion here.
There's also onboard spatial audio, albeit of the "static" variety rather than head-tracked spatial audio that keeps the sound anchored to your source device as you move your head. It adds a little extra depth and height to the presentation, but for me, the effect is decidedly light-touch compared to what you get from pricier earbuds.
Note that you don't get the Ear (3)'s splendid personalized hearing tests, or the useful "walkie-talkie" Super Mic. That said, there's in-ear detection (to pause music when you remove the buds and resume it when they're in), a low-lag toggle for gaming, seamless pairing, multipoint to two devices, an ear-tip fit test and a Find My Earbuds feature, which emits a rattlesnake-style sound from whichever bud you're trying to locate, to help you find it.
Nothing's Transparency mode is decent. It's a little warm, but it still delivers a more three-dimensional presentation than many buds at this level. I could hear the placement of the TV, voices in my home and a dog outside, rather than all of these sounds appearing tinny, omnipresent and seemingly on top of one another.
When deploying ANC (rather than "Transparency" or "Off"), you can once again select from High, Mid, Low, and Adaptive noise-nixing profiles. High is decent: Nothing tells me performance is up to 45dB (effective to 5 kHz), which equates to a 17.1% improvement compared to the Ear (a), thanks to a software upgrade and improved architecture regarding where the mic sits.
The issue in 2026 is the existence of the AirPods Pro 3 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2). Although it would be unfair to compare like for like, owing to the chasm in pricing, you can get better if you're willing to pay for it. That said, the ANC here is no slouch, giving a fairly clean, largely uninterrupted and issue-free neutral background for my music.
If you have a Nothing Phone, the Nothing X app and the ChatGPT app, then you can once again you can also access ChatGPT access via the Ear (3a)'s stem; simply squeeze and talk.
The new EQ tab is now an eight-band offering (up from three in the older buds), as well as the more basic audio splodge Nothing made its own — and which I rather like since it reminds me of Nura True Pro's visual depictions, rather than a mixing desk. You also get five presets in the Advanced tab, and four in the Simple tab — but you can create your custom EQ using whichever system you prefer.
And I think you'll need to get familiar with these, as I'm about to explain…
Features score: 4 / 5
Voice AI using ChatGPT is coming using Nothing Ear (a) using your Nothing smartphone… (Image credit: Future)
Nothing Ear (3a) review: Sound quality
LDAC support represents value
Fun, V-shaped sound — if a little quiet
A little bass-heavy from the box, but you can fix it
As was the case with their siblings, it would be wrong of me to knock Nothing Ear (3a) in the sonic department for this money. The sound quality is easily worthy of the outlay.
That said, there are a few points to bring to your attention.
Those with a Sony or Samsung smartphone (I used a Sony Xperia) will find much to celebrate in LDAC music streaming. In My Chemical Romance's The Ghost of You, guitars snake from my left to right ear in a cohesive mix — with Gerard Way's vocal central, petulant and every bit as emotive as I remember it in the mid-noughties.
Even when I stream Apple Music songs from my iPhone, the Nothing Ear (3a) offer ample width as my playlist continues to Thank You For the Venom and the intro guitars find a spacious home in my left ear. There's room around every stem in the mix to shine, but they're all held properly in check, even in this fast-paced and challenging song.
It's a little bass-heavy at times, though. Fleetwood Mac's The Chain is a good test of a regimented low-end, and alongside the kick-drums, I did lose just a little of Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham in that glorious upper harmony through the chorus. It seems to be Nothing's modus operandi to offer a bassy listen generally, and while I did find that the new Advanced EQ tab helped, I think the enhanced low-end went a little far here.
Nothing offers a "Q Factor" in addition to what you've just tweaked in the 8-band tab, to control the width or sharpness of your adjustment. So, imagine it as a "quality factor" (because that is what it stands for), where the number you select between 0.1 and 10 determines how wide or narrow of a frequency range is boosted or cut — all of this specific to your chosen frequency. Selecting a low Q Factor will generate a wider, more gentle curve to your adjustment, where a high Q Factor will make the change narrower, steeper and more effective around that specific frequency augmentation (or reduction).
I eased off the bass and selected a Q Factor of 3.2, but you must of course play with these things yourself — and sadly, Nothing hasn't included its hearing tests here, to check how perceptive your ears are within this particular tuning.
For dynamics and nuance, the Nothing Ear (3a) are perhaps a shade less engaging and arresting than I'm used to, owing to their volume. Once criticism often levelled at Nothing's budget earbuds is they don't go especially loud, and I frequently found myself listening above 50% volume. Also, since battery life is measured at that volume, it did mean the quoted "4.5-hour battery life with ANC deployed" claims although bang on, were still disappointing.
Sound quality score: 4 / 5
See how Ear (a) is just slightly bigger than Ear (2), across the board? (Image credit: Future)
Nothing Ear (3a) review: Design
Curvier case
That 1mm bigger driver is sucks up power
And the battery life isn't great
Hold the Nothing Ear (3a) earpieces and case next to their older Nothing Ear (a) and you'll certainly struggle in a game of spot the difference. There's the color, obviously — also available in black, white and a slightly different yellow to the hue I love in this older set — and the 50% curvier case. There's also a trio of LEDs on the case that deliver a total of six status indications for battery status, pairing status, charging levels and so on.
For further tweaks, we have to look deeper.
The driver is now 12mm rather than 11mm and features an "aerospace-grade diaphragm". You also get an extra set of ear-tips in the box, four in total, and although the XS will appeal to owners of small ears, the actual earpieces here aren't tiny, despite being lighter in weight than Ear (a), at 4.53g versus 4.8g. The actual design of the tips has been finessed, too: they're a little thicker and more flared across the outer wall. I found the buds very secure, if a little big to accommodate comfortably over my small-ish ears over the course of long listening sessions.
I've said it before now and I'll say it again: I think we've reached a point of diminishing — perhaps even negative — returns when it comes to ever-larger earbud drivers. Every new release seems to tout a bigger driver without adding weight, as if bigger automatically means better. But where does it end? 13mm drivers? 15mm drivers? To my ears, the Ear (3a)'s 1mm larger driver hasn't negatively impacted the sound, but I don wonder if it's contributed to sthe shorter battery life. In my briefing, I was told the buds themselves would last 10 hours — but that turned out not to be the case.
While the battery in each earpiece — along with the larger driver and onboard 16MB flash drive — works hard to power the buds, it's only good for up to 6 hours without ANC, or 4.5 hours with ANC turned on. And remember, I had to pump the volume up higher than 50%, which the level at which those measurements are typically taken. With the case, you'll get up to 25 hours with ANC off, or up to 18 hours with it on.
None of these stats is much to write home about. Take Nothing's own Ear (a), which offered up to 9.5 hours of playback on a single charge with ANC off, and about 5.5 hours with ANC on. Now, consider the very inexpensive Cambridge Melomania A100, which offer 11 hours per charge or up to 39 hours with the case, along with aptX Lossless. I know which I'd rather take on long road-trips…
Again, Nothing's pinch-to-control stems return here, and while volume controls aren't enabled by default, you can assign them in the Nothing X app — provided you're happy to sacrifice another shortcut in the process.
While I'm here, a quick note on call-handling. It's absolutely clear and clean as a whistle, thanks to the 3 MEMS mics per bud.
Design score: 4 / 5
Rarely have I had so many colleagues strike up a conversation with me over a set of earbuds (Image credit: Future)
Nothing Ear (3a) review: Value
Still very good-looking earbuds
Decent ANC; not so great for stamina
LDAC adds value, but call-recording (for me, at least) is a no
Before now, I've always championed Nothing's "(a)" buds — and while the basics in the (3a) are fine, there are a few issues that are hard to ignore.
The Call Recording feature is top of the list here. More than any technical limitation, it's the privacy implications that concern me. Much as seeing someone wearing smart glasses now makes me wonder whether I'm being recorded, these earbuds leave me asking why someone might want to capture our conversations. I appreciate that some readers may see this as an overreaction, but it's a genuine concern for me, informed by my own experiences as a woman and former dancer who had to deal with overly familiar fans.
I think the audio quality here is perfectly acceptable for $99 / £99, but the stamina and feature set can be bettered. Even in the open earbuds market, I'd happily direct you to the cheaper Huawei FreeArc or SoundPEATS Clip1 over these earbuds.
Value score: 4 / 5
Should I buy the Nothing Ear (3a)?
Section
Notes
Score
Features
I can't get behind Call Recording — although the ANC is good enough
4/5
Sound quality
An fun listen that's easy to tweak if the bass proves a bit much. Just a tad quiet overall
4/5
Design
Good-looking buds let down by disappointing stamina
4/5
Value
It's hard for me to write it, but the smart money isn't always with Nothing
4/5
Nothing Ear (3a) scores
Solid generally, but with battery concerns and a potentially problematic call recording 'feature'
Features
4
Sound Quality
4
Design
4
Battery Life
2.5
Noise Cancellation
4.5
Value
4
Overall
4
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Group 1 Data
Product
Features ()
Sound Quality ()
Design ()
Battery Life ()
Noise Cancellation ()
Value ()
Overall ()
Nothing Ear (3a)
4
4
4
2.5
4.5
4
4
Buy them if...
You want buds that say "look at me" The pink colorway is super-striking and fun, especially against their black/transparent stems.
You have a Sony or Samsung phone LDAC support for $99 / £99? That's good stuff.
You want to record your phone calls These buds do offer the option to record and transcribe up to 2 hours of audio from calls, songs or voice notes — and you don't need a Nothing source device to do it.
Don't buy them if...
You want extra-special spatial audio Nothing adds its "static" spatial audio profile here, for a slightly more immersive sound profile to your music. For me, though, it's a little bit lightweight.
You have bijou ears This design just about works for my smaller ears with the small ear-tips (there's even an XS option included now), but if your concha or ear-well is particularly diminutive, then you may still find these earpieces a little big.
The idea of covert surveillance bothers you As a journalist, I have no issue with recording when everyone has consented. My concern is Nothing's playful marketing if in-call recording as a lifestyle feature, despite the obvious privacy implications.View Deal
Nothing Ear (3a) review: Also consider
Nothing Ear (3a)
Cambridge Audio Melomania A100
Huawei FreeArc
Price
$99 / £99 / Approx. AU$192
$149 / £119 / AU$TBC (but around AU$249) at launch, discounted now
£99 (roughly $130, AU$200) but discounted now
Drivers
12m custom
10mm Neodymium dynamic
17mm x 12mm (open earbuds)
Active noise cancellation
Yes
Yes
No
Quoted battery life
Buds: 6 hrs (without ANC) or 4.5 hrs with ANC; Total with case: 18 hrs with ANC (or 25 hrs without ANC)
11 hours per charge; up to 39 hours with the case
7 hours (earbuds), 23 hours (total)
Weight
4.53g
4.7g
8.9g
Connectivity
Bluetooth 6.0, LDAC, USB-C (no wireless charging)
Bluetooth 5.4 with LDAC and aptX Lossless
Bluetooth 5.2
Frequency range
20 Hz – 40 kHz
Not stated
Not stated
Waterproofing
Yes, IP54
Yes, IPX5
Yes, IP57
Other features
Audio Snapshot and Call Recording; auto-off, static spatial audio, ChatGPT with a Nothing Phone
7-band EQ, ANC, DynamEQ for optimised tuning, wireless charging, 3 mics per bud
Huawei AI Life app, 10-band EQ, audio presets, find your earbuds
Huawei FreeArc Up for taking a punt on affordable and great-sounding open earbuds? The FreeArc are available at a generous discount right now — but in all honesty, we loved them even at full price. Read more on this in our full Huawei FreeArc review
Cambridge Audio Melomania A100 These June 2025-release earbuds didn't get the fanfare they deserved, unless you count our glowing five-star review, of course. They don't look as flamboyant — but oh, do they sound good, and the ANC is great too. Did I mention they've been discounted recently? Highly recommended for their current price. Learn more in our in-depth Cambridge Melomania A100 review
How I tested the Nothing Ear (3a)
USB-C for juicing up, but there's no wireless charging (Image credit: Future)
Tested for two weeks, listened against the Ear (a), Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2), Technics EAH-AZ100 and AirPods 4
Listened in the office, walking along a beach, on a train into London, into Central London and at home
Listened to Tidal Masters, Apple Music Lossless tracks and Spotify on an iPhone 15 Pro, MacBook Pro and Sony Xperia smartphone
The Nothing Ear (3a) became my primary musical companions for well over two weeks — after a 48-hour run-in period.
They accompanied me to work (walking brusquely to our Paddington office and on the London Underground to various press events) and even walking on a beach at sunset.
To assess comfort levels, ANC and battery life claims, I followed TechRadar's meticulous methodology testing and found much of note — including slightly disappointing stamina.
To check the audio quality across the frequencies, I listened for several hours to my own reference playlists on Apple Music and Tidal, alongside TechRadar's reference tracks, plus podcasts and movies. Additionally, I wore them to watch YouTube tutorials from my MacBook Pro.
I’ve been testing audio products for well over seven years, full-time. As a dancer, aerialist and musical theater performer in another life, sound quality, fit, and user experience have always been a priority for me, but having heard how wonderful ANC can be when done well, I know what I'm listening to here, too.
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