Discover the pros and cons of headphones with built-in mics in the case and learn if they’re worth your money.
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The Nothing Ear (3) has an amazing way to record sound directly from the case: this is how it works, and I will tell you if you are interested in looking for headphones like this.
Wireless headphones are one of the devices that have advanced the most compared to a decade ago, but nowadays the large number of models and brands present in this sector makes it difficult to choose the next model to buy.
In fact, it’s not the easiest product in which to notice the differences, as many people may miss the nuances that separate a sound technology from the rest, despite the fact that features such as active noise cancellation do represent a huge leap in the user experience.
ANC is applied so that you do not hear the noises of your surroundings when you listen to music or other content, but it has already begun to be applied also in microphones so that the people who call you do not hear so much background noise and your voice is clearer. For example, this is what happens to the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4.
One of the latest models of wireless headphones that has passed through my hands is the Nothing Ear (3), its new high-end, which includes a new way to improve noise cancellation in calls and audios through the charging case, and this is what has caught my attention the most about this product that I have analyzed.
I tell you in detail everything about the Super Mic function so that you can decide if you should buy headphones with a microphone in the charging case like these.
Wireless Earbuds Super Mic 45dB Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones Hi-Res 6 Mics, 12mm Dynamic Bass Boost, Dual Connect ANC Sport Ear Buds for iPhone Android
How Super Mic works on the Nothing Ear (3)
The operation of Super Mic is simple a priori, although it has some complications in practice that you should know.
To start talking to the case, just press the metal talk button on the case. If you hold it down, the recording ends when you stop pressing the button, while if you click twice, it keeps recording on its own until you press it again.
When you’re recording through the case, the green light on the side comes on. Whenever you speak you should be oriented towards this light, because right next to it is the microphone, and remember that you must wear the headphones, or at least one of them, since you cannot use the function with them in the box.
The problem will depend on the application you are using to record audio, since the integration of this function may not be so easy, and in some cases it is not possible, such as in WhatsApp and the rest of Meta’s apps. So, no, you won’t be able to send audios with it, at least for now.
Super Mic is integrated in a more direct way in the case of phone and camera applications, where it can work, although the experience is not 100% automatic just by pressing the button.
In this case, when you press the button for the first time, many apps will ask you to give them permission to access the microphone. I have tested it with a Pixel 10 Pro XL, and in the case of Google’s camera app, you will have to go to the video settings and enable the Nothing Ear (3) as a microphone, because by default you will speak into the microphone of the mobile and you will only hear through the headphones.
In the case of the Google Phone app, Super Mic does activate automatically if you are on a call. But in other cases it may not work directly, as has happened to me with the camera app of a Huawei mobile phone in which I have also tested it and in which, when you press the talk button, the recording stops automatically.
It is important that when you press the talk button, you are inside an application that is using the microphone and is compatible, because otherwise it will only open the artificial intelligence assistant of your phone, such as Gemini.
Does it make sense to use the case as a microphone?
But beyond how it works, does it really make sense to use the microphone of wireless headphones for better noise cancellation? The answer is mixed and depends a lot on the mobile you have and the applications you use.
If you have a recent high-end phone, it may not be a feature that you should prioritize too much, because its impact on the experience is minimal. I’ve used Super Mic with the Nothing Ear (3) from a Google Pixel 10 Pro XL next to a computer playing music or city noise at the maximum, and I’ve discovered both from the camera app and the call app… that it already applies noise cancellation as standard.
So the additional decibels provided by this function, up to 95 dB, are not noticeable at any time; only that the voice is slightly different.
And with this I want to say that you notice a little more presence, although it is still very far from the result of a traditional microphone, so if you expect this technology to replace your microphones for podcasts or broadcasts, it is not a use that I recommend either.
However, if you use a mid-range phone or already have trouble being heard on calls, the microphone on the headphones of models like the Nothing Ear (3) may be the answer you needed to improve your experience slightly when you have a lot of noise around you.
As long as the application and the device in question support it, because it will not always be like this.
