Nothing Ear (3) vs Sony LinkBuds Fit

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

Ear (3) compared with LinkBuds Fit

	NothingEar (3)	SonyLinkBuds Fit
Overview
Released
Released	September 2025	October 2024
Sound
Type
Type	In-ear	In-ear
Noise cancelling
Noise cancelling	Yes	Yes
Transparency mode
Transparency mode	Yes	Yes
Spatial audio with head tracking
Spatial audio with head tracking	No	Yes
Driver size
Driver size	12 mm	8.4 mm
Impedance
Impedance	32 ohms	–
Bluetooth codecs
Bluetooth codecs	SBC, AAC and LDAC	SBC, AAC, LDAC and LC3
Chip
Chip	–	V2
Drivers
Drivers	12 mm dynamic driver with a patterned PMI dome and TPU surround; 20 Hz – 40 kHz frequency range	8.4 mm Dynamic Driver X
Chip
Chip	–	Integrated Processor V2
Noise cancelling detail
Noise cancelling detail	Real-time adaptive ANC, up to 45 dB depth and 5000 Hz bandwidth (Nothing's figures); High, Mid, Low and Adaptive modes; Transparency mode and ear-tip fit test	Noise cancelling with Auto NC Optimizer; Ambient Sound Mode with Auto Ambient Sound; Speak-to-Chat; wind noise reduction structure
Audio features
Audio features	Static spatial audio; Personal Sound hearing profile by Audiodo; advanced EQ, Dynamic Bass Enhancement and low-latency mode	LDAC up to 990 kbps (Hi-Res Audio Wireless); DSEE Extreme upscaling; 360 Reality Audio with head tracking; LE Audio (LC3); BGM effect; equaliser in the app
Battery
Listening time (maker's claim)
Listening time (maker's claim)	Up to 5.5 hours	Up to 5.5 hours
With the case
With the case	Up to 22 hours	Up to 21 hours
Wireless charging
Wireless charging	Yes	No
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	AAC with ANC provides up to 5.5 hours, or 22 hours including case recharges; without ANC, 10 hours or 38 hours total. LDAC with ANC provides 3.5 hours, or 5.5 hours without ANC. Tested at 50% volume and 25°C; 55 mAh per bud and 500 mAh case	Up to 8 hours with noise cancelling off (AAC); with LDAC, 3.5 hours with noise cancelling on or 4.5 hours off; with SBC, 5 hours on or 7.5 hours off; with LC3, 4.5 hours on or 7.5 hours off; 21 hours in total with the case (Sony doesn't say with which settings); talk time up to 4 hours
Charging case
Charging case	USB-C charging to full in 70 minutes, or wireless charging in 120 minutes; case base made from 100% recycled aluminium	USB-C; about 3 hours to fully charge the case, 2 hours for the earbuds; 47.2 × 47.2 × 32.6 mm
Fast charging
Fast charging	With ANC off, 10 minutes charging provides up to 10 hours including case recharges; 5 minutes provides up to 1 hour from earbuds alone	5 minutes of charging gives about 1 hour of playback
Design
Weight (each earbud)
Weight (each earbud)	5.2 g	4.9 g (better)
Water and sweat resistance
Water and sweat resistance	IP54	IPX4
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.4	5.3
Two devices at once
Two devices at once	Yes	Yes
Controls
Controls	Customisable pinch controls and in-ear detection; TALK button selects the case Super Mic	Wide Area Tap on the earbud or the face in front of the ear (by default the left switches noise cancelling and Ambient Sound Mode; the right plays and pauses and skips tracks; tap three times on either to answer or end calls; tap five or more times for volume), reassignable in the app; head gestures to answer calls; voice control; Quick Access; IR sensors pause music when an earbud is taken out
Microphones
Microphones	Three MEMS microphones and a voice pickup unit per bud; dual-microphone Super Mic in the case for calls and voice notes	Microphones on the outside and inside of each earbud, with Precise Voice Pickup Technology and AI noise reduction for calls
Fit and ear tips
Fit and ear tips	Four sizes of silicone ear tips (XS, S, M and L)	Air Fitting Supporters and Soft Fitting Earbud Tips in SS, S, M and L (M fitted); either earbud can be used on its own
Case weight
Case weight	Earbuds and case together weigh 71.4 g; standalone case weight not specified	About 41 g
Dimensions
Dimensions	Each bud 30.5 × 21.5 × 20.75 mm (H × W × D); case 55.5 × 55.5 × 22.25 mm (H × W × D)	–
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	IP54 for both earbuds and case	IPX4 for the earbuds, excluding the sound outlet, ventilation holes and microphone holes; the charging case is not water resistant
Works with
Works with	Nothing X app; Android 6.0 or later and iOS 13 or later; two-device connection, Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair. Essential Space voice-note transcription and ChatGPT integration require compatible Nothing OS devices	Sony | Sound Connect app for iOS and Android; multipoint connection to two devices; LE Audio with compatible devices; Auto Switch with the LinkBuds Speaker; Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa; Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair; Bluetooth 5.3 Class 1, about 10 m range
Colours
Colours	Black, White	Black, White, Green, Violet (Olivia Rodrigo edition); Pink added in June 2025
In the box
In the box	Earbuds, charging case, four sizes of ear tips, USB-C cable, safety information and user guide	Earbuds, charging case, USB-C cable (USB-A to USB-C), Soft Fitting Earbud Tips in SS, S, M and L, documents