With two models under its belt — theEar 1and theEar Stick— Carl Pei’s Nothing brand is no stranger to wireless earbuds. But the maverick smartphone company might be planning something a little different for 2023. It seems as though it’s readying its third model of wireless earbuds, according to a tweet from developerKuba Wojciechowskithat was reported by91mobiles.com. Wojciechowski claims to have found references within Nothing’s firmware and also managed to unearth what are claimed to be renders of the as-yet-unannounced product.
Known as “Particles by XO,” thewireless earbudshave a unique, peanut-like shape reminiscent of theSony LinkBuds. Though unlike the LinkBuds, which use a doughnut-shaped driver that allows external sounds to be heard clearly, the Particles use a traditional ear canal-sealing design. The report suggests that these will be active noise-canceling buds, which is consistent with the silicone-tipped design.
The use of the XO brand might give some folks reason to wonder if this is in fact a Nothing product. After all, why go to the trouble of creating an entirely new subbrand when the Nothing parent brand has only launched a few products so far?
And yet, one of the few specs that have accompanied the leak makes me think this is a legit Nothing creation. According to 91mobiles, the Particles will support the LHDCBluetooth codec. LHDC is a low-latency, yet hi-res -capable codec that is notable for its lack of support outside of a small handful of smartphones andearbuds.
TheNothing Phone 1, which was released earlier in 2022, has just recently received a software update that adds LHDC support. And since the phone doesn’t support Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive — one of the other major hi-res codecsalong with Sony’s LDAC— it makes a lot of sense that Nothing would want to offer its users a set of earbuds that work with LHDC.
How soon might we see the mysterious Particles by XO hit retail? At this point, it’s looking like early 2023, a time frame that syncs nicely with arecent but vague tweetfrom Pei that said, “preparing for a U.S. launch.”
