Nothing Ear (2) Review: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

At a look

Professional’s Ranking

Execs

• Nice sound
• Excellent personalised sound
• Cheaper than predecessor within the UK
• Cool design

Cons

• Hello-Res perform damaged on Nothing Telephone (1)
• Audio-visual lag on video
• Dodgy multipoint connection

Our Verdict

The Nothing Ear (2) sound nice and have stable noise cancelling, plus additional options at a really aggressive value. Nevertheless, the brand new high-quality audio mode doesn’t work nicely on the corporate’s personal smartphone.

Worth When Reviewed

$149

Greatest Costs In the present day: Nothing Ear (2)

The Nothing Ear (2) are a weirdly named and distinctive trying set of wi-fi earbuds that punch above their modest $149/£129/€149 value level with glorious sound high quality.

In comparison with the Ear (1) from 2022, the Ear (2) have a smaller charging case, twin gadget connection, and Hello-Res Audio compatibility.

This Hello-Res mode is buggy on the Nothing Telephone (1) however not on some other telephone I examined, so sarcastically I can solely advocate the Ear (2) to anybody who doesn’t personal the one telephone Nothing at present makes.

Design & construct

• Cool clear design
• Pinch controls
• Three in-ear tip sizes

The Nothing Ear (2) look precisely just like the Nothing Ear (1), although Nothing might be at pains to level out refined design variations all the way down to how the parts are organized within the clear buds themselves.

It’s no dangerous factor that they’re virtually similar as they appear nice. The white bud and stem design is indebted to Apple’s AirPods however the black distinction clear sides (full with AirPod-esque pinch controls) pop properly, and there’s a white dot on the left and a pink on the best bud to distinguish them.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

The case is somewhat smaller than the Ear (1)’s and is made out of a hardy see-through plastic. I dropped the case a few occasions, nevertheless it solely has minor scratches and didn’t crack. It’s one of many coolest trying instances on wi-fi earbuds because it feels as if Nothing cares in regards to the case’s aesthetics the place rival designs are purely purposeful. Heck, the identical extends to the precise earbuds design, too.

The buds are gentle and cozy to put on at 4.5g every and though I usually wrestle with the match of a few of the greatest wi-fi earbuds, as I’ve slim ear canals, however the Nothing Ear (2) match me very nicely with the medium ideas (there are small and huge additionally included). The guidelines, like AirPods Professional, are extra oval than circle, which helps so much.

If you happen to favor, the Nothing Ear (Stick) buds have an open design with no silicone ideas.

Sound high quality

• Glorious music sound
• Nice personalised audio
• Buggy hi-res if on Nothing Telephone (1)

The Ear (2) sound superb. They’ve obtained good bass and may drive rock and rap tracks very nicely, even when the treble is somewhat overpowering at occasions.

Most genres sound nice however in busy rock tracks the mid tones can get misplaced. This may be all the way down to the character of the compressed audio I used to be listening to on Spotify, although.

Once I performed Impediment 1 by Interpol on Spotify, the monitor sounded solidly reproduced. The identical monitor by way of hi-res music app Qobuz all of a sudden opened new particulars to me, such because the readability of the rhythm guitar within the verses. It makes a distinction which music streaming service you utilize.

Although this step up in high quality is all the way down to the audio supply fairly than the earbuds, the Ear (2) are adequate to audibly reproduce the higher high quality, and that is notably spectacular at this value level.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

The pulsing synth sounds of UK Grim by Sleaford Mods have glorious stereo separation and the bass response is full sufficient the place lesser earbuds distort. Acoustic guitars on All people’s Gotta Dwell by Love are superbly wealthy, as are the strings on a number of renditions of Bach and Chopin.  

Eric B. & Rakim’s Paid Full bops with a good, managed sound. The Nothing Ear (2) are among the many greatest sounding earbuds of their value vary, beating the Ear (1) and the $149/£139 Samsung Galaxy Buds 2. Ear (2) sound extra animated.

Higher nonetheless is Nothing’s private sound profile in it’s Nothing X companion app. I needed to undergo the arrange course of twice earlier than I felt the impact was good, nevertheless it was value it.

The app takes you thru a 5 minute listening to take a look at that checks at what frequencies you possibly can hear a beep above static noise. The result’s the software program boosting audio information in frequencies your ears may wrestle to listen to (it’s an age factor). I used to be very impressed with the richness and readability the mode affords music, and it’s customisable too.

It’s a must to re-do the take a look at for those who change gadgets or unpair the buds, and there’s additionally an completed equaliser perform for those who favor to toy about with out the algorithms. It may well’t match the NuraTrue earbuds, however they’re understandably dearer.

I noticed all this goodness with out the Ear (2)’s high-quality audio mode turned on. It’s a toggle within the Nothing X app and turning it on or off reboots the earbuds. It makes use of the LHDC 5.0 audio codec, and the app warns it should solely take impact in case your telephone or pill helps this hi-res streaming customary.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

I examined the Ear (2) on a number of gadgets together with a Nothing Telephone (1) with a preview construct that allowed the codec to work, after which with the general public launch of the app. Sadly, the mode made all audio sound worse when utilizing the Telephone (1).

I even tried this on a second pair of Ear (2) after reporting this to Nothing. Most oddly, the audio degradation solely occurs on the Telephone (1) – on different Android gadgets (the toggle isn’t an possibility on iOS) the perform works completely, leaving audio as-is when wanted after which streaming in hi-res when accessible.

In its present state, the high-quality audio toggle appears to present audio from Telephone (1) to Ear (2) a scratchy high quality and tracks have a static about them that makes the buds sound damaged.

Tracks sound much better with it off, and I couldn’t discover a situation on any app and on any gadget the place it benefitted the music or video when utilizing Nothing’s telephone.

It’s not a dealbreaker for any telephone however that one, oddly. When you’ve got the Telephone (1) then it’s best to be aware that the hi-res characteristic at present isn’t at present usable. Streaming audio over common AAC and SBC codecs is totally advantageous.

Wi-fi connection over Bluetooth 5.3 is stable when the supply gadget is close by, however cuts out if you end up two rooms away, in my testing.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Noise cancelling & good options

• Stable ANC
• Buggy multipoint
• Audio lag with video

One other feather within the Ear (2)’s cap is the stable energetic noise cancelling (ANC). It’s a degree under the best-in-class ANC on the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 and fewer full than the AirPods Professional 2, however once more, for the worth the standard right here is greater than satisfactory.

As with the audio choices, there’s a pleasing degree of management given to the person within the Nothing X app with ANC, which provides excessive, mid, low, and adaptive settings, plus a toggle for a personalised ANC that once more takes your personal listening to into consideration.

I discovered this much less helpful than the private sound profile and tended to maintain the default ANC settings on however the work put into genuinely helpful and completed options right here from what’s a small start-up is noteworthy. The transparency mode can be good for whenever you need the buds in however pay attention to your environment.

You may as well join Ear (2) to 2 gadgets directly due to Multipoint tech, so that you could be related to your telephone and laptop computer or pill concurrently and obtain the audio paying from both supply. Once more, a considerably uncommon characteristic at this value level, however I discovered it somewhat unreliable. Linked to an Android telephone and a MacBook Air, I’d usually lose the connection to the MacBook and need to manually reconnect.

I additionally skilled an audio/video lag when watching YouTube movies with Ear (2) related to the Mac that I’ve not seen with some other wi-fi earbuds. It was fairly noticeable and annoying.

Higher is the clear voice tech Nothing has put within the buds, which callers reported made me completely audible on telephone calls. You may as well hyperlink the buds on arrange to make use of with Google Assistant utilizing voice match for fingers free assist from the Massive G.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Battery life & charging

• 4 hours with ANC
• About 4 costs with case
• USB-C or wi-fi recharge

Nothing guarantees six hours of playback on a full earbud cost with ANC turned off. I don’t put on wi-fi earbuds of any variety for longer than a few hours except I’m on a practice or aircraft journey, so I didn’t have any battery angst with the Ear (2), however the drop off is such that it begins to get dicey at round 4 hours with ANC on.

The case delivers 36 hours of playback general when totally charged and recharging the earbuds, however once more it is a determine Nothing says is with ANC off. You may recharge eight hours of playback into the buds/case with a ten minute cost. There’s a small USB-C cable within the field however no adapter (as you’ll discover with all wi-fi earbuds).

As with the Ear (1), the Ear (2) case has Qi wi-fi charging inbuilt, a characteristic that’s usually exhausting to seek out at this value level.

Worth & availability

The Nothing Ear (2) price $149/£129/€149 – a really aggressive value for wi-fi earbuds with ANC, wi-fi charging, multipoint, and hi-res compatibility.

You should purchase them globally direct from Nothing.

A detailed competitor in value and options is the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 at $149/$139/€149, however having used each I’d choose the Ear (2) for his or her higher design, match, and sound high quality.

Nothing’s personal Ear (Stick) are cheaper at $99/£99/€99 however lack ANC with an open design. The Nothing Ear (1) remains to be on sale at $149/£149/€149.

To get a considerably higher product than Ear (2) you’ll have to spend large on the $249/£249/€299 Apple AirPods Professional 2, or the $249/£249/€279 Sony WF-1000XM4, although you will discover the latter at a good low cost in 2023.

Try our chart of the most effective wi-fi earbuds to see extra choices, and for those who want one thing cheaper, we have now a chart of price range wi-fi earbuds.

Verdict

The Nothing Ear (2) don’t have the most effective battery life round, the Multipoint is somewhat dodgy and the Hello-Res characteristic is sarcastically damaged when used with the corporate’s solely telephone, however for the worth, this product excels on each different degree. And hopefully, these items could be mounted with firmware updates.

If you would like a gorgeous pair of wi-fi earbuds with stable noise cancellation and genuinely glorious sound high quality, these are among the many greatest – notably once they price almost half of what Apple, Sony, and Bose are charging for comparatively comparable earbuds.

Specs

• Energetic Noise Cancelling
• Wi-fi: Bluetooth 5.3, LHDC 5.0
• Voice management: Sure
• Contact controls: Sure
• Battery life: 36 hours complete with out ANC
• Ear ideas and wing ideas: Three sizes
• IP54 sweat and climate resistant buds
• IP55 case
• Weight: 4.9g per earbud, 51.9g case