In this Nothing Ear 2 Review, I explain why they compete with the other top brands and why you should consider them.
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0:00 – Intro
0:51 – Design
2:08 – Noise Canceling
3:30 – Battery Life
4:05 – Sound
5:21 – Hi-Res Audio and Dual Connection
5:55 – Nothing X App Walkthrough
9:48 – Final Verdict
Full Review
Even though Nothing is fairly new to the consumer tech scene, in their relatively short existence they have managed to bring us an impressively designed smartphone and earbuds. Their latest earbuds, the Nothing Ear (2) gets the job done with the design and aesthetics. They were also impressive in other areas. I have all the details for you in this review.
Welcome back to the channel everyone, it is me Jumoka from Sounds Nerdy. As always, when I do my review, I like to cover Design, Functionality, and Sound. But before we dive into this review, if you are new to this channel, please do me a huge favor and hit that subscribe button, hit the notification bell, and hit that like button.
Design
In terms of the overall design, the case and the earbuds are pretty much the same as the previous model. But as they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Personally, I love the color scheme, aesthetics, and design of Nothing Ear (2). The transparent plastic included continues the industrial design as before. The case and earbuds are slightly lighter than previous models. The case is complete with wireless charging, USB charging port, and button syncing. The first few times trying to seat the earbuds were a little weird. But once I figured out the orientation, it was not a big problem anymore. There are also color-coordinated dots for the left and right earbuds to assist.
The earbuds are light and sit nice and tight inside the ear. The earbuds and case feel quality made and sturdy. The hard plastic appears durable and capable of withstanding normal everyday wear and tear. Speaking of durability, the Nothing Ear 2 improves water and dust rating from the previous model to IP54 for the earbuds and IP55 for the case. Exposure to running water or splashing should not be a problem.
Functionality
The Nothing Ear (2) enhanced Active noise canceling by adding an adaptive option. How adaptive noise works is that the noise cancellation effects are turned up when ambient noises are high, and reduced when ambient noises are low.
Overall, the noise canceling works just fine. Not the best I’ve used in this class but it gets the job done. It definitely is a feature worth having if you are considering an upgrade. Nothing Ear (2) also has a feature called “Personal ANC” which as it states, calibrates the noise canceling to your unique sensitivity. Having completed the test, I didn’t notice a significant difference between personalized ANC and the normal ANC feature. That’s not to say it may not make a difference for you. It just didn’t for me. When you have noise cancelation active, you can adjust the sensitivity to your desire from High, Mid, Low, and adaptive. Personally, when I use noise cancellation, I always keep it on high, don’t see a reason to adjust the level. After all, I’m using it because I don’t want to hear anything. But, the options are there if you want them.
Nothing Ear (2) improves the battery to allow up to 6 hours on a single charge and up to 36 hours with a 485 mAh battery in the charging case. These numbers are with active noise canceling off. With noise canceling on, I was able to get over 4 hours of battery life. Thanks to fast charging on the case, you get 8 hours on a quick 10-minute charge. To fully charge the case, it takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes, definitely less than 2 hours for sure.
All the key specs one would expect from a pair of earbuds in this class are present.
Sound
Everything I talked about up until this point is subservient if the most important aspect, the sound, is shit. With 11.6 mm custom dynamic drivers and a new dual chamber design, you would think the sound would be good. You know what, the sound is not good, it’s excellent!! Again, being pretty new to the space, I’m very impressed with the sound. And no, it’s not impressive just because of how young Nothing is, it’s impressive because it competes with the top brands in this class. During my testing, I listened to different genres to see how it holds up. You can see some of the examples on your screen. Thanks to the drivers and chamber design, highs, mids, and lows penetrate your eardrums with precision. Base replication is precise, clear, and well-represented without being overpowered. Vocal and instruments are clearly unique where you can make out each word and instrument as intended. This being their third pair of earbuds, Nothing has definitely supplanted themselves as a player in the space.
For those of you that are capable of hearing 24BIT Hi-Res audio, mainly the younger crowd, it’s included. I can’t hear the difference but that’s mainly because the older you get, the frequency range in which you can hear diminishes. Sucks but such is life. Dual connection is a great addition as well allowing you to connect two separate devices. Listening to some music on your tablet and then take a phone call all without having to change any settings.
Speaking of settings, everything is managed from the Nothing X app.
Verdict
Design – Check, Features, and Goodies – Check, Sound – On point. If are looking to upgrade from a budget pair of earbuds and not looking to break the bank, I would strongly recommend giving the Nothing Ear (2) consideration. All the major areas that you would expect a good pair of earbuds to check off, these do. At $149, these stack up very well against more expensive offerings from the other major brands. Do yourself a favor and check these out.
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