Nothing Ear 2 wireless earbuds are hiding nothing
Nothing Ear 2 true wireless earbuds. Picture: Nothing.
There’s something cool about being able to see through to the tech we use every day and an English-based company Nothing, are making a name for itself by designing transparent phones and earbuds. Their latest offering is the Ear 2, which not only looks trendy but also features the latest technology in sound and software.
The Ear 2 design is all about being able to see through to the tech inside the stems of the buds through the use of transparent plastic. You can't see the speakers because they are encased in white plastic. The mix of opaque and transparent plastic is unique and offers a distinct style that stands out from the crowd of AirPod clones.
The case, which is also a mixture of white and see-through plastic is square with rounded corners and features a large dimple that’s reminiscent of a fidget spinner. The case feels robust and snaps shut firmly thanks to strong magnets. Around the back are a USB-C charging port and a white Bluetooth pairing button.
The short stems have pressure sensitive-areas used for pinch gesture controls. They also use white silicone ear tips that easily snap into place in a similar fashion to AirPods Pro.
You get three ear tip sizes, but my standard-sized ears were more than comfortable with the default medium size. The Ear 2 is one of the most stylish buds around and I also love that they don’t look big in my ears.
The Ear 2 has wear sensors that will pause audio when you take them out and play again when you put them back in – you can turn this feature off in the Nothing X app if you prefer.
The default controls system works well for most of the gestures: pinch three or two times to skip a track and once for pause/play. Double-pinch and hold for volume and pinch and hold for noise cancellation. However, I didn’t find the default volume worked consistently for me so I changed it to pinch and hold and I used the double pinch and hold for toggling between the ANC and Transparacy modes since I didn’t use that as often.
The earbuds can connect to two devices at once, such as a phone and laptop and instantly switch between them since they support Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint, which is a massive plus. This feature has to be enabled in the app and you will get a warning that it will decrease battery life.
The earbuds have a four-hour battery life with ANC turned on, which is a little disappointing, but with the case, the total is 22.5 hours. With ANC off, the buds are a more respectable 6.3 hours and up to 36 hours with the case. The case can be charged via the USB-C port or wirelessly via a Qi-compatible wireless charger.
Bluetooth as well as having High-Res Wireless certification. This allows for frequencies up to 24 bit/192 kHz to be transmitted at speeds reaching 1Mbps. Of course, to take advantage of this you’ll need a compatible Android phone and a high-resolution audio streaming service. It also supports the more compatible SBC and AAC making Ear 2 compatible with any Bluetooth device. It does work on iPhone too but since this uses AAC you won’t get the higher bits rates required for high-resolution audio. Comparing LDHC 5.0 on an Oppo Find N2 Flip to an iPhone 14 Pro Max while streaming from Apple Music I couldn’t hear a massive difference. Yes, the Find N2 was slightly better, but it wasn’t night and day.
The charging case is IP55 rated for added security, while the buds are IP54 rated for everyday waterproof purposes.
The Ear 2 produces a well-balanced sound that to my ears suits a broad range of genres. There’s a decent amount of bass that easily betters many earbuds in this price range. The mids and highs sound equally good in both simple and complex tracks while offering excellent imaging and instrument separation. While I think the Ear 2 sound better than many I’ve tested in this price range, not surprisingly and despite support for LDHC 5.0, they don’t beat the best from the likes of Sennheiser, Sony or Apple although the margin isn’t massive either.
When it comes to active noise cancelling performance, the Ear 2 is decent and on a recent long-haul flight to the other side of the world, I had the opportunity to stress test them for hours. With no sound playing they’re no match for the class-leading AirPods Pro 2, but with ANC on and music playing, I never noticed the sound of the engines humming.
Transparency mode is good and more natural than most of the buds I’ve tested at this price point. I was easily able to hear others talking around me, but my own voice sounded a little muffled which wasn’t ideal. Again, AirPods Pro 2 is the leader in this category and the bar is set very high.
While the call quality was outstanding in quiet areas, it sounded a little unnatural in noisy settings.
The Ear 2 is stylish and distinctive with excellent sound quality. They have good ANC and call quality and work well on both Android and iOS devices. Battery life could be better but should be more than adequate for most users.
Overall, the Nothing Ear 2 are awesome all-around buds that will make you look good while enjoying your favourite tunes on the go. For €149, you won’t find a better sounding, more feature-rich or stylish alternative from any other brand.
Nothing Ear 2 – €149 Nothing
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