Nothing Ear (2) Review – Lots of Competition

After the launch of Nothing Ear (2), Nothing has discontinued Nothing Ear (1), which means, now you’re stuck with only Nothing Ear (2). This is very bad as not everyone wants to spend 10k on earbuds.

Now, let’s keep the marketing aside and review the, Nothing Ear 2 and find out whether it’s worth the Rs 9,999 ($149) price tag or it’s just a minor upgrade from the last gen.

By the way, for now, Nothing Ear 2 is only available in White Color, maybe they will introduce the Black version later, just like Nothing Ear 1.

Design

Nothing didn’t change the design of Nothing ear 2 but they did make the charging case smaller and removed the texture from the case to save some cost.

This was a big disappointment because I loved the texture that was present inside the charging case but now, that has been removed by saying, the plain white looks better (it doesn’t).

The truth is, Nothing saved the cost by removing the texture.

Also, the microphone placement has been changed but still, it has the same three microphones. I was happing for four microphones as Nothing has increased the price from Rs 5,999 to Rs 9,999.

They have also added a new and smaller hinge which looks amazing as well as feels amazing when closing the charging case, it gives that satisfying feeling.

This time, the earbuds as well as the charging case are IP55 rated which means, it’s water and dust-resistant whereas the last gen had the IPX4.

Better Option: OnePlus Buds 2 Pro Review

Overall, yes the Nothing Ear 2 feels more like a downgrade when it comes to design, whether I talk about that removed texture, adding more or less transplant back, or even that Pinch Gestures.

I get it, the charging case is now, smaller but it doesn’t feel right as the Nothing Ear 1 was looking great. This might be done as some of the users were posting on social media that, the case is bigger and I’m not able to fit it well in my pocket.

Maybe that or Nothing wanted to do some cost-cutting (I feel, this is more cost-cutting, nothing else).

Audio Quality

Not much improvement on paper but when it comes to real-life usage, it feels that Nothing has worked on it.

For the first time, Nothing has added the LHDC 5.0 codec alongside SBC and AAC which will only work, if your smartphone supports the same codec otherwise, you won’t feel a huge difference between Nothing Ear 1 and Ear 2.

By the way, Nothing Ear 2 has the same 11.6mm audio drivers as Ear 1, with no changes.

The bass is not that much, now if you want more bass then you can play around with the equalize which Nothing has added to the Nothing X App.

I have a lot to talk about the app, and for that, jump to the software section.

Also, if you’re that person who loves listening to podcasts or classical music then you will fall in love with Nothing Ear 2 because, for some reason, the treble is on the higher side.

Now, I’m hoping that Nothing fixes this very soon because the treble is really high.

Noting has also added a default bass equalize option into the X App, so if you feel that the default bass is not much then you can play around with the app till you find the right tuning.

Talking about tuning, Nothing has added the personal sound profile feature which feels good when you hear it for the first time till you use it.

Basically, you will have to answer some of the questions when you set up your sound profile. After that, Nothing will try to tune the equalizer as per your test.

The problem is, I didn’t notice a big difference before and after the personal sound profile, it feels more like a gimmick and I hope, I’m wrong but for the time being, this doesn’t make a huge difference.

Microphones

Guess what, the same three microphones as the last gen but Nothing has changed the placement, so it feels new but it’s not.

The quality has been improved but by not a huge margin, it feels the same as Nothing Ear 1.

Also, the Nothing Ear 1 had the best microphones, so I don’t have any complaints either but still, this is 2nd gen product, and it would have been better if they have added the hour’s microphones.

Noise Cancellation

Nothing is like, we have worked on Noise cancellation, and it’s the best for the price it comes, and it’s a lie, never trust what brands say whether it’s Nothing or anyone else.

Nothing Ear 1 had the worst ANC and yes, Nothing has improved the same on Nothing Ear 2 but it doesn’t feel like it.

Sometimes, the ANC works the best and after some time, it comes back to normal. It’s a bit weird that the ANC is not consistent, even after paying the 10k.

Any day, the Galaxy Buds 2 has the best ANC under 10k, hands down.

Let me give you an example,

Recently I went to the Ahmedabad Kankaria lake and there were lots of people around and I put the Nothing Ear 2 in my ears (I was listening gulabi aankhen jo teri dekhi), yes, I turn-on the ANC Mode too.

For about 10 minutes, the ANC worked fine but after that, it come back to normal and I felt that I’m using Nothing ear 1.

Now, I’m not saying that the buds have the worst ANC, what I’m saying is, it needs updates.

Also, the transparency mode feels more like robotic.

Connectivity

The Nothing Wear 2 has the latest Bluetooth 5.3 support along with that, it also has support for Google Fast Pair and Microsoft swift pair.

Also, Nothing has added the dual connection mode. What it does is,

If you’re watching YouTube videos on Your Windows Laptop and someone calls on your smartphone then, the buds will automatically swift to the phone within the microseconds.

So there is not much of a delay, now, this feature should have been present on the Nothing Ear 1 but they kept it for 2nd gen.

Also, for the first time, Nothing is using the Pinch Gestures which means, if you want to change the song then you have to Pinch the button on the bud which works well all the time but it doesn’t feel good.

The reason is very simple, every time you change the song, the bud will swift a little bit and you will have to adjust the buds every time when you change song.

Now, it wasn’t like Gestures on Nothing Ear 1 didn’t work, it was working well but for some reason, they changed it.

Battery Life

The Buds have 33 mAh while the charging case has a 485 mAh battery.

The moral of the story is, battery life is not upgraded well.

With active noise cancellation on, Nothing Ear 2 lasts for four hours of playback from the buds while the charging case lasts for 22 hours. Using ANC off, the buds offer 6.3 hours and 36 hours on the case.

Now, let’s compare the same with Nothing ear 1.

	Nothing Ear (1)	Nothing Ear (2)
Buds	4 Hours ANC ON 6.3 Hours ANC OFF	4 Hours ANC ON 5.7 Hours ANC OFF
Charging case	24 Hours ANC ON 36 Hours ANC OFF	22 Hours ANC ON 2434Hours ANC OFF

Nothing Ear 2 Review

I said hard to recommend because I have been using the Nothing ear 1 for about years now and after months of use, the left bud was having a syncing issue with the right bud.

Nothing also provided updates but still, the problem remains the same. Now, this wasn’t the case with only my buds, this was across almost all the units. If you want, you can Read the comments on my Nothing Ear 1 review.

Related: Best TWS Earbuds Under Rs 10,000

Now, I’m happing that, Nothing has fixed that issue with Nothing Ear 2 but I will only know after long-term usage.

So, if you’re not in hurry then kindly wait for Nothing to fix all of these problems and then make a purchase as these are worth Rs 9,999.

Nothing Ear 2 Pros and Cons

PROS	CONS
The Same Good Looking Design	ANC is still not good
Audio Quality is Improved	LHDC 5.0 needs to Tune Well
Dual Connection Support	Pinch Gestures Are The Worst
Comfortable to Wear	Not The Best Option For Gaming
IP rating for Both case and earbuds	Downgraded Design
	Case Wired
	Bit Pricey
	Nothing X app has Limited Customization

FAQs

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Images by ASBYT

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