Review: Nothing Ear (2)

Nothing has obviously decided that something is missing. Its first pair of true wireless in-ear headphones, the Ear (1), launched halfway through 2021—but the replacement is already here. Upgraded, better specified, more expensive … and called, with clanging predictability, Ear (2).

Admittedly this is only the fourth Nothing product to reach the market, but nevertheless Ear (2) is arguably the most competitive product the company has delivered so far. The Ear (2) represent both progress and a viable option in a market that’s long been over capacity.

For starters, the looks are mildly individualistic—and that’s not easy in a product as necessarily small and functional as true wireless in-ear headphones. Thanks to Nothing’s ongoing determination to expose as much of the workings of its products as possible by using as much clear plastic as is available, the only “dangly stem” true wireless earbud that the Ear (2) resembles is the model it replaces.  

At 29 x 22 x 24 millimeters and 4.5 grams each, the earbuds are tidily proportioned and light enough to stay comfortable. The charging case (which is mostly clear, naturally) is equally compact at 56 x 56 x 22 millimeters, and equally lightweight at 52 grams. Thanks to an IP54 rating for the earbuds and IP55 for the charging case, the Ear (2) are available for use in any realistic environment.  

In addition, Nothing provides three sizes of eartip and a short USB-C cable. Wireless charging is available via any Qi-certified pad, and Nothing Phone (1) owners (or owners of other compatible devices) can use reverse-charging by placing the case on the rear of their phone. 

Battery life is four hours (with ANC on) to six hours plus (with ANC off) from the earbuds, which is an improvement on the outgoing Ear (1)—and the charging case holds another four full top-ups. Leave ANC off and you can expect 36 hours, all in. Then a 10-minute visit to the mains should be good for another eight hours or so.

The light weight and dinky dimensions make the Ear (2) comfortable to wear for at least as long as the battery lasts, as long as you’re not tempted to use the pinch control on each earbud. Most rival designs use a capacitive touch-surface as a physical interface, but Nothing has decided to persevere with a surface toward the bottom of each earbud’s stem that requires a definite press to operate it. It’s possible to control “play/pause,”“skip forward/backward,” “answer/end/decline call,” “summon voice assistant,” and scroll through your noise-cancellation options using these controls, and it’s equally possible to disturb the fit of the earbuds when you do so.

A better bet for interacting with the earbuds is the Nothing X control app (free for iOS and Android). It allows you to create your own EQs, switch ANC on, off, or to transparency (“on” enables degrees of ANC intensity, including an “adaptive” setting), and check on remaining battery life. It allows you to switch in-ear detection on or off, depending on whether you want playback to pause when you remove one or both of the earbuds or not. It also allows you to switch low-lag mode on or off, and the same for high-quality audio (which basically means the LHDC Bluetooth codec). There’s a find-my-earbuds feature and multipoint connectivity, too. 

The absence of playback controls, though, is noticeable. You’ll need to summon your voice assistant or brave the physical buttons to control volume, play/pause, and all the rest of it. Happily, Nothing has fitted Clear Voice Technology—there are three mics per earbud, positioned high up on the stem and dealing with call quality, voice-assistant interaction, and active noise cancellation. They’re well implemented, so call quality is very good at either end of a conversation. Voice-assistant interaction is reliable, too. 

The app also has some welcome customization features. There’s an extensive listening test, for example, provided by hearing experts Mimi—let the app walk you through an eartip fit test, let it know how old you are, and then listen to the series of beeps. After this process is completed, analysis of the results allows the Ear (2) control app to adjust EQ settings to best suit your hearing profile. And it will finesse the EQ in real time, depending on the content you’re listening to. For better or worse, the app even shows you a graphic representation of your hearing range.

There’s a similar test available to adjust the intensity of the active noise cancellation. Again, you’ll need to take the eartip fit—and after that, the personalized test uses seven audio filters to adjust ANC to deliver the most comfortable listening experience possible. That’s the theory, anyhow.

The Ear (2) use Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connectivity, with SBC, AAC, and LHDC 5.0 codec  compatibility. LHDC 5.0 makes the Ear (2) High Res Audio Wireless certified, and they can, when linked to an appropriately specified player, accept 24-bit/192-kHz streams. Whatever the standard of digital audio file you stream, though, it’s delivered by a couple of 11.6-mm polyurethane/graphene full-range dynamic drivers of a design that’s unchanged from the original Ear (1). Each is in a dual-chamber enclosure, intended to smooth airflow.

Giving the Ear (2) the best chance of impressing seems only fair, and so they’re connected to a Nothing Phone (1) using the LHDC 5.0 Bluetooth codec. The Phone (1) is running the TIDAL music streaming app. And as long as you keep the price uppermost in your mind, there’s lots to like about the way these earbuds perform.

An MQA-powered TIDAL Masters file of Prince’s “U Got The Look” lets the Nothing Ear (2) express themselves almost entirely. They’re a pacy, vibrant listen, with plenty of low-frequency control and extension—and the sort of detail levels that prevent bass from just thumping along in time. Texture and timbre are nicely described, rhythmic expression is very decent, and momentum is never in doubt.

Midrange detail levels are equally high, and that allows both Prince’s and Sheena Easton’s voice to describe their technique and character in full. The soundstage the Ear (2) create isn’t the biggest, but it’s well laid out and controlled, which means more than enough space for a singer to do their thing free of interference from elsewhere. That’s not to say they seem in any way estranged from the rest of the performance, though—the Ear (2) do good work presenting recordings with commonality rather than as a collection of discrete occurrences. 

The top of the frequency range is assertive to an almost reckless degree. Paired with the Nothing Phone (1) the amount of bite and shine the top end summons approaches dangerous levels, and if matched with an unsympathetic source player it’s easy to imagine the top end getting out of hand—especially if you’re listening at significant volume. No one wants dull or rolled-off treble response, of course, but the Ear (2) may have gone just a little too far in the opposite direction.

Dynamic headroom is considerable, though, which is always a good thing when a recording veers between very quiet and extremely loud. And the more subtle harmonic details of a recording don’t go astray, either—so your solo instrument sounds intimate and immediate.  

The active noise cancellation, also, is fairly well implemented. “Reduce” is the word that applies rather than “cancel,” it’s true, but still, we’re talking about a significant reduction of external sound. And it’s achieved at no cost to the sound of the earbuds, either. There’s no hint of counter-signal or noise-floor disruption when ANC is switched on. Which puts the Ear (2) ahead of quite a few price-comparable rivals.

Taken as an overall package, there’s quite a lot to like about the Nothing Ear (2). Thanks to the extensive nature of the control app, ownership feels like quite a bespoke experience, and thanks to a combination of assertive sound quality (almost too assertive where treble is concerned) and effective noise cancellation, they’re an enjoyable listen. And because of Nothing’s industrial design language, they’re quite individual lookers. 

You’re not short of choice where true wireless earbuds at this price are concerned, but be assured: The Nothing Ear (2) are much more than just a (+1).