Verdict
Nothing ups the features and functionality count , improves battery animation and retains its mildly individual aesthetic to bring forth something quite particular .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
It ’s been less than two years since Nothing launched itsEar ( 1 ) true wirelessin - ear headphones , but their replacement has arrived . That they ’re called Ear ( 2 ) is reasonably predictable , as is an growth in the asking Leontyne Price .
Nothing reckon it ’s tot up plenty of value to the Ear proposition , though – is it on to something ?
The Nothing Ear ( 2 ) rightful wireless in - spike headphones are on sale in the United Kingdom for £ 129 per pair . In the United States they ’ll set you back $ 149 – and at today ’s interchange charge per unit they ’re likely to be in the neighborhood of AU$239 or so .
The world , it basically pass away without say , is far from shortsighted of true wireless in - spike headphones that sell for this sort of money . Nothing will postulate to have something special up its sleeve if the Ear ( 2 ) are going to stand out from the bunch in any direction other than visually .
Design
It ’s not easy to make a pair of true wireless in - capitulum headphones look in any way individualistic , so it ’s important to give Nothing credit where it ’s due . The Nothing Ear ( 2 ) may look very like indeed to the intersection they replace , but they remain trenchant from every other pair of ‘ dangly stem’-style honest wireless earbuds .
The company ’s on-going preoccupation with exposing as much of the innards of its products as possible via the use of as much absolved plastic as it can get away with shuffling for a discrete aesthetic .
At 29 x 22 x 24 mm ( HxWxD ) and 4.5 g each , the earbuds themselves are compact and lightweight . And the charge casing in which they travel ( which is mostly decipherable , naturally ) is an equally compact 56 x 56 x 22 millimeter ( HxWxD ) and an equally lightweight 52 g.
There are three sizing of eartip allow , as well as a myopic USB - C cable system . The charging pillowcase can also sit on any Qi - certify wireless institutionalise lodgings , and possessor of theNothing Phone ( 1)or other compatible devices can reverse - armorial bearing the case just by place it on the rear of their phone .
And thanks to anIP54 ratingfor the earbuds and IP55 for the blame case , the Ear ( 2 ) are happy enough in any realistic surround
Features
Personalisation is a big part of Nothing ’s slant with the Ear ( 2 ) . Download the Nothing X dominance app ( free for iOS and Android ) and it ’s your gateway to a pretty bespoke experience .
For exemplar , the app is home to an all-inclusive listening test good manners of the experts at Mimi . Before running the earshot trial run , the app will channelise you through an eartip fit test , just to establish you ’ve achieved the optimum burst . Then let the app know how old you are , and let it diddle a series of beep ( buried behind some pink haphazardness ) to each ear in turn .
After a few minutes , analysis of the outcome will allow the Ear ( 2 ) to adjust EQ preferences to best become your audio recording sensitivities . And it will finesse the EQ in genuine time , depending on the content you ’re listening to . The app even provides a little graphic representation of your hearing profile .
There ’s an equivalent examination useable to adjust the level and intensity of the earbuds ’ dynamic racket - cancellation . Again , you ’ll need to take the eartip primed test – and after that , the individualised ANC mental testing uses seven audio filter to detect sound personnel casualty and adjust ANC to deliver ( in theory , at least ) the most easy listening experience potential .
The Nothing cristal app is also utile for create your own EQs ( in type you ’re mistrustful of Nothing ’s auditory sense test ) , switching ANC on ( with degrees of intensity available , let in an adaptative place setting ) , off or to transparency and checking on battery aliveness position .
It ’s where you’re able to switch in - spike detection on or off , depending on whether or not you want playback to pause when you off one or both of the earbuds . It ’s where you could toggle depressed Lag Mode on or off , and switch high - lineament audio recording ( which basically means the LHDC codec ) on or off . There ’s a Find my Earbuds ’ feature , and the ability to connect the Ear ( 2 ) to two devices at once . Actual playback control are absent , but the app does give the opportunity to custom-make the pinch control on each earbud .
Yes , it ’s lift rather than ghost . The advantage to having a surface towards the bottom of each earbud ’s stem that postulate an overt press to operate it are obvious ( they ’re mostly to do with reducing unwilled instructions ) , as are the disadvantages ( which relate to the effect such a positive natural process can have on the fit of the earbud ) . It ’s potential to keep in line maneuver / interruption , skitter frontward / backwards , resolution / final stage / declination call , rally the voice supporter and scroll through your dissonance - cancellation alternative .
Nothing has set Clear Voice Technology for the Ear ( 2 ) – there are three mics per earbud , positioned richly up on the radical and charged with taking care of call quality , voice - assistant interaction and active haphazardness - cancellation . They ’re very well implement , and call timber is unspoilt at either end of a conversation .
vocalization - supporter exchanges are dependable too – which is just as well , if for no other reason than this is your only installation for adjusting mass ( unless you ’re fain to fish your germ musician out of your pocket or handbag , of course ) .
The Ear ( 2 ) useBluetooth 5.3for wireless connectivity , with SBC , AAC and LHDC 5.0 codec compatibility . Thanks to LHDC 5.0 , the Ear ( 2 ) are High Res Audio Wireless certified and can , when linked to an appropriately talented gadget , accept 24 - bit/192kHz current .
No matter the type of measure of digital audio file they receive , though , it ’s delivered to your ear by a yoke of 11.6 mm polyurethane / graphene full - range active drivers that are carry over unaltered from the original Ear ( 1 ) theoretical account , each sits in a dual - chamber design , intended to smooth air - rate of flow .
The Nothing buds do quite decent work where noise - cancellation is occupy . No , they ca n’t eliminate external sounds alone – but they trim back them significantly , and do n’t introduce any mesmerism of counterpunch - signaling while they do so . Taken as a software , in fact , the Ear ( 2 ) represent a more significant step on from the Ear ( 1 ) than the price increase might indicate .
Battery life sentence is a better - than - before four hours ( with ANC on ) to six hours plus ( with ANC off ) from the earbuds , while the charge eccentric holds another four full charges . An all - in , best - fount scenario of 36 hours of bombardment life is certainly private-enterprise – and a ten - bit infernal region - stop should be good for another eight hour or so of action at law .
Sound Quality
Connected to a Nothing Phone ( 1 ) and with euphony well out from the TIDAL app using LHDC 5.0 , the Ear ( 2 ) are an uncomplicatedly pleasurable listen . It goes without saying that they ’re not perfect – which true wireless earbuds are ? – but there seems slight doubt they ’ll be consummate for some users . peculiarly when you keep the request price upmost in your idea .
With an MQA - powered TIDAL Masters filing cabinet of Gang of Four ’s Damaged Goodsplaying , the Nothing are a sprightly , front - foot listen . humble oftenness are nicely controlled where attack and decay are concerned , have decent astuteness even if they do n’t delve as deep as some cost - comparable alternative , and carry plenty of detail where texture and timbre are worry . The discipline basso sound display allow the jerky rhythm full expression , and there ’s plenty of momentum to the overall display too .
In the midrange , the acerbic nature of the vocal is draw in full – and , again , there ’s more than enough point retain and delivered to make the Isaac Merrit Singer ’s posture and aroused nation absolutely plainly . The Ear ( 2 ) do n’t make the most grand soundstage I ’ve ever heard , but it ’s very well organised – and so there ’s enough space for a vocalist to express themselves without having to fight back off competing data at every crook .
At the same time , though , midrange selective information is integrated convincingly into the eternal sleep of the frequency information – so the Nothing present recordings as a singular form , unified whole rather than as a accumulation of individual occurrences .
At the top conclusion there ’s absolutely as much bite and crunch as is acceptable . Again , there ’s no deficit of detail here , and treble sounds have plenty of substance to go along with the effulgence … but there ’s a hint of rigourousness , a sort of latent threat , that becomes open as you scent the bulk grade upward . Edgy is seldom a confident word where the top of the frequency ambit is touch on , yet if you like to listen aloud then it ’s go to come to mind earlier rather than afterwards .
There ’s a very agreeable amount of active say-so on display , both where the broad quiet - becoming - gimcrack hooey and the more subtle dynamic variation in harmonics are concerned . And apart from the rather ferine nature of the treble response , the Ear ( 2 ) are n’t perturbed by big volumes , either .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
It ’s a superior form of wireless transmission and it helps the Ear ( 2 ) sound great .
It ’s not quite at ‘ migraine ’ level , but the Nothing ’s top - end response is as confident as it dare to be .
Final Thoughts
Nothing ’s hope to disrupt the market has amount to naught – after all , what ’s disruptive about launch a smartphone and some earbuds , and opening a brick - and - mortar store in London ’s Soho ?
But there ’s no denying that as a me too ! product , the Ear ( 2 ) is pretty impressive – there are much bad ways to spend this sort of money on some true wireless earbuds .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every headphone we look back exhaustively over an extended period of clip . We practice industry received test to equate feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we encounter . We never , ever , consent money to review a merchandise .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
LHDC stands for Low Latency High Definition codec , and it is an audio codec that allows for cyclosis of mellow definition audio recording over a Bluetooth connection . It works in a similar way to Sony ’s LDAC codec by increase the amount of information that can be used to stream sound .
