Nothing Ear (2) – Wireless Earbuds with ANC (Active Noise Cancelling), Hi-Res audio certified, Dual Connection, Powerful 11.6 mm custom driver – Black

9 reviews for Nothing Ear (2) – Wireless Earbuds with ANC (Active Noise Cancelling), Hi-Res audio certified, Dual Connection, Powerful 11.6 mm custom driver – Black

1. 

   5 out of 5

   InsideTech – October 30, 2024

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   These earbuds were massively, massively over-hyped before launch. So when they came out (and had a few bugs / didn’t match that hype) the reviews were naturally disappointing. But months later (and some software updates later) I decided to test them fully and review them from a neutral perspective, to see how they ‘really’ compare to the competition and…I was pleasantly surprised. Are these on the level of the flagships from Sony/Bose etc? No. And the hype suggested they would be. But are they amazing value for money at £100? Absolutely.

   I reviewed these on YouTube as part of a ‘best earbuds under $100’ video, and they performed really well. Since I bought them on here I decided to share with you all the review and also the clip from that video featuring the ear(1)s. So that’s what the video is and below is the written form of the review in case you’d rather read instead:

   [Review below]:

   What the tech world has reached a consensus on is the design, with many (including myself) calling these the best looking earbuds on the market. This transparent design looks awesome – the craftsmanship is second to none, and I personally love this minimal design that, as they say, highlights the beauty of tech.
   It’s not just for the earbuds, but the charging case too…and I think these look especially good in this new black colour. You’re not gonna be mistaking this unique design for any other earbuds.

   The touch controls here are great, they’re responsive and the contact area is surprisingly wide. They’re one of only a few earbuds to support a swipe gesture for volume – and this time…it actually works. I had close control over each volume increment, and the glossy outer surface meant I could swipe without knocking these from my ears (though this is still possible if you aren’t careful). These also have wearing detection and customisation in the app – so the controls are almost perfect. But customisation is limited and there’s sadly no single tap option.

   Comfort is another thing they’ve nailed, I’m talking…forget you’re wearing them, kind of comfortable. They’re lightweight and form a gentle seal in the ear, so I can easily wear these all day. I can just about run with them as well, and they have IPX4 protection, but I wouldn’t trust them to stay in place for most other workouts.

   The gentle seal means the passive noise isolation isn’t amazing, even with the larger eartips. However the active noise cancellation was surprisingly good. Obviously it’s not flagship level performance, but you can clearly hear the reduction in noise turning this on. The transparency mode though, is very good, clearly amplifying your surroundings. There’s still a bug here though where there’s a faint hiss that seems to fade in and out sometimes in transparency mode. Inaudible with music playing, but still a bug – so for all the firmware update improvements we’ve seen since their launch, that minor annoyance still exists.

   The main improvements have been to connectivity, these are now very reliable, offer single earbud use, fast pairing and show no noticeable latency with videos. There is a dedicated low-latency mode here as well, which gamers may be interested in, but otherwise it’s not really necessary. On one day I did have one earbud randomly disconnect – but a quick power off and on with the case seemed to fix it. So maybe not 100% of the issues are fixed, but on the whole…my experience has been pretty consistent.

   Battery life is a big weakness though, you only get 5 hours on a single charge with up to 34 in the case. They do support wireless charging though, which is nice, and actually these are the only earbuds in this video to offer ANC, transparency, wearing detection and wireless charging – so these actually have the most complete feature set.

   The mic quality was really decent as well. My voice sounded really clear and the earbuds isolate my voice well from the background noise – so phone call performance was very good.

   As for the audio quality…it’s good, better than I expected actually. These have good clarity, are well-detailed and are leaning slightly towards a bright sound signature. The bass is tight and punchy, but I’m sure some will find this lacking. EQ options unfortunately are very limited – you’ve only got these 4 options. There’s a distinct difference with each mode, but I’d love to be able to customise this myself.
   The overall sound quality should be good enough to please most – but some of our other entries like Lypertek and Sennheiser’s are a step up.

   Having tested these throughly myself, I can understand why the initial reviews were so underwhelming. As the flagship killing phenomenon these earbuds were touted to be, sure, they leave a lot to be desired. But as a $99 pair of earbuds, as they should be viewed, they’re actually exceptional value for money. I was left genuinely shocked by just how good these turned out to be for the price.

2. 

   5 out of 5

   Martin Pulido – November 13, 2024

   Los audífonos son de excelente calidad. Buen diseño, gran duración de batería, sin latencia, la cancelación de ruido es rara ya que produce un sonido muy leve que oculta los ruidos externos pero funciona bien.
   El micrófono es muy bueno para llamadas.
   Los utilizo en videojuegos y no he tenido problemas de latencia.

   Los audífonos los he utilizado al rededor de 6 horas continuas y son muy cómodos, no cansan ni lastiman la oreja. El tamaño es pequeño, no pesan y al tener un “botón” ayuda a no tener tanto cuidado al colocarlos y pulsar cosas que no quieres.

   Cómo punto negativo se mete muchas basuritad a los audífonos y es muy difícil de limpiar, solo pude dejarlos limpios con aire comprimido ya que no se pueden desarmar de forma fácil

   En celular se conectan muy rápido y tiene habilitada la opción de buscarlos con la app “donde está mi dispositivo” de Android

   La app es sencilla y facil de utilizar

3. 

   5 out of 5

   Andrew B. – November 21, 2024

   I’ve had these for a couple of months now as an upgrade from Galaxy Buds+ because I wanted Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), and just bought some Sony WF-1000XM4s to accompany the Nothings. I’ll try to give my review in the context of how they’re an improvement compared to last gen wireless earbuds and how they compare to the high end earbuds that the Nothings are supposed to be flagship killers for.

   I think most people will be purchasing these as an intro to ANC, and I think it does an ok job at that but you need to set your expectations correctly. The Nothings do a good job at knocking down the sounds around you by a few notches, which depending on the scenario could be plenty for what you want or disappointing. I find that car sounds in particular are not filtered well by the noise cancelling, although I wonder if this is a product of the relatively poor passive noise cancelling. The plus side of this is that the ambient sound passthrough is very good, I would say it’s the best out of the 3 buds in terms of how natural conversations feel when you have the buds in.

   In particular regarding these being an intro to ANC, the pressure they exert with ANC on is quite strong compared to the XM4s and can take a little bit of getting used to so 1) take it easy on first try by not having ANC on for too long and switching to ambient or no noise cancelling before taking them out, and 2) if the pressure is still too much don’t be too discouraged from buying other higher end or next gen ANC earbuds.

   Sound quality is better than the buds+, which were already fairly good, but it’s clearly held back by the bluetooth codec used and it would be much better if they supported up to date aptx codecs or LDAC. It’s not as good as the XM4s (as expected) but unless you’re used to high quality headphones you probably won’t notice much difference.

   In terms of comfort they’re very comfortable in most circumstances. I wouldn’t wear them to bed because the stalk gets in the way, but otherwise the fit and light weight compared to other earbuds means you barely notice the feeling of them being in your ear once you’re used to them.

   The control scheme is very intuitive compared to other buds. Often you need to choose between being able to control volume on the buds and doing something else, but the swipe control along the stem means that isn’t an issue on the Nothings. They don’t have a voice assistance control so if that is something you want then you will need to choose another earbud.

   Battery life is alright for most purposes, you can’t get away with falling asleep with them in like other buds but they should last you through a day of work if you use your lunch break to put them back in the case.

   Overall I think these are really good earbuds for the price point but you should be aware that you are making sacrifices somewhere. They’re more akin to buying a mid range phone than a flagship killer.

4. 

   4 out of 5

   Charandeep S. – November 23, 2024

   I was not expecting much due to the price but I’ve been really impressed by these little ear buds. The sound quality is fantastic as well as the call quality. I was not expecting much in terms of the nose cancelling but it is honestly absolutely fantastic for the price. I have a pair of Sony wh-1000xm4 which is market leading for noise cancelling, and whilst not on par with them, it does not make me miss them when I use these when out and about. Only downside is the volume control can be a bit fiddly and hard to get used to, and would have preferred a swipe function for this but is a minor point.

   PROS
   – Great sound and call quality.
   – Really good noise cancelling.
   – Stylish (IMO)
   – Battery life is fine more me before I need to recharge back in the case.
   – Very easy to connect with modern Google/ Android devices.

   CONS
   – Volume control is a bit fiddly and you often over lower/ increase more than you want to.
   – Battery life is probably a bit low for some (power users who use constantly for many hours straight) before you need to recharge.

5. 

   5 out of 5

   Trini_review – November 27, 2024

   Excellent quality sound and device
   Works great, lasts long, neat, looks great, the user it was gifted to loves it.
   Very comfortable, charging speed is good, easy to use,great value for money, excellent range on the Bluetooth connection.

   A general suggestion, especially since this device has its own app, if it could be considered to add an audio locator. From the phone you can ping the case and buds to locate them. They can give an audio beep.

6. 

   5 out of 5

   Gabriel B. – November 30, 2024

   Excelente producto, el diseño es lo que más destaca, sin embargo, creo que los demás apartados están muy bien cuidados. El aislamiento pasivo es bueno (aunque recomiendo probar muy bien cada par de almohadillas para encontrar las que te ajusten mejor), la cancelación de ruido también y el sonido ambiental es bueno a secas, creo que podría ser mejor. La calidad de sonido es buena pero no puedes ponerte exigente ni esperar lo mejor de lo mejor en unos audífonos inalámbricos, destaco que alcanzan volumen bastante alto, yo no he necesitado llevarlos a más del 60-70% en un gimnasio y cuando estoy en casa los uso alrededor del 30-40%, lo cual también hace rendir mejor su batería. La app del producto agrega mucho valor a mi parecer, pues la opción de personalizar el sonido me resultó bastante útil para que me creara un perfil de sonido mucho mejor, así como la personalización de los controles. Estos nothing ear 2 me parecen un paquete bastante completo a un precio no tan elevado y con un diseño bastante bueno y original.

7. 

   5 out of 5

   Kirwan – December 15, 2024

   With new firmware update sound better to me than the airpod gen 3. I prefer the open design not having to stick thing right in my ear. I bought the airpod 3’s when they came out one melted they said it looked like a dog chewed it so after paying 279 plus tax I had to spend another $112 for a new right bud. Same thing happened again and same response. I started using one plus buds pro but did not like them for long use due to the silicone insert. Tried 4 different pairs for one ear listening in the office they were ok cheap and outlasted apple’s product. Sound peats were great for under $50 but the sound is no where near a good as these they ar not usable for music. Tried these and they are a bargain good sound for music or audiobooks etc. and almost 1/3 of the price of the apple gen 3’s. Very happy with the purchase will buy nothing ear brand again.

8. 

   5 out of 5

   jdm2010 – December 19, 2024

   I currently have Jabra 75T but my everyday buds are the Pixel Buds Pro. My phone is a Pixel 7 Pro. The Nothings 2 connect faster than either of them. I spend more time on the phone and listening to talk entertainment. Music sounds as good or better than the others. But I don’t use them for music. In fact I never have both buds in at the same time, except mowing the lawn.
   The case is outstanding. Easier to get them in and out. Wireless charging with a nice bright led light as an indicator. No more waiting to see if they are charging. So many smart features. Call quality is better than the PBuds. I sound clearer and less muffeled and I can hear the other caller clearer and not so muffeled. This is AFTER I ran the personal hearing test and choose the best quality for phone calls.
   The buttons on the stem remind me of the Apple Air Pods. The PBuds and Jabra are impossible to shove back into your ear canal without changing some random setting or disconnecting your call! These do not.
   There’s a big difference in sticking buds in your ears and vegging out, vs talking or chewing. When you talk or eat it changes your ear canal. But will you find ONE reviewer test any product while talking for long periods? No. I’ve never found one. The Nothing Ear 2 does the best job on this by a long distance.
   Overall these are the best buds I’ve ever had and I’ve had many. Including some that cost over $200. For $125, these are a no brainer folks. Buy them now. You will love them.
   Now for the bad. Battery life. It’s poor at best. Very frustrating because these things are pretty big. You think they could have shoved a bigger battery in them. They claim 4 hours but I haven’t gotten much over 3.5 in a combination of talking and listening. What’s saves them is that when one bud goes out, I can swap them out with normally no hesitation and no missed words. Impressive.
   I hope they can get to a respectable 6 hour battery life on the next version. Everything else should not be tinkered with.

9. 

   5 out of 5

   Darrow Nemecek-Gulack – December 19, 2024

   There aren’t a lot of good wireless non-in-ears in general and this product exemplifies what’s good about the form factor. The squeeze functionality works a lot better than the touch functionality of other buds, and the open nature doesn’t block any noise at all when noise canceling is off. Furthermore are very lightweight, breathable, and comfortable and can stay in your ears for hours without discomfort even if you have sensitive ears.

   The sound quality is good. Just baseline good. Which is fantastic for this form factor and price. In terms of frequency response. I recommend turning the sub bass up in the app’s equalizer to get a more neutral sound, as otherwise the lower end is very weak. But with it turned up it is, indeed, quite neutral, which is not something you can always expect from an non-sealed, open air earbud. Highs and mids are already very nicely balanced and can be eq’d to adjust to your sensitivities (I often have to lower certain high frequencies so my ears don’t hurt). It’s a very nice sound profile, just not the most detailed in terms of quality. Soundstage is small, which is basically unavoidable with earbuds in general. It will still treat your music nicely.

   Noise cancellation is adequate for many use cases, but it isn’t great. It is entirely active, so your battery life will take a small hit when it’s on. It effectively lowers droning hums, and loud restaurants are a bit quieter, although people very close to you will sound thinner and not really much quieter, which could actually be a good thing for conversations. Unfortunately, it absolutely hates wind, so don’t keep the noise cancellation on when running or outside on a windy day. Although if you are in a windy city perhaps you should keep your ears open for cars instead of having noise cancelling on (the open-air nature of the earphones make it ideal to listen out for cars and bikes anyway). If you are in a windy place without traffic, then you probably don’t need to noise canceling anyway, so it’s not the biggest downside. One weird thing is that you have to install an alternate firmware in the app to activate the noise cancelling feature, but once you do that you can leave it installed and it will work with any device.

   Latency for most devices is alright for current standards. It’s not as bad as some other earphones. Of course, there will be no issue with videos and music. Only games will be affected by the latency, as is normal. Still annoyingly high, but you can toggle a low latency mode to mitigate this somewhat. The fact that this device only uses SBC for connectivity is both a blessing and a curse, as while SBC not the best codec for a balance of latency and quality, it does handle this codec well, as opposed to other earbuds with better codecs that they can be much more designed around. Because anything can connect via SBC, you won’t incur a significant quality loss when connecting to any device not using a more modern codec, because it uses SBC no matter what. Unfortunately, most PCs will incur heavy latency, as is normal for most wireless headphones, and there’s not much you can do about that.

   Overall, these earphones perform their function better than basically every other similarly priced earbuds, and even a lot of higher priced ones in the same category. There is no point in buying normal Airpods when these exist. It also helps that they are really cool looking, both out of and in the case. There is clear artistry in the design which is unparalleled by any other similar earphones. In terms of functionality, open-ear wireless earbuds are going to have compromises by design, and this owns these compromises and turns them into strengths more effectively than other devices in the category. There is not much point buying much more expensive products that perform worse, whether that be in comfort, sound quality, or ergonomics. This is currently your best all rounder, and it is a great price. Have fun with them.