Nothing Ear 2s are the latest reincarnation of Nothing’s wireless earbuds. It has the same looks as its predecessor with pimped-up internals. The company says it has more capable active noise cancellation and a much better and more refined sound. It’s enough to turn the Ear 2s from a good-looking pair of earbuds with only okay performance into an accessory that (almost) sounds as good as it looks.
With a 50 percent increase over the starting price of the Nothing Ear 1s original $99 price point, the Nothing Ear 2 earbuds now start at $149, That’s not entirely unexpected after Nothing increased the price of the Ear 1 earbuds by the same amount last October, but it impacts who the Ear 2’s competitors are.
When compared with the Nothing Ear 1s, the physical differences appear to be minor. The Ear 2’s case is slightly slimmer and lighter, and the earbuds themselves are slightly taller and even slightly lighter. But look, the dimensions are close enough that the earbuds can physically fit in either charging case (though they’re not functionally cross-compatible across generations).
Battery life is meant to be better than the Nothing Ear 1 earbuds. With active noise cancellation (ANC) on, Nothing claims the Ear 2s offer four hours of playback from the buds themselves (same as the Ear 1s), rising to 22.5 hours with the case (slightly worse than the 24 hours claimed last time). But turn ANC off, and those figures rise to 6.3 hours and 36 hours (slightly better than the Ear 1’s 5.7 and 34-hour ratings).
That battery life isn’t great compared to a lot of the Nothing Ear 2’s noise-cancellation-capable competitors. Sony’s WF-MX10004 8 hours on ANC and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 offer a more impressive five hours of ANC playback from the buds themselves, while Apple’s more expensive AirPods Pro 2 offers six hours of ANC listening from the buds, or 30 combined with the case.
Like the Ear 1s, you still get wireless charging here, which is especially useful if you have a phone that can do reverse wireless charging like the Phone 1. Otherwise, there’s a USB-C to USB-C cable in the box for wired charging. Like an increasing amount of consumer tech, there’s no charging brick included.
