Nothing Ear (2): TWS come with extensive improvements

With the Nothing Phone (1), Nothing launched a purist smartphone. Now the London-based company wants to expand the product line. The Nothing Ear (2) visually resemble the partially transparent smartphone and represent the second generation of the in-house in-ears. In terms of technology, the manufacturer wants to give its wireless headphones Hi-Res audio and thus top sound. Compared to the predecessor, a lot is said to have changed technically.

Nothing Ear (2) has been comprehensively revised

Nothing is launching the second generation of its in-house true-wireless in-ears. The Nothing Ear (2) is said to impress not only with the company’s now iconic transparent design. On top of that, the pair of headphones is supposed to be a real sound miracle. This is made possible by highlights such as a Hi-Res Audio certification and LHDC 5.0. With the help of the Nothing X app, you can adjust the powerful sound generated by 11.6 mm drivers according to your wishes in the equalizer. According to the manufacturer, a dual-chamber design is used here, which is also supposed to ensure a clearer sound with the help of a more even airflow.

But it is not only in design that Nothing shows courage to innovate. You can also look forward to technical innovations. For example, dual connections are now to be possible. This means that the in-ears can be connected to two devices at the same time. This is especially handy when you like to switch between smartphone and tablet and don’t want to establish a new connection every time. The headphones’ automatic call detection is cool. For example, if you are watching a series on your tablet and a call comes in on the smartphone, the headphones will automatically switch to the connected smartphone so you don’t miss it.

• Also interesting: Yamaha TW-E3C: In-ears come with multipoint and long battery life

ANC, Clear Voice, and 36 Hours of Battery Life

Once you’ve made adjustments to the equalizer in the manufacturer’s app, the in-ears are supposed to tailor your selection to your ears. For this, they measure your ear in a listening test, so to speak. With the help of three integrated microphones, the Nothing Ear (2) are not only capable of active noise cancellation (ANC). This is supposed to be able to reliably suppress ambient noise of up to 40 dB. By measuring the user’s ear canal, the ANC feature is supposed to be optimally adapted to the individual ear shape.

Furthermore, the microphones are supposed to provide crystal clear voice reproduction during phone calls. According to Nothing, its Clear Voice technology has been revised once again for this purpose. With the help of an AI algorithm, your recorded voice is passed on to the call partner in the best possible way. Disturbing ambient noise is also filtered out. According to Nothing, the AI should be able to recognize more than 20 million different sound patterns and eliminate them.

Something is also said to have been done to the battery. In combination with the charging or transport case, a total of 36 hours of music playback should be possible. However, this only applies to playback with ANC turned off. The press release does not reveal how long the runtime is when noise cancellation is activated. A fast charging function is supposed to allow eight hours of music playback after ten minutes of charging. In addition to classic charging via cable, the Nothing Ear (2) should also enable inductive charging with up to 2.5 watts. Furthermore, reversible charging is supposed to be possible with compatible devices.

• See it already? Xiaomi Buds 4 Pro: Premium in-ears now in Germany

Protection class IP54 and classic push buttons

For athletes, the Nothing Ear (2) should also be well suited. Finally, the in-ears offer IP54 protection against damaging water ingress. According to Nothing, the charger is even waterproof to IP55. The control units are particularly pleasing. Here, the manufacturer fortunately does not rely on touch operation.

Instead, classic push buttons are used. This prevents incorrect entries and is simply easier to use. The keys can then be used to make the usual entries such as answering calls or changing tracks. If you want, you can also customize the keys via the Nothing X app. So each button can have the meaning you want to assign to it.

Price and Availability

With an MSRP of $149, the Nothing Ear (2) are roughly in the league of classic Apple AirPods. However, the true-wireless in-ears from the Californian tech company do not offer ANC in the basic version. Thus, Nothing has a really hot iron in the fire in terms of price-performance ratio. Those who are interested in the stylish headphones should be able to get them at all common electronics retailers starting March 28. Those who can’t wait until then can also access them online at nothing.tech.