Nothing Ear(2) black edition review: Good pair of TWS earbuds

.Just before the launch of the Phone(2), Nothing Inc introduced the new Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) Ear(2) black edition.

It comes with the familiar see-through design of the original Ear series earbuds, but prettier. Also, the company released a new audio update to the Nothing X app bringing an Advanced Equaliser for Ear (2) and Ear(stick).

I used the Ear(2) black edition for more than a month and here are my thoughts on Nothing Inc's latest offering.

Design and build quality

Ear(2) Black's semi-transparent case is made of premium plastic. When you hold it in your hand, you can feel how sturdy it is.

Inside, earbuds retain the see-through design elements of the original but come in a black-hue colour. You can see the minute components neatly arranged inside the stem of the earbuds.

Earbuds are really light and each one weigh just 4.5g. They come with an IP54 water-resistance rating and the case is IP55 certified too. This comes in handy while wearing the Ear(2) during heavy workouts in the gym or while jogging in the park.

Nothing Ear(2) Black Edition TWS buds.

Speaking of running, the silicone ear tips of the Ear(2) buds comfortably fit into the ears. But personally, I am quite wary of using TWS earbuds while traveling on a bus or any public transport vehicle as there are high chances of losing at least one of them. It has happened many times with me and even fellow travelers on mass transport vehicles.

With people jostling for space in the crowded bus, sometimes inevitably and unintentionally, an elbow of a fellow passenger will dislodge earbuds from the ear. Thankfully, for me, I did not face such a situation while testing the ear(2).

Nothing Ear(2) Black Edition TWS buds.

The pre-fitted medium-size ear tips were perfect for me. The company offers two other sizes large and small.

The stem is of the right length for me. The sensors pick up the touch gestures really well to the finger taps.

With a single tap, you can pause or answer phone calls. With a double tap, go to the next track, and triple tap, you can go back to the previous song.

With a double tap and long press, you can adjust the volume. Not once they failed to take the input. It was absolutely flawless during the entire testing period.

It takes less than a couple of minutes to pair Ear(2) with an iPhone.

User interface and performance

As you can see in the screengrab, it took me hardly two minutes to pair the Ear(2) buds, and even went through the on-screen tutorial on control features.

The Ear(2) buds detection animation and user interface on the Nothing X app for iOS are just great. Once you open the app, it feels like you are operating a Nothing Phone; the interface has that familiar dotted font type and the triple-black, white, and red-hued colour scheme.

Nothing Ear(2) supports tap gesture controls features

The company has done a fabulous job with the UI of the Nothing X app and using Ear(2) with Phone 1 and Phone 2 series gets even better.

Under each earbud, the company has incorporated an 11.6 mm custom driver to deliver deep and powerful bass. Ear(2) supports LHDC 5.0 codec technology to ensure clear and crisp sound details are delivered to the ears. The new earphones support frequencies up to 24 bit/192 kHz at speeds of up to 1 Mbps.

Add to that, earbuds come with three high-definition microphones. Combining Clear Voice Technology and an AI noise reduction algorithm, Ear(2) is tested to filter out over 20 million sound samples. Ear (2) promises to reduce background noise as much as possible to deliver the best phone call experience.

Nothing Ear(2) Black Edition TWS buds.

Do they deliver?

Yes, they do. Ear(2) buds excel in delivering a great listening experience. The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) works really great in reducing annoying rush hour traffic and vehicle horns on the street to a great extent and having pleasant time listening to podcasts, video blogs, and music with the least disruption. It can reduce up to 40 dB disturbance.

Be it metal or blue or classical Carnatic genre, the music sounds pretty good on the ear(2) buds; very promising for a product priced under Rs 10,000.

Soon after setting up the Ear(2) black edition, the app received a new update that introduces the Advanced Equaliser.

Nothing X app recently received major update bring Advanced Equaliser feature

With this, users can control the frequency precisely. It offers an easy-to-under graphical interface with a parametric 8-band equaliser, the full Q factor, and frequency control. And, users can even share their custom profile with friends or family members through a simple QR code.

Also, like any current crop of earbuds, it also boasts Bluetooth 5.3 and can connect two devices at once. This comes in handy when watching a TV series on a tablet and you get a phone call, the earbuds automatically switch connection to the latter to answer the call without any hassle.

With Nothing X app, users can control audio delivery experience on Nothing Ear(2) TWS buds.

The phone calls too, the audio is very clear and crisp. Even the mics pick up the user's voice pretty well even with buzzing chatter around in the office environment and even while walking on a busy street.

It should be noted that Ear(2) supports Google Fast Pair on Android phones, tablets, Chrome notebooks, and Microsoft Swift Pair on Windows devices.

As far as the battery life is concerned, it can deliver up to 36 hours without ANC. During the entire usage period, I never felt anxious about the battery dying out in a middle of a call or virtual meeting. With Nothing X, users can view the battery life of both the earbuds and case, and accordingly charge the case.

It supports fast charging. With a 10-minute charge, it can deliver eight hours of listening time. It also supports 2.5W wireless charging.

Nothing Ear(2) Black Edition TWS buds.

Final thoughts

Ear(2) black edition is not just unique and visually pleasing, the earbuds deliver great audio output in almost all fronts. Also, the new Advanced Equaliser works as advertised and improves the user experience. And, the battery life is great too.

But, what impressed me the most is the company's efforts to make the Nothing X app work so flawlessly and beautifully on the iOS platform. Several companies including Sony have tried to offer audio customisation support via apps, but don't come as close to what Nothing X does. Some brands such as Samsung have even stopped offering support for their earbuds on Apple products. The animation and UI are simply amazing on the Nothing X for iOS app.

Nothing Ear(2) is available for Rs 9,999 on major e-commerce platforms in India.

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