For a moment, the true wireless stereo (TWS) earphones industry was tarnished - unsurprisingly daft design and underwhelmed performance. Until recently, some vendors disrupted the scenario, providing innovative and aspiring takes. Nothing is one of them. Founded by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei in 2020, the firm stunned the industry with its distinct aesthetics and product design.

The firm's recent step is the Nothing Ear (2), a new member of its audio family. Released in late March and sold at $149, the earbuds offer almost everything that I would expect from a trendy TWS at this price range - a beautifully crafted body and case, exceptional sound quality, and a comfortable fit.

If I have to be picky, there is still room to improve in aspects like battery life performance and active noise cancellation (ANC). The overall stability  may benefit from extra work as well, since sound glitches occur on occasion.

As a global firm that has put its supply chain and product R&D base in Shenzhen, China, this is also the first product the firm introduced to the Chinese market since its foundation, priced at 999 RMB ($145.39). And the pair we gave a test run was also bought from one of the Chinese distributors of Nothing.

TL; DR

Fors:

●      Stylish design

●      Clear sound

●      Customized and comfortable experience

●      Easy-to-use companion app

●      Competitive price

Againsts:

●      Occasional glitches

●      Improvable ANC

●      Minor background noise on transparent mode

●      No support of the popular Aptx codecs

Iconic Design

The first thing that catches my eyes is the rather contemporary and unique design. The case itself is made of plastic, but it never delivers a cheap look.

Most of the part is translucent with extra design to create playful optical effects. For instance, the front part builds three concave lens-like parts to highlight the accent-colored dot printed on the earbuds and the case.

In contrast, Nothing hides the battery and other electronic parts in the white part of the case, giving a clear and fresh look. And the dot array-shaped branding is seen everywhere in the product.

Looking into the earbuds alone, it still has a similar body design to other popular TWS products, but it has stunning details and an iconic design within the body case.

Clear and Customized Sound

The Nothing Ear (2) offers a balanced sound – a crisp and clear audio experience, whether playing vocal or instrumental tracks. I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality when listening to a trumpet concerto piece from Joseph Haydn as the solo part was bright and well-presented without being too overpowering for hours' listening.

It also delivers a strong bass, enhancing the ambiance of live or chamber music titles.

Additionally, if you find the preset equalizer settings aren't to your liking, the accompanying app enables you to adjust and accentuate the bass or vocal parts to suit your preference.

Nothing also has a great personalization feature for the Ear (2) that caters to your hearing ability by offering customized sound. The test itself can be a bit lengthy and complex, but it's interesting to learn where you are and the differences in sound when it's fine-tuned.

Nothing claims that the earbuds are certified for Hi-Res Wireless requirement with LHDC 5.0 codec support, which is backed by Taiwanese firm Savitech and the Japan Sound Association. The codec is a strong alternative to Sony's exclusive LDAC. But there aren't many terminal devices built with LHDC 5.0.

A bummer is the absence of the popular high-quality aptX codecs from Qualcomm, which is supported by many Android smartphones.This means that if your devices do not support LHDC, you can only settle for AAC and attain basic sound quality.

Rich Features

In its companion app Nothing X, there are several features that enhance the user experience, such as dual-device connectivity.

ANC, along with transparent mode, is a crucial feature for contemporary TWS products. While Nothing Ear (2) offers a moderate performance in this essential feature, as it falls short when compared to its strong competitors, such as Apple, Bose, or Sony.

It effectively weakened most of the regular noises in an office environment, such as the hum of an air conditioner. However, it struggles to cope with more challenging surroundings like a railway station, and I need to increase the volume to hear clearly amidst the chaos.

What is surprising is that the ANC technology employed in the product does not exert excessive pressure on the ears, providing a comfortable experience. This is yet another aspect to consider when evaluating the performance of this feature.

Nothing also offers features including, Find My Earbuds, Fit Test, personalization of ANC and sound, in-ear detection, and a low-lag mode for gamers.

Most of them work great, but occasionally the dual-device connectivity falls short of expectations.

One of the nice features of the product is its ability to create a native-like experience between different ecosystems, making it a good alternative to AirPods for Apple users. However, enabling this feature could cause a sharp decrease in Bluetooth stability.

Fortunately, the manufacturer is making a concerted effort to keep dropping updates for improvement so that we can expect a pitch soon.

High-Accessible Design All Along

The Nothing Ear (2) provides a user-friendly experience, making it effortless for anyone to pair their device and set up the app. Particularly, its fast pair feature comes in handy for Windows and Android users.

Upon opening the case, supported devices wouldshow a pop-up message directing users to pair and download the companion app from the official store.

The app boasts a distinctive and recognizable design that exhibits striking animations and layouts with a dot-array design and monospaced fonts. The overall user experience is intuitive and user-friendly without being excessive.

One particular design element that stands out is the indication sound used for controls such as successful pairings and switching between different modes. Instead of adopting sounds with different tunes for each mode, Nothing has created unique and memorable alarms.

For example, when switching between ANC and transparent modes, there's a sound that mimics the sound of exhaling air. This simple yet effective feature immediately notifies users that they have exited the ANC mode.

Moreover, the controls on the earbuds are highly responsive and customizable. Users can assign different controls for each earbud with four different gestures.

But the absence of the slide gesture option to control volume is a pity, as it's a more intuitive way to do it.

Designed For Long-Hour Listening

When testing earbuds, my initial focus is on their comfort and stability. The Nothing Ear (2) includes three pairs of white ear tips, providing exceptional comfort. These tips are incredibly soft and stretchy, ensuring a comfortable fit that will stay in place.

The pre-installed one is a perfect fit for my ears. And after four-hour listening (also the battery life with ANC on), I barely feel a thing in my ears. But I have to add that everyone has different outer ears. You should try any on-ear or wrist gadgets first before making a purchase.

However, its short battery life is remedied by the fast charging from the case. It takes just eight minutes to charge from 10% to 40% and 23 minutes to 80%. With the charging case, Nothing Ear (2) provides over 20 hours of battery life with ANC on.

I also tested its stability, and it's impressively good. I played Just Dance, a dance and workout game by Ubisoft, for over half an hour with the earbuds on, and they stayed firmly attached to my ears without any loosening.

Conclusion

Although it falls short in battery life and ANC capacity compared to its competitors, Nothing Ear (2) is a genuinely unique device with an excellent user experience. Its distinctive look distinguishes it from other TWS products, and its sound quality and customization options make it an ideal choice for audiophiles. It also offers a comfortable and stable fit for long-hour usage.

Additionally, its user-friendly companion app and customized touch controls make it an overall great option for those searching for a new pair of earbuds.

With updates continuing to improve its features and functionality, the Nothing Ear (2) is certainly worth considering for anyone looking for a stylish and high-quality TWS product.