Hey everyone, welcome back New release for you guys
The newly refreshed Nothing Ear 2s $150 / £129
I’ve been using these for a couple of weeks now
And I’m really excited to share my thoughts with you
In this video I’m going to try to breakdown whether these are worth getting
But I’m also going to try to explain why I think everyone has got this wrong
So lets get into it…
If you haven’t heard of Nothing before, then, where have you been?
No just kidding…
Nothing is a London based tech company that started in 2020 with a heavy focus on product
design It was founded by Carl Pei (pay) who also
started OnePlus and its got a pretty serious list of investors
From YouTuber Casey Neistat to Tony Fadell (the man behind the iPod)
So yeah, they’re not messing around They released their first Wireless EarBuds
in 2021 for $99, quickly followed up by the Nothing Phone 1 in 2022
Now I’m not going to cover the phone in this video, but make sure you subscribe to
the channel for my thoughts on the new upcoming Nothing phone this year.
So anyway, let’s talk through the unboxing of these Nothing Ear 2s because you can tell
that Nothing have put a lot of thought into this as usual
Just look at this box, it’s so clean So you’ve got a little red tab here on the
side, which if you pull…
Yep okay, complete fail there Let’s start again… ahhh that’s better
Nice, so inside you have this really minimal matte black box
Inside this sleeve we have a really nice instruction manual with simple illustrations which I really
love And then if we move the buds out the way for
a second Under here we have these little boxes
One of them has the additional 2 ear tip sizes, so you can get the right fit for you
And the other has a USBC charging cable, which, I’ve got to be honest here guys, is very
small and actually the only thing I don’t like the design of in here
And then of course we have the buds themselves
Before we get to the buds let’s talk about the case though
I love the transparent design of this thing Apart from just looking really cool, it just
makes a lot of sense, as you can easily see the buds at a glance
And actually that transparency is something you’ll see as a core part of Nothing’s
design DNA across all their products In
terms of what’s new with the case it’s actually very similar to the previous case
Except from being 3.1mm smaller, which is great but I still think the case could be
a little smaller still And there’s still the fan favourite thumb
indent on the case to make it easier to hold but it also doubles as a fidget spinner
As expected the case has a USB-C port for fast charging
And it also supports wireless charging as well
This year the case seems to be IP55 rated as well, giving it a limited amount of dust
and water protection The best thing about this case though, is
that it wont accidentally open when you don’t want it to
My AirPods Pro buds just seem to fall out or open randomly in my bag all the time
No such issues with the Nothing case though which is great despite also being a magnetic
enclosure The worst thing about this case though, is
that unfortunately the case material itself is incredibly susceptible to scratches which
is a massive problem I’ve had these a couple of weeks and already
got scratches on the case despite taking good care of them
It’s just inevitable if something is made form polycarbonate which is essentially just
plastic Covering up the case with a protective layer
would just cancel out the benefit of having a transparent case in the first place, not
to mention it would ruin the design So this is definitely an area that Nothing
need to fix
Lets talk about the design of the buds themselves now
Once again I love the translucency of these, it’s just become a really distinctive feature
Overall, these are a very similar design to the previous model
I really like how the buds are colour coded so you know which is right and left at a glance
And in terms of dimensions they’re half a millimetre longer this year which is basically
negligible And a key design element of these is their
stems If you’ve seen some of my other videos you’ll
know how I feel about top heavy buds and how they have a tendency to slip out when you’re
being more active So for me this is a really great way to ensure
the bud isn’t top heavy like the Pixel Buds or Samsung’s Galaxy buds, meaning they’re
more secure in your ear Of course these stems double as controls which
are really easy to grab especially when exercising And speaking of excising, I’ve found these
buds incredibly comfortable to wear The fit of the first buds was really good
and these don’t disappoint either They’ve been great for running, didn’t
have any issues and felt really secure And the different tip sizes means you can
customise the fit as well So overall I think the design is still really
solid, with some minor improvements that’s great to see
So what’s new?
And what are some of the key technical features?
Well for starters .. the battery life is both better and worse than the Ear 1s
With active noise cancellation off, Nothing claims the Ear 2s offer 6.3 hours of battery
and 36 hours incl.
the charge from the case (which is slightly better than the Ear 1’s 5.7 and 34-hours
respectively) But turn ANC on, and those figures drop to
four hours of playback (which is the same as the Ear 1s), and 22.5 hours with the case
(slightly worse than the 24 hours claimed previously)
So battery, not great Once again, this new model features active
noise cancellation, but this time it’s actually adaptive, which is a nice touch, meaning it
will increase or decrease depending on the noise around you
These also feature improved waterproofness, with a rating of IP54 this year vs IPX4 in
the previous gen, which is always nice to see, mainly to ensure rain and sweat don’t
interfere with the buds We also now have improved controls, with a
transition to press controls or squeeze controls on the stem vs the touch controls that we
had before Which to be honest I think is a big improvement,
as touch controls can be very limiting and difficult to press quickly
And, in theory, playing automatically pauses when you remove a bud from your ear, but this
doesn’t always work, and I’ve found is very inconsistent unlike something like the
AirPods Pro You’ve also got the option to build a personalised
sound profile as well which you do through the Nothing X app
And actually, it’s well worth downloading the app to customise a bunch of settings,
including being able to adjust the equaliser and setting up the buds properly
When it comes to arguably the most important element of buds, I’m pleased to say that
the sound quality has been significantly improved vs the first gen buds
The Nothing 2s this year have the LHDC codec which in theory allows for 24-bit hi-res audio
if you’re on the android ecosystem and have one of the latest phones
If you’re using an iPhone though, then unfortunately you’re limited to Apple’s ACC codec which
won’t give you the same output quality Bear in mind though, that audio quality can
vary massively depending on the device, as well as the audio app that you’re using
For example, Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon music will allow you to output in 24-bit hi-res,
whereas Spotify will not, so if you’re using Spotify then you’re limited by the app at
this moment anyway If you’re looking for more info on this
then check out the links I’ve put in the description
There’s also an upgraded Bluetooth antenna this year, but, whilst the connectivity has
been improved, it’s definitely still quite shaky, and doesn’t match the consistency
or range of Apple’s AirPods Even when the phone has been right next to
the buds pretty much every time I use these there is a momentary glitch at random intervals,
especially when one of the buds is partially covered if you’re lying down for example
A nice connectivity upgrade this year is the ability to connect more than one device with
the addition of dual connection, which is very handy if you want to switch between your
laptop on phone or just any other devices you have lying around the house
And in terms of the microphone this year, it’s actually pretty good!
In fact I think it’s actually better than the old AirPods Pro which was pretty surprising.
Overall I’ve found the voice calling pretty good, with noticeably improved noise cancellation
vs the previous gen Speaking of call quality, where these buds
really suffer is the transparency mode.
I’ve heard people saying how it really sucks, which I don’t think is fair, but certainly
in comparison to other wireless ANC headphones it really isn’t the best
So if that’s something that’s important to you then this is something worth considering
So how do these stack up vs competition?
And are these the buds for you?
Well that’s where things get interesting..
If you haven’t seen my AirPods Pro 2 video yet, then definitely go and check that out,
because I compare all the different ANC buds on the market
But essentially what this comes down to is 2 main things, PRICE and UTILITY
And this is where everyone seems to be getting it wrong, including myself!
All throughout this video I’ve been referencing competitor buds like the AirPods Pro to help
provide a reference point for how these buds compare
It’s an obvious thing to do, given how widespread the AirPods Pro are and given the similarities
of design and features with the Nothing Ear 2s
You can be forgiven for falling into that trap
But that’s completely wrong!
And here’s why...
The AirPods Pro Gen 2 currently sell for a whopping $249 or £239, that’s 60% more
expensive than these nothing Ear 2s In fact, if you’re looking at true wireless
buds that have noise cancelling capability, what you’ll find is that all the major players
have prices at $200 or above The Sony M4s - $279
The Samsung Buds 2 Pro - $229 The Senneiser M3s - $200
And the Pixel Buds Pro - $200 So with all that in mind, whilst it’s tempting,
it’s not really fair to compare with these, instead we should be comparing with products
in the same price category The Nothing Ear 2s are $150!
And the closest thing to that is Apple’s baseline 2nd Gen AirPods which are only $20
cheaper at $130!
Yeah, you heard that right, Apple’s standard AirPods, and the old ones at that are only
$20 cheaper!
Which don’t have active noise cancelling, don’t have adaptive transparency, and offer
very similar battery life at 5hrs So that’s when you start to realise what
you’re getting here...
My take on the new Nothing Ear 2s?
Considering the amazing utility you're getting relative to the associated price, these could
well be, the best tech bargain on the market at the moment
They’re almost half the price of the latest AirPods Pro, but no where near half the quality!
If you want the very best out there, then these probably aren’t for you
But if you’re a student or anyone who’s budget constrained then these would be my
go to choice every single time!
They wont work as seamlessly as some other buds out there, but from a pure audio quality
perspective they are definitely worth your attention.
Not to mention, if you’re planning on buying a Nothing phone as some stage as well, then
all the more reason to look into these.
So guys that’s it for this video Hope you enjoyed it and I hope it helps some
of you to make up your minds.
Let me know your thoughts as usual in the comments below and remember to subscribe if
you haven’t already as it really helps me out.
Thanks again for watching, I’ll see you in the next one.