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is it really an improvement?
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is it really an improvement?

Luisa Rey

The very first product released by Carl Pei’s new tech brand was the Ear (1). With these in-ears, Pei immediately wanted to make clear what he was planning with Nothing, which is to make tech fun again and of course also bring good products to the market. A year and a half later it is time for the Nothing Ear (2).

Nothing

During the product presentation, we first received a small update from the company from the PR and the product specialist. Since the Ear (1), Nothing has sold over a million products. When you compare that to the market, it’s nothing, but for a start-up it’s a milestone. The first product was launched in September 2021 and now it’s time for the second generation of the first product.

When asked what has changed at the company since then, it turns out that this mainly concerns the time that people have for the products. With both the Nothing Ear (1) and the Nothing Phone (1), a limited number of people had to put a product on the market in a short time and under high pressure. That resulted in many bug fixes and updates afterwards, something they are now trying to avoid.

Currently, the company employs almost 500 people who are mainly concerned with optimizing current products and not ‘reinventing the wheel’. The team that creates and improves Nothing’s software has expanded to 100 people.

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This has all changed on the Nothing Ear (2)

With the launch of these ‘earphones’, Nothing is starting its fourth product. After the Ear (1), Phone (One) and the Nothing Ear Stick, Nothing with the Ear (2) is the first product to come onto the market with an improved version.

This is in short what has changed compared to the Ear (1):

-> Improved antenna and microphone placement
-> Driver is now completely adapted to the Ear (2), with the Ear (1) this was a standard driver
-> The case is 30% smaller and has fewer parts
-> The case now has an IP55 rating
-> ANC has been improved
-> No touch operation but mechanical (squeezing) with more options
-> Dual Connection, connect two devices at the same time
-> Improved equalizer in the revamped app

Nothing Ear (2) – the pluses

1. Connection stability

In the few days that I was able to test the Nothing Ear (2), I took these earphones everywhere. In addition, the stability of the connection is very good for me. With earphones from other products, I sometimes had connection problems when my smartphone was in my pocket. With the Ear (2) I have not had any problems with that. The distance you can take from your smartphone is also fine. I can pretty much go all over my house without losing connection.

2. The app is easy and complete

The experience with the Ear (2) is not only with the product itself, but also with the software. With the test sample we got access to the beta of the upcoming update of the Nothing X app. In an app, a user experience is important and that is fine with the Nothing app.

You can quickly reach everything and the operation is immediately clear. With the Ear (1) one of the negative points was that you had little adjustment options in terms of sound. That is now a lot better and in addition to 4 pre-sets you can also adjust the sound to your own taste via a three-axis sliding system. The personal sound profile that you can create plays a major role in this.

3. Sound

In the review of the Nothing Ear (1) it was also a positive point and I would like to repeat that here. The sound of the Ear (2) is really very good. I streamed the sound from my Motorola Edge 20 from Spotify without any fancy optimizations. Once again there is a wonderful bass in these earphones, which gives a fantastic full sound. In addition, I must say that when you put the earphones out full in terms of volume set, you do overdrive a little bit with some tracks. This is easy to adjust via the equalizer and it is too small a problem to make a negative out of it.

Under the heading of sound I also classify the fine ANC of the Ear (2). This works fine and immerses you in the music without being disturbed by noise.

Nothing Ear (2) – the negatives

1. The case is great

Although Nothing says the case has shrunk by 30%, I still find it very large. Okay, it looks cool and when you put it somewhere on the table they will definitely stand out. I think design took precedence over comfort here. You can live with it.

Nothing Ear (2) review: Is it really an improvement?

2. Price

The Nothing Ear (1) came on the market for € 99.95 after which the price went to € 149. The Nothing Ear (2) will cost €149 from day one. My feeling is that the price is on the high side. Among other things, they compete with OnePlus’ earphones.