Nothing has announced an updated pair of noise-canceling true wireless earbuds called the Nothing Ear 2. They’re the successor to the company’s debut product, the Ear 1 earbuds, and both earbuds and charging cases feature an almost identical design, complete with the company’s signature mix of transparent plastic combined with a white, black, and red color scheme. You can read my complete impressions over in my review of the Nothing Ear 2 earbuds.
The Nothing Ear 2 are a capable $149 update to the company’s debut earbuds
The Nothing Ear 2 are a capable $149 update to the company’s debut earbuds
On paper, the Ear 2s don’t look like a huge upgrade over their predecessors. There are a couple of additional nice-to-have features, like multipoint connectivity, which lets you connect to two devices (like a phone and laptop) simultaneously, and a fit test feature to help you find the right size of ear tip to use. But key specs like battery life and driver size are very similar.
Even so, in practice, the Ear 2s are a much more refined accessory. Their sound is much clearer and more crisp, and their active noise cancellation is far more capable in noisy environments — not to mention the fact that there are far fewer bugs to contend with this time around.
In the US, the Nothing Ear 2 earbuds will retail for $149, the same as the Ear 1 earbuds after last year’s $50 price increase. In the UK, however, they’re slightly cheaper than their predecessors at £129 versus £149. Either way, it seems the Ear 1’s $99 / £99 launch pricing seems to be a thing of the past. The Ear 2 earbuds are available to purchase today directly from Nothing’s online store and will go on general sale from Nothing’s partners on March 28th.