Nothing Ear (2) Malaysia: improved sound, ANC and battery life, still priced at RM599

Having filled its lineup with a phone and some entry-level earbuds, Nothing has come back to where it started with a new pair of premium in-ear wireless earbuds. The Nothing Ear (2) may look almost identical to the iconic Ear (1), but they feature several upgrades that promise to improve the listening experience—and banish some of the complaints of their predecessors.

Nothing Ear (2) Malaysia price and availability

In Malaysia, the Ear (2) are priced at RM599, the same price as the Ear (1) after they were made 50% pricier due to “an increase in costs” [oh, and to make way for the Ear (Stick)]. For context, the Ear (1) originally retailed at RM499 when they debuted in 2021.

The Ear (2) will be available to purchase exclusively at outlets of apparel retailer Crossover starting tomorrow, March 23. Pre-orders will also kick off at:

• Yes Experience Store, Lot 10 
• DirectD Gadget Mega Store, Petaling Jaya 
• TMT, Mid Valley Megamall
• Vivid Concepts, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall
• TacMobile, Aeon Mall Bukit Tinggi

Sales will properly start on April 8 at the official Shopee and Lazada stores, along with DirectD, TMT, Vivid Concepts, TacMobile and selected Yes retail stores.

Nothing Ear (2) specs and features

The Ear (2) retains the trademark Nothing aesthetic, with a transparent polycarbonate case and white internals that hold the earbuds (there’s no black version as yet). However, the case has a slightly boxier design, making it slightly smaller at 55.5mm long and wide. It’s also much thinner at 22mm—so much so that a bit of white plastic (now in a matte finish) sticks out at the bottom. This helps shield the polycarbonate from scratches, a major problem on the Ear (1).

As for the buds themselves, they look practically identical to before, sporting a white and transparent body, black internals with prettied-up components and white ear tips. Bust out the tape measure, however, and you’ll find that they are slightly taller at 29.4mm. Both the buds and case are lighter than before, weighing in at 4.5g and 51.9g respectively.

There are some improvements to build quality, too: Nothing has implemented a triple-shot injection process that moulds the earbud materials simultaneously, resulting in a more premium feel and an improved IP54 (previously IPX4) dust and splash resistance rating (the case is rated IP55).

The looks and build were never the problem with the Ear (1), however; it was their fairly average sound quality and active noise cancellation that caused more consternation. To that end, Nothing added a custom diaphragm to the 11.6mm drivers, featuring softer polyurethane for purer and more powerful bass, while graphene has been retained for treble response. A dual-chamber design also provides smoother airflow and thus a clearer sound.

Going hand-in-hand with this is the Hi-Res Audio certification thanks to Low Latency High Definition Audio Codec (LHDC 5.0) support. Another feature adopted from competing earbuds is the ability to create a personal sound profile using an ear tip fit test and a hearing test, enabling the Ear (2) to adjust the equaliser accordingly.

A similar test is used to personalise the active noise cancellation, which now goes up to 40dB. Nothing has also improved its Clear Noise Technology for voice calls, repositioning the microphones to increase wind noise resistance; it has also added more noise samples to the algorithm for better clarity.

Additionally, the Ear (2) feature a new chipset that improves Bluetooth stability—another Ear (1) bugbear—in concert with a new antenna structure. Nothing claims to have tested the buds on 120 devices, compared to 70 when creating the Ear (1).

The said chipset also uses less battery, leading to more than an hour of added listening time. With the ANC turned off, you now get 6.3 hours of playback, or 36 hours with the case (a two-hour increase). Hopefully, Nothing has also fixed the issue of one earbud draining its battery much faster than the other, which afflicted one of our Ear (1).

As before, the Ear (2) charge via USB-C and provides up to eight hours of listening time with just 10 minutes of charging; they also support Qi wireless charging at up to 2.5W. There’s also dual device connectivity, press controls on the stems, Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair support and a low lag mode when using the Phone (1) and the Nothing X app. The buds now feature Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity.