Nothing Ear 2 vs Nothing Ear 1: Every difference that you wanted to know

Nothing Ear 2 on the right, Nothing Ear 1 on left. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)

Nothing Ear 2, Nothing’s highly-anticipated wireless earbuds, have officially been launched in India at a price of Rs 9,999. They don’t look all that different from the Ear 1s— their predecessor— but that’s okay as Nothing has made some big changes on the inside, those that really matter and should entail refined audio and improved noise cancellation. The size has also been brought a down a bit, to make them more pocketable which is always a nice thing to have.

While we work on our full Nothing Ear 2 review to give you a more comprehensive overview, here’s a step-by-step comparison with the Ear 1s to see how they actually stack up both inside and out. The pricing has gone up in this generation, so this comparison is but obvious for a better picture. Without further ado, let’s get started.

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Design, dimensions: The Ear 2s look largely the same as the Ear 1 with see-through styling and signature white hue. But the case is – now—smaller (2.19×2.19×0.87-inch versus 2.31×2.31×0.93-inch), lighter (51.8g versus 57.2g) and seemingly sturdier, too, than before. Nothing has also upgraded the IP rating which is IP55 for the case and IP54 for individual buds in the Ear 2 (versus IPX4 in Ear 1).

Driver, microphone: The Ear 1 came with “off-the-shelf” 11.6mm driver but the Ear 2s have a custom-built, though the size remains the same as before. Like the Ear 1, the Ear 2s also have three mics on each earbud.

ANC: Nothing says the Ear 2s offer better active noise cancellation theoretically capable of cutting down up to 40dB of ambient sound (same as the Ear 1). In addition to supporting a transparency mode, the Ear 2s can also deliver “personalised” ANC by adapting to the shape of your ears.

Sound, controls: The Ear 2s support the LHDC codec allowing for high-resolution (Hi-Res) audio streaming over Bluetooth. You can connect them simultaneously to two separate devices, phone and laptop for instance, and switch automatically between the two. The Ear 1s lacked both these features. Also, the Ear 2s have press controls while the Ear 1s had touch controls.

Battery life, charging: The Ear 2s are rated for 6.3 hours of listening time and up to 36 hours with the case with ANC off (this drops to 4 and 22.5 hours with ANC on). Fast charging and Qi wireless charging (up to 2.5W) are supported, so is reverse charging with compatible devices like the Phone 1. They Ear 1s are rated for 5.7 hours of listening time and up to 34 hours with the case with ANC off (this drops to 4 and 24 hours with ANC on).

Price in India: Nothing Ear 1 price in India is set at Rs 9,999. The Ear 1s were launched in India at a price of Rs 5,999, though their pricing was revised sometime later. The Ear 1s were selling for Rs 8,499 before being discontinued. This was for the black version of the Ear 1. The white version was a bit cheaper, selling at Rs 7,299.

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