Design & Construction

The Nothing Ear is back with small updates and minor improvement for its second iteration. So, is it worth an upgrade? Well, let's find out. Featuring the all familiar stem-like design, the buds still features a transparent see-through plastic build that reveals what the inner workings of a earbud. The fit of the earbuds now slightly smaller and doesn't protrude out of your ears much as the stem conforms to your ear lobe shape. It is indeed lightweight as claimed by Nothing at 4.7g but it is hard to forget that you are wearing a pair of Ear (2)'s as the feeling doesn't fade away naturally. Instead of old-school physical buttons, Nothing went with touchpads that work decently well recognising the different controls. Now for the controls, a double press on the either earbud will play/pause your music, a triple press will skip forward or skip backward, while tapping and holding will switch between Active Noise-Cancelling, Transparency Mode and Passive Noise Isolation. Meanwhile, swiping up and down will increase or decrease the volume respectively. Onto the case, it is definitely one of the bigger cases amongst competitors of the same price point, however it does carry the same design language of transparency to show off the earbuds while it is in the case. A little round indent at the top of the case helps you easily hold the case or if you wish, doubles as a really bad fidget spinner. Like all true wireless earbuds, the earbuds dock in fairly easily and will not fall out when the case is flipped since there are magnets inside to keep them secure. The case and the earbuds have a glossy finish that makes it a fingerprint magnet. There is a USB-C port at the right of the case with an LED indicator on the top to notify you of the case charge when closed. In the box, there are extra sizes of silicone eartips to ensure a tight seal and secure fit. Even though the Ear (2) isn't a sports earbud, it boasts an IP54 water resistance for the buds and IP55 for its case, giving users the ultimate peace of mind for those intense workouts or rainy days

 

All the controls for music playback and calls are controlled via both buttons on the face of the earbuds themselves. Since they still use trusty physical old school buttons, button presses are tactile and responsive. And of course, the best thing is that you have the ability to customise the controls. Now for the controls, a single press on the right earbud will play/pause your music, a double press will skip forward and a triple press will skip backward; holding it down will launch your choice of smart assistant of Alexa, Siri or Google. Moving to the left earbud, a single press will cycle through Active Noise Cancellation or Ambient Sound. This time, Speak-to-Chat and Quick Attention are dropped as a cost-saving measure since they are premium features reserved for Sony higher-tier earbuds. There is also no auto-pause feature, so your music will not pause if you remove one earbud from your ear. To enable Bluetooth pairing, you can long press the button at the back of the case while the earbuds are still in and complete the process before removing the earbuds from the case. Moving on to the case, it is pill-shaped and rounded to fit right into my palm, it is definitely one of the smallest true wireless cases when compared to the competition and it will fit in tight jeans pockets perfectly. A USB Type-C port can be found at the back of the case. The hinges holding the cover and body of the case is strong and is likely to survive a couple of accidental drops. The earbuds do magnetically click into place when they are docked into the case. Like all true wireless earbuds, they do dock in very easily and will not fall out when the case is flipped since there are magnets inside to keep them secure. In the box, there are extra sizes of silicone ear tips to ensure a tight seal and secure fit. Even though the WF-C700N isn't a sports earbud, it boasts a decent IPX4 water resistance for those quick workouts or rainy days, giving users the ultimate peace of mind. The earbuds also do a great job at resisting fingerprints smudges with a matte finish.

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Sound Quality

Energetic, lively and bass-focused is how I would describe the sound of the WF-C700N. Let's start off with the bass response. In short, it is deep and boomy. It never managed to distort at loud volume but does bleeds into the mids when it is at a low volume level. The bass levels match up against the Sennheiser CX Plus SE and the Marshall Motif ANC. The highs sound somewhat bright and detailed. The mids do sound extremely crisp with good clarity. The soundstage is non-existent and definitely nowhere as wide compared to the more expensive models of the Linkbuds S or the WF-1000XM4 but still on par with the Jabra Elite 4 and the Beats Studio Buds. The instrument separation is decent with some left and right channels separation being heard clearly. If you are not so much of an EDM or Hip-Hop fan, I am glad to report that the WF-C700N works perfectly with all other genres ranging from Pop to Jazz after you fiddle with the customisable sound settings in the Sony Headphones Connect App available for download from the App & Play Store. In the app, you are first greeted with the earbuds and case battery status with the codecs in use as well as DSEE. Moving downwards, we have a few tabs here, starting with the Status tab. First, Adaptive Sound Control allows for the toggling of different noise-canceling modes like Walking, Staying, Running, and Transport. Each has different levels of noise-canceling and ambient sound mode. Of course, users can toggle between ANC, ambient sound, voice passthrough, or just turn it off completely. This feature has improved to be faster and more responsive than before to also track your frequently visited locations and kick in the right amount of ambient sound control when you are there so you don't have to physically switch each time. You may register your locations either from learned ones or from the map itself. However, if you are concerned over giving away your location data to Sony, you may turn off this option as well. There is also the option to enable/disable the notification tone when a mode switches too. Personally, I hardly use this feature but having tried it couple of times, I am confident to say that its accuracy is fantastic. You will then see the current song playing and adjust the volume slider or skip songs in this setting too. One of the newer features here is the option to measure your volume levels for hearing safety. Working with World Health Organisation, the app shows us a range of sound decibels of frequent daily sounds for us to benchmark our volume levels for hearing protection. This feature will keep track of your volume levels for 7 days to understand if you are listening too loud for your own good. Honestly, quite a handy feature that is very relevant in today's world. Moving onto the Sound tab, we will see the main feature here, Ambient Sound Control. Based on my testing and usage, the Sony WF-C700N fares quite well in its ANC abilities for its price point. The earbuds does better at cancelling out lower frequencies like an AC unit hum or train commuting noises when there was no music playing while being able to cancel out more higher frequencies noises such as construction and flight noises with music playing above 50% volume levels. Now, you may also switch to Ambient Sound Mode where you can utilise the microphones to take in surrounding noises for safety as well as focus on voice which keeps the ambient noise low and takes in more of human voices instead as well as turn off all settings for passive noise isolation. Just like before, there is a slider to toggle between level 1 to 20 of ambient sound intake. Comparing the Ambient Sound Mode with the AirPods Pro, I would give the edge to Apple's Transparency Mode as it is simply the most natural-sounding transparency that seems to know what to filter out and take in. There is also the essential sound equaliser with presets ranging from Bright, Excited, Mellow, Bass Boost, Treble Boost, Speech Etc. You can also choose to customise your own to make the headphones great for all genres of music ranging from soothing jazz to bass-heavy EDM tracks. 360 Reality Audio being Sony’s object-based spatial audio technology adds to that immersive experience. However, this feature is currently only available to users of 360 By Deezer, nugs.net, Artist Connection and TIDAL. There is no support for mainstream music streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, or Youtube Premium as of yet. You will need to do a photographic scan of both of your ears and the app will find the most optimised sound field for your listening. Lastly, there is the option to switch priorities between sound quality or stable connection if the Bluetooth signal is unstable and the addition of DSEE to enhance the quality of the music output. Dolby Atmos support is also available with the compatible Sony WLA-NS7 wireless transmitter when connected to a BRAVIA XR TV. Call quality is pretty average as the caller on the other end feedback that the microphones do pick up some surrounding noises with the need for me to speak up especially when outdoors with wind and city noises. Moving to the System tab, you can change the headphones controls to be enabled/disabled and customised to cycle between the 3 options of Ambient Sound Control, Volume Control, Playback Control or have no function assigned to either earbuds. Ambient Sound Control Operation can cycle between the 3 options of ANC, Ambient Sound and Passive Noise Isolation or use just 2 options of ANC and Ambient Sound only as I have set here. The headphones can also be toggled to automatically power off after a certain period of time from 15 minutes to 3 hours. There are other more settings like the language of voice guidance and automatic download of software updates with the option to reset all the settings to original if you mess up any. In other portions of the app, there is an achievement-like dashboard to show your listening hours, locations and actions, listening volumes and earn badges. Not the most useful feature here, but some extra data is better than none I guess. Lastly, the information tab shows all your notifications for software updates and couple of user-friendly tips. In other settings, you can backup or restore your settings when you sign in with your Sony account and turn off the headphones from the app itself.

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Well-defined, balanced and energetic is how I would describe the sound of the Ear (1). Let's start off with the bass response. In short, it is deep, punchy, and tight. It never managed to distort at loud volume and never bleeds into the mids when it is at a low volume level. It hits doesn't hit as deep as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 but it definitely as stronger than the AirPods Pro. The highs sound decently bright and filled with plenty of details. The mids do sound extremely crisp even without any equaliser tuning. The soundstage is as wide as the Jabra Elite 4 Active but still far from the best, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2. The instrument separation is okay and distinct left and right channels could be heard. If you are not so much of an EDM or Hip-Hop fan, I am glad to report that the Ear (1) works perfectly with all other genres ranging from Pop to Jazz, you can always make small changes to the sound signature in the Ear (1) app that helps configure the sound to your liking. In the app, you will see the Hear button at the bottom left which allow you to quickly change the Noise Cancellation settings from Maximum to Light ANC; Transparency or turn off all settings for passive noise isolation. However, there is no extra advanced method to personalise to increase or decrease the cabin pressure. Transparency allows you to hear your ambient surrounding sounds so you can always hear the next train announcement or traffic noise to stay safe. Similarly, you cannot personalise it as well. If you prefer the faster way of removing one earbud to hear someone, the earbuds will automatically pause your music, and that you may turn off if you don't want it enabled. Next, you  can choose to customise from presets like Balanced, More Bass, More Treble or Voice. Different presets do work well with different music genres and I personally prefer the More Bass preset. At the bottom right, there is also the Touch button which shows you the controls for the touchpads which you can customise in a rather limited way, but some customisation is definitely better than no customisation. If you ever misplace your earbuds, you can always use the Find My Earbud feature to trace it back using the app to play a loud sound. There is no built-in GPS or Bluetooth signal tracking that allows you to trace it back if you left it somewhere far. In other settings, you can also update your earbuds firmware, change the app from dark theme to light theme, change its latency mode or turn on/off in-ear detection. In calls, the Elite 7 Pro uses Clear Voice Technology to drastically reduce wind noise and keeps the voice quality optimised for speaking, it isn't as mind-blowing as AirPods Pro but it is much better than many other competitors of the same price.

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Connectivity & Portability

The earbuds support the latest and greatest LHDC, AAC and SBC codecs together with the Bluetooth Version 5.3. The earbuds also automatically power on/off when docked and taken out from the case. The battery life peaks at 6 hours per use with ANC and up to 22.5 hours with the charging case, without ANC, battery life can be stretched to 6.3 hours per use and 36 hours with the case. The package also comes with a USB Type-C cable for charging. It takes about 2 hours to charge both the case and the earbuds from a dead battery. If you are in a rush, the earbuds feature quick charge where a 10 minute charge will give you up to 8 hour of playback with Qi wireless charging capability. The LED indicators on the case is the most responsive I have seen, lighting up almost immediately after placing it on the charger. If you have a Magsafe charger, the Ear (2) does magnetically stick in place to charge, though it will detached when you pull it from the charger. The headphones' connectivity to the app is perfect as it is able to detect my headphones when its already connected via Bluetooth all the time. The earbuds also support Google’s Fast Pair feature that enable effortless Bluetooth pairing with your Android devices. You can easily locate where you left your headphones by ringing them, check their last known location on your smartphone or receive a notification when your headphones battery is running low so you know when to charge them. These features are further enhanced with Swift Pair on a Windows laptop, desktop PC or tablet as pop-up pairing guidance will appear on compatible devices when pairing mode is selected. Bluetooth Multi-point is also available for you to connect more than one device to the earbuds at any one time so you can take calls on one and listen to music on the other. If you are planning to watch videos or movies with these, I am glad to report that they do not suffer from any latency. Should you also wish to only use one earbud at one time, either earbud is available to do so.

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PROS​​

• Environmentally-friendly Design

• Ergonomic Fit

• Low Profile

• Adaptive Sound Control

• Ambient Sound Control

• In-App Equalizer

• Strong Noise-Cancelling

• Quick Charging

• Quick Pairing

• Qi Wireless Charging

• IPX4 Water Resistance

• Bluetooth 5.2

• Multi-point Bluetooth

• Two Colour Options

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CONS​​​​​

• No LDAC/AptX Codec Support

 

The Bottom Line

All in all, the Nothing Ear (2) is an essential everyday earbud with strong yet straightforward features that keeps its users happy. The top features why it is so sought-after in a saturated market of true wireless earbuds has got to be its transparent design, sound quality, noise-cancelling as well as overall user experience. It is indeed a seamless and hassle-free experience. The Nothing Ear (1) is definitely the way to go if you need a complete package with an attractive price tag to match.