There are some product designs that make you feel good and happy. And these were exactly the range of emotions on my mind when I took the new bubbly-looking Nothing Ear (a) out of the box. Here the trademark transparent design of Nothing meets a bubble design to give the appearance of a yellow bathtub with a see-through hood housing two earbuds. Nothing could be more delightful. But soon I discovered that it was not just about the design. Though this is supposed to be a more affordable version compared to the Nothing (R) Ear we reviewed a few days back, this one too packs a punch when it comes to audio quality. Just for a comparison with the Nothing (R) Ear, I started with Sushin Shyam’s Lagoon Chill and was pleasantly surprised that the bass here was almost at par, though it lacked the sharpness of its costlier cousin. Still the boom was really top notch and I was not even playing this song on the Nothing phone where I could use the app to adjust the bass. On the Nothing 2 (a) you have much more control with preset equalisers. But there is no advanced equaliser here like you have while connected to the flagship earphone. The noise cancelling can be controlled here, or by just pinching and holding the stem of the buds. I love how the earphones emit an exhaling sound when it changes modes. The noise cancellation is good, especially when you consider these are mid-range earphones. There is even an adaptive mode, though I preferred to keep it in high cancellation at all times. Back to music with an HD playlist of A R Rahman’s splendid work in the late 90s and I was surprised by how versatile these earphones were, though with a hangover of its bass capabilities. There is a balmy layer over most of the songs that reminded me of some Sony earphones which too had this bass fixation. Thankfully, you can taper down the bass using the app, if you like me love a sharper audio profile. Listening to Pachai Nirame from Alai Payuthai, I was happy that a mid-level headphone lets you choose a high-definition LDAC audio codec and listen to songs with all the minute details. In fact, on Spotify, I found Karinkaliyalle which has gone viral now after a small reel in the movie Aaveshan based on this Malayalam folk song. The song starts with a buzzing hum in the background, the sort I have never experienced before. The bass of the Nothing Ear (a) gave it a haunting aspect that made me go back and switch the bass enhance back on. I’d rather use the best aspect of these earphones to the hilt. And this is when Spotify shifted to Kaayi, a Malayalam rap with Baby Jean’s deep-throated vocals. I started loving the earphones even more after this song and made a note to add it to my headphone-testing playlist. While setting up the earphones I struggled to pair this with any phone as I could not move it into pairing mode and I could not spot a setup button anywhere. I had to open the manual and look at a diagram that showed the exact spot of the button. And this is when I realised there was actually a button there. I fear many will struggle with this initially till they figure out the hidden button. At Rs 7,999, this is a great buy for those who love peppy music and the design that goes with it. The call quality and 42-hour battery life with fast charging are as expected. It is rare for earphones in this price range to offer everything from good noise cancellation to a full-fledged app and a unique sound profile. The bubbly design is just an add-on.
