Nothing Ear (2) black arrives ahead of next week's major launch

Nothing has gone early with one product announcement, but it's not the Nothing Phone (2) - that's still expected to launch on Tuesday 11 July 2023.

Instead, it has unveiled a black version of its Nothing Ear (2) true wireless earbuds.

It's come as a bit of a surprise, to be honest, as they were expected to be announced shortly before the phone. But, it's not an unwelcome one.

While they haven't quite made it onto our best true wireless earbuds list quite yet, the Nothing Ear (2) in-ears got five-stars when we tested the white/transparent variant earlier this year.

The Ear (2) black have the exact same sound signature and Hi-Res Audio support, but are naturally in a different colour. Each bud comes with an 11.6mm custom driver in a dual-chamber design.

Users get to set a personal sound profile on the first setup, which uses a sequence of sounds played through the buds via the dedicated Nothing X app. It then adjusts the profile depending on the different frequencies played and the user's individual hearing.

Clear voice technology is also on board, to ensure calls are clear for recipients. The microphones have also been placed specifically to avoid wind noise. The on-board active noise cancellation also ensures music playback is unobstructed by ambient sounds.

Bluetooth id better in these second-generation buds, too, with dual connection technology included to more easily switch between devices.

As with the white in-ears, the Nothing Ear (2) black alternative will be widely available  from 21 July 2023, although the official Nothing site has a "limited drop" now.

The company has also announced that its Nothing X app for Android and iOS has received a new advanced equaliser function. This gives users greater control over the sound through a graphical interface. An 8-band equaliser can be customised to suit both the type of music and user preference.

It is available to both Nothing Ear (2) and Nothing Ear (stick) users.

The latter get a new noise reduction feature through the app from today, too.