I've had the ear 2 for a couple of years now. Sound quality is good to great, but the anc can't handle wind or loud, high inconsistent noises (like a weed Wacker). I love these buds, they'd be perfect if could have a conversation while cycling, or use noise cancelling while wacking.

I have the (a) version and I like them so much that when I lost the case I bought them again. They sound good enough and the ANC is decent. Good enough battery capacity for me.

In my opinion, I would rather go with some cheap IEMs + a Bluetooth DAC, because then you get both the convenience (only needing to carry the light clip-on wireless bit) and the audio quality. Also, it makes them much harder to lose!

IEMs will also last a lot longer than any wireless earbuds would, since they don't have internal batteries that will eventually die. They're usually a bit more comfortable, and you get playback controls too. When I'm using my laptop, where I don't need to move around much and just sitting on my desk, I use the IEMs wired and leave the wireless DAC charging!

I'm personally using the Moondrop Chu 2 + the Fiio BTR11, but for the latter, they have the annoying issue common with cheaper wireless devices where it yells "low battery" over and over again when it is below 10% battery. I don't know if this is an issue with all Fiio wireless DACs or just the BTR11. The BTR15 is another option by Fiio, but there are lots of other options too.

As for IEMs, you have the usual suggestions like the Truthear Hexa or Pure, the various Moondrop ones, the Kiwi Ears Cadenza, the Crinacle "Zero" collaborations, etc. it'll just depend on where you are and what's available to you (+ your budget of course)

I have the Nothing CMF Headphones and just got the Nothing Ear (3a) about 2 weeks ago.

I love the CMF Headphones. I have now gotten one of my coworkers to buy one of his own and we both went on a company trip together with them. The ANC is fantastic and was great for the airport and airplane for travel.

The 3a are great so far. I have an iPhone, so I have had some issues with it disconnecting and not wanting to reconnect. But overall I am enjoying them and they are good earbuds and produce good sounds.

I love the ability to connect to multiple devices at once on both headphones and quickly switching between devices. Like when I was in the airport, I’d be listening to my iPhone while walking and then sit and switch between my Macbook and Steam Deck using the Nothing app on my iPhone.

I used to have Beats Studio Buds+ and AirPods, but I was looking for something else and have been satisfied with both of these so far.

Downsides…the 3a earbuds don’t seem to have as good of a solid connection than other earbuds. I just feel like it doesn’t have a good enough fit in my ears than other earbuds. I’m also not a fan of the way they label the noise canceling as it was confusing and that made me realize the noise canceling is not that different when it comes to low or high. Adaptive does seem to work in adjusting, but not as good as the CMF headphones, but that’s for obvious reasons with a better cover over the ears.

The charging case is also sometimes difficult to open because it doesn’t have a great indent for your fingers and you need to use your fingernails. It’s not always, just sometimes and can be a bit frustrating. There’s also the downside of no wireless charging for some, but I’m okay without it. Updating is a bit weird because it needs to be in a specific way to begin and continue updating and I have to read the instructions each time to let them update. I think it was like putting them in the case and leaving it open, but it was just an odd way to have the update go and it wasn’t fully instructive the first time I did it so I kept trying different things until finally understanding what they meant to begin updating.

But overall, I’m happy with both of them and the Nothing app for iPhone. I can’t speak for Android, but my coworker has Android and seemed to like his experience overall and not have issues with his CMF Headphones.