N2 is aimed at middle school graduates/first year high school, and N1 is aimed at high school graduates/first year college students. So the difference doesn't seem like much, but it's pretty big.
To me the N1 feels like twice as much coverage as the N2, with less time to do it in. Double the vocab, double the grammar, longer reading passages, harder answers to parse, and faster listening comp (which is harder if you struggle in the first part and blow through all of your energy.)
The N1 goals are for test takers to be able to read newspapers, function in a daily job, read academic-level papers, etc. (Goals, not necessarily reality.)
To me the N1 feels like twice as much coverage as the N2, with less time to do it in. Double the vocab, double the grammar, longer reading passages, harder answers to parse, and faster listening comp (which is harder if you struggle in the first part and blow through all of your energy.)
The N1 goals are for test takers to be able to read newspapers, function in a daily job, read academic-level papers, etc. (Goals, not necessarily reality.)