"Next Level" was met with mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Hakyung Kate Lee of ABC News recognized the song's "astonishing popularity", further explaining that the song was "powered by a unique concept of Aespa's identity and story". Hugh McIntyre of Forbes noted the tune for bringing Aespa to the upper half of the ranking chart for the first time, further adding that "it helps them join a very exclusive club of some of the most successful girl groups from South Korea". In an individual song review, writer Yeom Dong-gyo of IZM noted the track for Karina and Giselle's "sophisticated rap", further praising Winter's high-pitched part that "energizes the bridge, smoothly weaving the changing composition of the song" and rated it three stars out of five. Third of Idology commented on the "ridiculous composition" of the song, but called it as "quite attractive". Moreover, Third described composition of the song as an intention to function as a kind of an original soundtrack rather than an independent song.
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