Review: Nothing Headphone (1)

As someone who has been openly critical of Nothing’s claims that it will revolutionize the technology world, I happen to actually love the brand’s products. From the excellent Ear (a)—among our favorite cheap earbuds—to its affordable smartphones, the brand leverages excellent design and near-top-tier internals to absolutely dominate the mid-tier of the tech market.

The Headphone (1) noise-canceling over-ears, I am happy to say, continue this tradition. They look as good (or better) than more expensive models from Sony, Apple, and Bose, and they offer nearly all the same features, for hundreds of dollars less. That, plus a very usable set of controls, excellent passive noise isolation, and an easy-to-use app make these among the best headphones you can buy for $300 or less.

Fresh Faced

Photograph: Parker Hall

Where other Nothing headphones directly steal their design cues from posher Apple models, the new Headphone (1) is clearly its own thing. The rounded rectangles come with clear outer ear cups that showcase a bass chamber inside the headphones, with a red dot on the right ear cup so you’ll never put them on backwards.

They look like something a Stormtrooper would wear in their bunk between patrols, but for some reason they don’t make me feel like a total weirdo in public. The white-and-silver colorway of my review unit is flashy, but I imagine if you got them in the also available black-and-gunmetal version, you’d barely get a second glance.

One thing you won’t feel until you put the headphones on is how excellent the controls are. They come with a rolly, clicky wheel on the upper part of the right ear cup and a flicky switch below that. This allows you to adjust volume and play and pause music, as well as to go back and forth between tracks. You can even hold the switch right or left to fast-forward or rewind—very nice when skipping ads during podcasts. Physical controls are so much better than touch controls in nearly all instances, and these are some of the best and most intuitive controls ever designed.

On the bottom of the right ear cup you’ll find the on-off switch (red when off, also very helpful), a 3.5-mm cable port, and the USB-C port for charging. These headphones offer a Sony-, Bose-, and Apple-beating 35 hours of battery life, which is great when on long trips.

Outside on the right, there is a button that allows you to use your voice assistant (or call up Nothing’s AI if you have a Nothing phone), but I like that this button is hidden where I’ve never accidentally bumped it—an annoyance on competitors.

Getting a Head

Photograph: Parker Hall

You’ll notice that the headphones feel very secure on your head, thanks to an L-shaped metal bar that attaches the ear cups to the headband from the very outside. This allows for more even pressure distribution from the synthetic leather and memory foam of the earpads. They’re firm, but comfortable enough for long listening sessions. The only downside? Though the pads are technically removable, Nothing currently has no plans to sell replacements. Hopefully that will change.

The headband has a single pad at the top and plastic band guards on the sides to save weight. It manages to remain cozy on the top of my head when other bands (like the latest Sony model) can start to dig a bit into the peanut dip in the top of my noggin.

As far as bells and whistles, you get all the same things you’d expect from a $300 pair of noise-canceling headphones: high-resolution audio, multi-point pairing, and even Nothing’s own version of object-based surround sound (great for movies). Inside the brand’s app, you can adjust noise-canceling settings and turn on a pass-through mode that pipes in the outside world. It’s not as “did I just take my headphones off?” as the latest from Sony or Bose, but it’s more than good enough to accomplish real-world tasks like listening for an announcement at the airport.

Noise canceling is a step above more affordable models, but a step below what you’ll get for hundreds more from Apple, Sony, and Bose. The Nothing Headphone (1) lacks the speed with high-end sounds that you’ll get with more premium models, but they’re 90 percent as good for much cheaper, and I prefer the passive noise isolation and lightness of the headphones to models like the Apple Airpods Max (9/10, WIRED Recommends), which feel a bit leaky and clunky by comparison (albeit with better sound and noise cancellation overall).

Photograph: Parker Hall

Sure, more expensive headphones sound a bit clearer (for instance, the WH-1000XM6, with brand-new Sony-designed drivers, have a bit more air up high and a bit more of a musical soundstage), but these are no slouch, thanks to an impressively fruitful collaboration with British audio icons KEF. KEF has made some of the finest speakers on the market for many years, and it is especially known for its low-end damping technology. The design input is clear here, with the 40-mm dynamic drivers delivering fun and exciting bass without sounding like you’re listening to everything through a pimply teenager’s exhaust pipe.

I liked listening to things with prominent low-mids, like The Metal Bubble Trio’s “Sour Cherry, Dandelion,” which comes across as a sort of jazzy daydream as I mow my lawn. There is a bit of clutter in the very midrange, which can lead these to lean a bit more compressed than the super-wide soundstages you’ll get on more expensive options, but it’s more of a central focus than a total lack of stereo space. I still liked listening to super wide and airy mixes like the latest remaster of “Such Great Heights,” which feels especially prickly these days.

There just really isn’t much to dislike about the Nothing Headphone (1) except the lack of replaceable earpads and the name—the brand has released multiple pairs of headphones before. If you want something good-looking with good performance, and you don’t want to spend Bose, Sony, or Apple money, these are probably the best near-premium headphones you can buy.