Review Nothing Headphone (1): Extravagant headphones with brutal battery life and excellent ANC

It’s not every day that a new player capable of competing with giants like Sony, Bose, or Apple emerges in the premium over-ear headphone market. The British company Nothing is attempting just such a foray into the “higher weight category” with its first over-ear headphones, the Headphone (1), which bring a fresh look, an unconventional approach to controls, and a price tag of 7 699 Kč. After two weeks of living with them, I bring you a comprehensive look at this novelty, which will certainly not leave tech enthusiasts or audio connoisseurs cold.

Design Rebellion Against Uniform Mainstream

Imagine a conference hall full of people wearing over-ear headphones. How many of them would you be able to distinguish from a distance greater than three meters? Nothing Headphone (1) are among the few that you wouldn’t miss even in a crowd. The transparent parts with exposed internals act as a tribute to the golden age of 80s electronics, thus keeping the concept true to the company’s very beginnings.

Zatímco většina sluchátek používá kruhové nebo oválné tvary náušníků, Nothing přichází s neortodoxním designem kombinujícím obdélníkový tvar s jemně zaoblenými rohy a klasickou oválnou polstrovanou částí, která přiléhá k uším.

V praxi tato geometrická dvojakost funguje překvapivě dobře. Po týdnu nošení jsem se přistihl, že mi tento tvar připadá zcela přirozený a dokonce praktický – lépe se mi uchopovaly, když jsem je potřeboval sundat. Kdo hledá radikální odlišení od mainstreamu, ten bude nadšený. Designová divize Nothing si zaslouží uznání za odvahu vystoupit z řady.

The build quality matches the price – milled aluminum, precise CNC components, and memory foam in the earcups create the impression of a reasonably premium product. Weighing 329 grams, these headphones are right in the middle of the spectrum – lighter than Apple AirPods Max (385 g), but heavier than Sony WH-1000XM6 (250 g). This is not an insignificant difference, and you will notice it after a few hours of wear.

Control Revolution: End of Touch Tyranny!

The most significant innovation Nothing brings to the market is certainly its approach to controls. At a time when almost all headphone manufacturers blindly follow the trend of touch surfaces, Nothing returns to the roots of physical control elements – but in a modernized form.

Headphone (1) offer three main control elements, which Nothing aptly named Roller, Paddle, and Button. The “Roller” is a rotatable, cylindrical control on the back of the right earcup, used for volume adjustment. Simply rotating it up and down adjusts the volume with a pleasant haptic click. Pressing this control plays/pauses music, and a long press activates or deactivates ANC.

Below the Roller is the “Paddle,” a lever that you push forward to skip a track or backward to return to the previous one. By holding the lever in one direction, you can quickly fast-forward or rewind the track.

The third element is a customizable button simply called “Button,” which you can configure in the Nothing X app. By default, it launches the voice assistant, but you can reprogram it to cycle between ANC modes, equalizer settings, or other functions. Owners of Nothing phones can also utilize the exclusive Channel Hop feature, which allows for quick switching between recently used audio applications.

Physical controls are an absolute delight after all those frustrating experiences with touch surfaces that refuse to respond when your fingers are sweaty, or conversely, react to an unintended touch.

Marathon Endurance: Where Others Fall, Nothing Continues

Battery life is a category where Nothing Headphone (1) demonstrate truly impressive performance. With active ANC, they offer 35 hours of listening on a single charge, while without ANC, this value climbs to an incredible 80 hours. I tried to verify these values, and with ANC, I measured just over 38 hours of actual use, which even surpasses the official specifications.

Add to that fast charging – just 5 minutes on the charger will give you 2.4 hours of listening with ANC or 5 hours without it. A full charge takes approximately 2 hours.

Practically, this means that with typical use of 2-3 hours a day, you can use the headphones for almost two work weeks on a single charge. In real life, you’ll also appreciate that the headphones can last through long transcontinental flights or extended weekends without needing to carry a charger, although a USB-C connector, which you’ll likely have with you, is present.

Sound: Collaboration with KEF

Nothing partnered with the renowned British audio brand KEF, which has decades of experience with hi-fi technology and speakers, for the development of Headphone (1). Did it help? Partially yes, but don’t expect miracles.

The headphones are equipped with custom-made 40mm dynamic drivers, covering a frequency range of 20 Hz to 40 kHz. From the first listen, it’s clear that the sound profile is relatively balanced – no frequency stands out significantly. Bass is precise and controlled, mids are clear, and highs are adequately detailed.

When listening to progressive rock, the headphones’ ability to keep complex instrumental passages under control stood out. For electronic music, I appreciated the clean and precise rendition of synthesizers, and jazz tracks sounded sufficiently natural with good instrument separation.

Price: 7 690 Kč

Nevertheless, I can’t shake the feeling that the sound lacks the airiness and spaciousness offered by competing models. Everything sounds somewhat confined, as if the music cannot “breathe” beyond the earcups. In a direct comparison with the Sony WH-1000XM5, I noted that Sony offers a more open sound profile with better dynamics and details.

Fortunately, Nothing offers the option to adjust the sound using an 8-band equalizer in the Nothing X app. This equalizer is surprisingly sophisticated – it allows you to set not only the level of individual bands but also their width (the so-called Q factor). In layman’s terms, you can influence how wide a frequency band your adjustment will cover.

Also worth mentioning is the Bass Enhancer feature, which adds more resonance to the bass without distorting the overall sound image. It works surprisingly well and, for genres like hip-hop or electronic music, offers an interesting alternative to the standard settings.

During testing, I also encountered a peculiar issue. If you wear glasses, be very careful to ensure the headphones are properly and snugly fitted. If you don’t, the bass will resonate through the frames, and it’s genuinely unpleasant. At first, I even thought I had received a defective unit, and when I tried taking off my glasses, the problem disappeared. I found a knack for positioning the headphones to avoid the issue, and it will certainly take you a while too. I’ve never encountered a similar problem with other headphones.

ANC and Transparency Mode: Quality, but Not Revolutionary

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) on Headphone (1) offers three intensity levels – low, medium, and high, plus an adaptive mode that automatically adjusts to the surrounding environment. Technically, it’s a four-microphone system capable of suppressing noise by up to 42 dB.

In practice, noise cancellation is on par with similarly priced competitors, which is a pleasant surprise. The headphones effectively eliminate constant low-frequency noises such as air conditioning hum, traffic noise, or the monotonous din of an office environment. Where the headphones fall slightly short are sudden, high-frequency sounds – loud conversations in a cafe or unexpected noises in the vicinity.

Transparency mode works reliably, but with certain limitations. Ambient sounds are reproduced relatively naturally, but with a slight background hiss and insufficient reproduction of higher frequencies. It’s sufficient for a brief conversation or spatial awareness, but I wouldn’t recommend it for prolonged use.

An unpleasant discovery was that in transparency mode, I heard my own voice very boomy and unnatural, which was distracting during phone calls.

Spatial Audio: A Marketing Ploy with Questionable Benefit

Nothing Headphone (1) boasts support for Spatial Audio and Head Tracking technology. On paper, it sounds great, but in practice, it yields mixed results.

When listening to music, I didn’t notice a significant difference between standard stereo mode and spatial audio. The music sounded practically the same, just with a slightly altered characteristic. The problem is likely the aforementioned lack of spatial sound distribution – the headphones simply cannot overcome their physical limitations.

Head tracking works technically correctly, but again, it doesn’t bring a significant improvement to the listening experience. Moreover, I noticed a strange bug – when activating this feature, the “center” of the sound always initially positioned itself to the right of my head and only adjusted to the correct position after a few seconds.

With movies and videos, the situation is even worse. Spatial audio paradoxically worsened the experience; dialogue was less intelligible, and effects sounded less precisely placed than with standard stereo listening. In this regard, Nothing still has a lot of catching up to do compared to the competition, especially Apple AirPods Max, which offer truly convincing spatial audio with Dolby Atmos.

Nothing X: An App That Surprises with Its Sophistication

The Nothing X app is surprisingly well-designed and intuitive. It offers a clear interface for setting all headphone functions and is available for both Android and iOS.

In addition to the aforementioned 8-band equalizer, the app allows you to set ANC intensity, activate spatial audio, configure wear detection (which automatically pauses playback when you remove the headphones), and customize the Button’s function.

Owners of Nothing phones can utilize other exclusive features – such as Channel Hop for quick switching between audio applications or the Essential Space feature for saving voice notes with automatic AI-powered sorting.

It’s commendable that Nothing doesn’t force the use of the app – the headphones work very well even without it, but with the app, you gain significantly more customization options. Moreover, it’s not cluttered with unnecessary features or ads.

Connectivity: Full Features for All Cases

In terms of connectivity, Headphone (1) offer practically everything you would expect from modern headphones. Bluetooth 5.3 ensures a stable wireless connection with a range of up to 10 meters, and there’s support for AAC, SBC, and high-resolution LDAC codecs for more demanding listeners.

The USB-C port serves not only for charging but also for lossless music playback. A classic 3.5mm audio input for wired connection, which is included in the package, is also present.

Multipoint connectivity works reliably – you can be simultaneously connected to two devices (for example, a phone and a computer) and seamlessly switch between them. During testing, I did not experience any dropouts or issues with connection stability; I primarily used them with an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.

Microphone quality is average to slightly below average. In a quiet environment, the voice is relatively clear and intelligible, but in a noisier environment, the quality drops rapidly. Although Nothing implemented an advanced 4-microphone system with AI noise filtering, which was reportedly trained on over 28 million noise scenarios, the results are rather average.

Ergonomics: Comfortable, but Not for All-Day Wear

Headphone (1) use memory foam earcups covered with artificial leather. The headband is sufficiently padded, and the clamping force is appropriate – not too strong to cause pain, but sufficient for a stable fit on the head.

Přesto jsem po delším nošení (3+ hodiny) začal pociťovat určitý diskomfort, zejména v horní části hlavy a kolem uší. Je to částečně způsobeno vyšší hmotností 329 gramů, ale také tvarem náušníků, které ne zcela ideálně kopírují tvar uší. Uživatelé s brýlemi (mezi něž se řadím) mohou zaznamenat mírný tlak v místech, kde se brýlové nožičky dotýkají hlavy.

Compared to the competition, I would say that Headphone (1) are more comfortable than Apple AirPods Max, but they fall short of Sony WH-1000XM6 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra, which can be worn all day with virtually no discomfort.

The headphones are IP52 certified, which means basic resistance to dust and dripping water. This is not full water resistance, but it should be sufficient for rain or sweat during normal use.

Verdict: Headphones with Personality That Need to Mature

Nothing Headphone (1) are a fascinating first attempt by a young brand to enter the premium over-ear headphone market. They bring a breath of fresh air in the form of a bold design, well-thought-out physical controls, and fantastic battery life. At the same time, however, they encounter limitations in sound quality and ergonomics, aspects in which established brands dominate due to years of experience and development.

At a price of 7 699 Kč, Headphone (1) face a challenging task – to compete with established models like Sony WH-1000XM5 (now at a similar price) or Bose QuietComfort Ultra (at a slightly higher price). While in some respects they surpass these competitors (design, controls, battery life), in others they fall short (sound quality, ergonomics for long-term wear).

So, who are Nothing Headphone (1) ideal for? Primarily for those looking for an original design that stands out from the crowd. Also for users who appreciate intuitive physical controls and long battery life. Owners of Nothing phones will also gain exclusive features that increase the value of the headphones.

However, if you are primarily looking for top-tier sound quality or maximum comfort for all-day wear, it would be better to opt for one of the established models from Sony, Bose, or Sennheiser.

It’s important to realize that this is the first generation of over-ear headphones from Nothing, which is an impressive feat in itself. If they could improve sound quality and ergonomics in the second generation while retaining all existing strengths, they could truly shake up the premium headphone market.

Price: 7 690 Kč

Nothing Headphone (1) are a bold entry into a competitive market. They are not perfect, but they are certainly not boring – and in today’s era of unified products, that might be a more important quality than it seems at first glance. Their personality and character certainly cannot be denied, and if you like to support bold ideas and a fresh approach, these headphones will not disappoint you. Despite their shortcomings, they deserve attention and respect for their courage to forge their own path.

Editor’s Rating: 78 / 100

We thank the Czech representation of Nothing for providing the headphones.