Nothing Headphone (1) Ears-On: An Spectacular First Effort

	Nothing Headphone (1): $299 MSRP Nothing Headphone (1) is a $299 pair of wi-fi ANC headphones that make only a few compromises and ship glorious worth.
	Wonderful worth Stand-out design Good sound after EQ Digital audio over USB Strong noise cancellation Aggressive battery life	Lackluster sound earlier than EQ A bit heavy

At the moment in London, Nothing unveiled Headphone (1), a $299 pair of wi-fi ANC (Energetic Noise Cancellation) headphones, and Cellphone (3), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4-powered flagship ($799) with a 50MP periscope telephoto and Glyph Matrix. You’ll have to attend a bit longer to learn our evaluation of Nothing’s Cellphone (3), however we simply spent a couple of days utilizing Nothing’s Headphone (1), and listed below are our first impressions.

Headphone (1) is supposed to compete with at this time’s finest wi-fi ANC headphones, like Sony’s WH-1000XM6 and Apple’s AirPods Max, whereas showcasing Nothing’s design language and being extra inexpensive. Nothing already gives a lineup of earbuds with the Ear, Ear (a), and a number of other CMF Buds, which ship excellent efficiency whereas undercutting the competitors within the flagship, mid-range, and price range segments.

Nothing Headphone (1) Design And Consolation

As you possibly can see in our footage, Headphone (1) inherits Nothing’s distinctive design language. These headphones actually stand out, and can completely flip heads. We just like the look, however we anticipate this design to be very polarizing. Every ear cup consists of a rounded rectangular aluminum body with a clear pill-shaped plastic pod mounted on the skin, and a black oval reminiscence foam cushion connected on the within.

Like Nothing’s handsets, numerous gray shapes, alongside fake holes and meshes are seen below every clear plastic pod. This design reminds us of cassette tapes. On the rear aspect of the proper aluminum body, you’ll discover a clickable curler (quantity and play/pause) and a rocker (subsequent/earlier observe). An influence swap, standing LED, USB Sort-C port, and three.5mm jack are positioned on the underside fringe of the proper aluminum body.

There’s additionally a round assistant button on the outer aspect of the proper aluminum body, and hidden pairing button on the interior aspect of the proper aluminum body. Every ear cup options slits for 3 microphones a effectively. You’ll discover the textual content “sound by KEF” alongside a white mark below the left plastic pod, and the textual content “NOTHING headphone (1)” alongside a crimson mark below the proper plastic pod, to assist inform the left and proper ear cups aside.

The scarf is made from gray plastic with a black cushion within the center, and options silent telescoping arms which might be linked to the plastic pod on every ear cup through a black S-shaped steel bracket. Construct high quality is great; these headphones are IP52 rated, and really feel extraordinarily sturdy. They’re additionally fairly comfy, although maybe a bit heavy at 329g. Sadly, these headphones don’t fold, making them more durable to journey with.

Nothing Headphone (1) Sound High quality And Noise Cancellation

For Headphone (1), Nothing has partnered with famend British speaker producer KEF. That’s thrilling, nevertheless it looks as if a advertising train greater than something. KEF’s fame is actually stellar, however Nothing’s earbuds already sound unbelievable, so we query the necessity for this relationship. Whereas designing headphones isn’t the identical as making earbuds, we’re positive that Nothing has the chops to get the job accomplished with out KEF. Hopefully the co-marketing helps each firms.

Out of the field, Headphone (1), which packs 40mm drivers, sounds relatively lackluster in comparison with Nothing’s earbuds. That’s to not say that Nothing’s earbuds don’t profit from a bit EQ, however these headphones don’t sound in any respect like what we’d anticipate from KEF (or from Nothing), they usually completely want EQ. Beneath is the EQ curve we settled on, which sounds closest to our beloved BeyerDynamic DT990 Professional and DT770 Professional.

Fortunately, after tweaking the EQ within the Nothing X app, Headphone (1) sounds fairly good. These headphones assist LDAC, AAC, and SBC codecs (Bluetooth 5.3) for wi-fi audio, plus digital audio (as much as 96KHz / 24-bit) over USB Sort-C, and analog audio through an ordinary 3.5mm jack. Calls sounded loud and clear for each events, and these headphones did a terrific job at cancelling background noise throughout calls.

ANC is stable as effectively, although not as spectacular as what Sony’s WH-1000XM6 or Bose’s QuietComfort Extremely have to supply. We haven’t taken Headphone (1) on public transit or on a flight but (which is the final word ANC check), however we’ll have the chance to do this subsequent week, and we’ll replace this story accordingly. Round the home, these headphones work effectively at cancelling the sound of home equipment, followers, and operating water.

Nothing Headphone (1) Options and Battery Life

As you’d anticipate from a contemporary pair of wi-fi ANC headphones, Headphone (1) helps options like in-device EQ, transparency mode, low-lag mode, over-ear detection, twin connection, and spatial audio (with head monitoring). These settings could be modified within the Nothing X app, which could be downloaded from Apple’s App Retailer and Google’s Play Retailer, and is constructed into the Bluetooth menu on Nothing telephones.

Nothing’s Cellphone (3) will allow extra options when paired with Headphone (1), together with Channel Hop, which cycles via current audio apps or favorites, plus entry to Important Area, Nothing’s AI-powered hub. Battery life for Headphone (1) is rated at 35 hours (with ANC), which is aggressive. We haven’t been in a position to affirm Nothing’s declare but, since we’re nonetheless on our first cost of the 1040mAh cell, however this appears correct to date.

Nothing Headphone (1): Our Takeaway

With Headphone (1), Nothing is making wi-fi ANC headphones that ship a stand-out (if polarizing) design, good sound (after EQ), stable noise cancellation, and aggressive battery life for simply $299. In different phrases, Nothing goes head-to-head with at this time’s finest wi-fi ANC headphones, like Sony’s WH-1000XM6 and Apple’s AirPods Max, and giving them a run for the cash with out making any critical compromises.

Total, we’re fairly impressed with Nothing’s Headphone (1). Clearly, we have to spend extra time utilizing these headphones to totally assess consolation, noise cancellation (particularly in flight), and battery life, so keep tuned for updates to this story within the coming weeks. Headphone (1) is out there in black or white for $299 / €299 / £299 from nothing.tech and choose companions, with pre-orders beginning July 4, and open gross sales starting July 15.