MediaDevil CB-01 are the world's first certified graphene headphones

MediaDevil CB-01 are the world's first certified graphene headphones
(Image credit: MediaDevil)

Graphene was first discovered at the University of Manchester in 2004 and is a Nobel prize-winning, naturally occurring super material. No big deal.

It's also just one atom thick (so almost transparent) and the strongest material ever discovered – 100 times stronger than diamond and 200 times stronger than steel, yet still flexible and even stretchable.

Nanene, then, is a few-layer version of graphene, produced in the UK using a patented manufacturing process. It is the only commercially produced graphene in the world that has been verified by the Graphene Council (yes, there is one) and crucially, it is not to be confused with graphite – a cheaper material with different properties.

Enter MediaDevil's CB-01 headphones, comprising a graphene-enhanced audio diaphragm which promises to improve both the high and low-end of the audio frequency wave. 

Callum Bush, co-founder of the newly-formed British firm, is certainly confident, saying, "Nanene's properties enabled us to produce an earphone diaphragm that traditional materials would not allow."

We can't vouch for the sonic capabilities just yet, but visually the new MediaDevil CB-01 in-ears are devilishly handsome, with the devil himself depicted in aluminium at the end of the bud. 

The outer housing is made from reclaimed luxury furniture wood, and the packaging is plastic-free. You'll get an iOS and Android compatible remote and microphone, a reinforced 36-strand copper cable with a reinforced 135-degree angle connector jack, and the earpieces connect magnetically to allow them to be worn comfortably while not in use. 

Other neat features: the control hub integrated into the cable has a microphone, a click-command button and volume controls, which can also be used to take photos when your camera app is open. The click-command button answers and ends phone calls, and controls music and video playback (double press to skip forward, triple for back).

The MediaDevil CB-01 headphones are available on Amazon for a really-quite-affordable £50. Look out for our review coming soon.

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Becky has been a full-time staff writer at What Hi-Fi? since March 2019. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, she freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 20-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance is of course tethered to a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo, This is Cabaret and The Stage. When not writing, she dances, spins in the air, drinks coffee, watches football or surfs in Cornwall with her other half – a football writer whose talent knows no bounds.