Nothing Headphone (1) review

It’s strange to think that Nothing has only been around for about five years. In that short time, the company has carved out a modest but undeniably productive niche, courtesy of its aggressively priced smartphones and audio products, many of which employ distinctive designs and quirky marketing campaigns (look, tentacles on a smartphone!) to grab a slice of our attention.

Nothing has focused mainly on wireless earbuds on the audio side, producing a large roster of futuristic-looking buds which often promise extensive feature sets at lowball prices. The sonic results haven’t necessarily bowled us over, but it’s been refreshing to see a company trying to bring something different to the table.

These new over-ear headphones, though, are a whole different ball game. In putting out a pair of over-ears that straddle the line between mid-range and premium, Nothing is inviting competition from some of the biggest players in the wireless game, including the likes of Sony, Bose and Sennheiser.

Nothing is clearly attempting to disrupt the established order, but has it bitten off more than it can chew with the Headphone (1)?

Price

Whereas the majority of the big over-ear players in the ‘premium’ tranche tend to hover around the £300-400 mark, the Headphone (1) undercut the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM6 (£399 / $450 / AU$699) and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 (£399 / $449 / AU$699) with their more aggressive £299 / $299 / AU$549 price tag.

In the UK, we’ve seen Nothing’s debut over-ears fall to £249 in recent months and roughly $279 at some US retailers, making that aggressive price tag even more attractive.

This doesn’t give them a free ride, however. Competition still abounds at this price thanks to older, more established cans, including the still-outstanding Sony WH-1000XM5 (£279 / $329 / AU$399) and the five-star Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless (£199 / $300 / AU$579).

If you’re after something even cheaper, the Award-winning Sony WH-CH720N, which we originally tested at £99 / $129, can usually be picked up for around £70 in the UK and $179 in the US.

Build & comfort

We predict that, from a stylistic perspective, the Headphone (1) will be nothing if not divisive. Nothing likes to go its own way on the aesthetics front, and now that there's a new product territory to be explored, there was little chance of the young brand playing things by the book.

Instead, the Headphone (1) look like little else occupying the current wireless headphone roster. It’s likely that your eye will be drawn first to the cassette tape-like design of the earcups, which combine a rectangular body with rounded outer cups. Nothing once again employs its signature transparent design whereby some of the cans’ internal workings are showing, like a thin-skinned cadaver hinting at the skeleton beneath.

Earcups aside, the over-ears are equipped with an adjustable headband which slides smoothly and easily in our hands, while those earcups themselves will rotate from side to side but sadly won’t fold away fully in the manner of the collapsible Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) or Sony WH-1000XM6, making them less suitable for portability and travel.

While the headphones exhibit high perceived value, in terms of actual comfort and wearability, it’s a mixed experience. For us, the clamping force of the Headphone (1) is okay, but the weight distribution of the overall design feels a bit off.

The combination of a bottom-heavy design and the earcups’ slightly soft material means that walking around can often lead to the headphones feeling as though they’re coming loose and trying to escape from embracing our ears with sufficient tightness. Note, also, that some members of our team also experienced on-ear over-heating during reasonably short periods of wear.

What about general usability? Nothing has made a big deal of its touch control integration, opting for a combination of three main control types – a roller, a paddle and a customisable button – for what it claims makes for a more intuitive user experience. It’s certainly different, but we predict that, as we found, it will take a bit of time to get used to the layout.

That said, the toggles themselves aren’t without their charms. The volume roller offers a pleasingly tactile way of getting your music as loud as you like it, while that vertical ‘paddle’ for switching songs by moving back and forth has enough resistance to feel satisfying each time.

Features

Put it in an ornate frame and hang it in the Louvre, because this is a battery life worth showing off. The Headphone (1) will give you a whopping 80 hours of playtime with ANC switched off and around 35 hours with noise cancelling turned on.

Additionally, as our tests demonstrate, a quick five-minute charge will grant around five hours of non-ANC playtime if you're in a hurry.

Those are excellent figures. For comparison, the Sony WH-1000XM6, B&W Px7 S3 and Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) all eke out around 30 hours when ANC is on. Conversely, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless lead the field here, with a claimed 60 hours with ANC switched on.

There are plenty of ways to listen, too. The Headphones (1) feature the hi-res LDAC Bluetooth codec, while you can enjoy hi-res audio up to 24-bit/96kHz when using the wired USB-C connection. If you fancy something more traditional, a 3.5mm connection is also provided, but bear in mind that the headphones will still need to be switched on for wired listening.

Spatial audio with head-tracking is also on board, designed to transform stereo audio into a more immersive experience by expanding the overall soundstage. While this isn’t the finest rendition of spatial audio we’ve heard, we can hear what our test pair are attempting to do, as switching on spatial mode does pull instruments further apart from one another while lifting the overall soundscape a little further away from our head.

When put up against Nothing’s effort, though, we feel that Bose’s own ‘Immersive Audio’ spatial mode is something of a step up.

ANC & call quality

Nothing’s debut over-ears offer a standard ANC option alongside a pass-through transparency mode, with the former managing to soften unwanted sonic intrusions as opposed to fully blocking them out.

Be it the swoosh of cars, the chatter of office conversation or the clacking of computer keyboards, we find that the Headphone (1)’s noise cancelling offers a reasonable reduction of unwanted sounds as opposed to a full-fat elimination.

As you might expect, Bose and Sony’s efforts with the more premium QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) and WH-1000XM6 respectively offer more complete experiences by cancelling out more noise across the frequencies, be they deep rumbles of traffic or the whirring of an office fan.

How about phone calls? The Headphone (1) make use of Nothing’s 'Clear Voice Technology', though what we generally perceive during our tests is a slightly muffled, robotic handling of human speech.

That said, background noises are well suppressed during calls, so you’ll still be able to conduct a reasonably coherent conversation if you’re standing next to, say, a moderately busy roadside or sitting in a busy office.

Sound

Have a closer look at the Headphone (1) and you’ll notice the words “Sound by KEF” emblazoned on the left earcup. Nothing’s first-ever over-ears boast a custom 40mm dynamic driver tuned in partnership with audio brand KEF, with the headphones’ drivers, chambers and software all audited in KEF’s labs in pursuit of “immersive audio that feels natural, detailed and true to life”.

We kick off with Ludwig Goransson’s ever-building epic Posterity from the soundtrack of the brain-melting movie Tenet, with the headphones capably organising the track’s complex assemblage of layers and textures as an ever-growing army of instruments builds and blossoms.

We are rewarded with ample detail, so that intermittent piano passages and those strange synth sounds are communicated in a way that feels rich and weighty. The Nothings paint across a satisfyingly clear canvas, giving Posterity a reasonably cinematic feel which manages to avoid the trap of sounding cluttered or ill-defined.

These are positive foundations on which to build any sonic church, but what we find frustrating about the Headphone (1) is that they rarely seem to be capable of thrilling us. Yes, we discern those key elements of instrumental detail, cohesion and clarity, yet the over-ears fail to convey the ever-building drama of Goransson’s composition.

These are headphones which seem sonically limited, and we’re desperate for them to exhibit a wider spectrum of talents. Sadly, the Headphone (1)’s lack of drama comes partly from their restrained dynamic profile combined with their lack of any real rhythmic flair.

Björk’s fulsome Army Of Me should be bursting at the seams with forceful intent, yet the track’s aggressive propulsiveness is all but lost by the cans’ hesitant, almost sluggish approach. Even at their significantly lower price tag, the much cheaper Sony WH-CH720N seem to latch onto the track’s core feeling with more insight than the Headphone (1), and though they’re less detailed and not as crisp sounding as the Nothings, the Sony’s greater sense of musical understanding makes for a more entertaining listen.

While they might be rhythmically limited, the Headphone (1) can actually get ahead of themselves in other areas. We do occasionally hear a hint of peakiness and edge in the treble, something you’ll hear if you seek out Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees. We don’t hear it on all tracks or at all frequencies, but it’s enough to draw the ear on more than one occasion.

It’s not all bad news, though, and while Army Of Me might not propel itself forward with the vigour that we’d hope for, these are headphones which have the muscle and punch to make those huge industrial snare whacks land with a satisfying smack. That punchy feel is aided by a decent helping of hearty bass which, for the most part, rides a satisfying line between power and tautness.

Does all of this hold true when listening via USB-C? In general, yes, as the headphones retain their general character no matter whether you’re listening wirelessly using Tidal or Qobuz or with a wired connection. That said, plugging them in via USB-C will proffer greater levels of detail and clarity, plus a touch more control in the bass – so if you want to squeeze out a little extra performance, wired is the way to go.

Verdict

The Nothing Headphone (1) leave us feeling frustrated. We can sense that there are the foundations of an interesting product in here, as shown by the headphones’ distinctive design, attractive price point and solid sonic foundation.

That sonic foundation, however, needs to be built upon with more adept dynamic handling and better rhythmic drive if the Headphone (1) are to be worthy of a hearty recommendation.

The essentials are there, but we want a pair of headphones that make us feel truly involved in the music we’re playing. Do that, and the established class leaders might have to sit up and take notice.

Review published: 23rd January 2026

SCORES

• Sound 3
• Build 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony WH-1000XM5

Also consider the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

Read our Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless

Best over-ear headphones: wired and wireless pairs tested by our in-house experts