Nothing could be planning high-end headphones with KEF sound to rival Apple AirPods Max

It's going to be an interesting year for Nothing. The brand – which is best known for it's cheap phones and bargain earbuds – is making a push for the premium market.

At last night's The Android Show, brand CEO, Carl Pei, gave the biggest teaser yet about the upcoming Nothing Phone (3). He said it's going to be the brand's first true flagship, and will run around the £800 mark here in the UK.

It's not just the Android phone market where the brand is pushing for a more luxurious look, either. The brand has just announced a partnership with British hi-fi brand, KEF.

That's an exciting collaboration. In a press release shared to mark the occasion, Nothing said, "This strategic collaboration brings together KEF’s six decades of high-fidelity audio expertise with Nothing’s design-led approach to technology. The partnership will support Nothing’s expansion into new audio categories – with several acoustically co-developed products already in the works and launching later this year."

The Android Show: I/O Edition | Device Showcase | Nothing - YouTube

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The obvious first port of call there is a pair of headphones. Nothing has never ventured into the over-ear realm, and it's also a segment which KEF has a lot of experience in.

I actually think something a little more leftfield will be coming, though. I could see the pair working on a Bluetooth speaker together, to combine Nothing aesthetics with KEF audio quality.

That would also offer a product in a segment which neither brand has competing products in. KEF's collection of speakers are of the bookshelf variety, leaving the door open for something smaller, more portable and more consumer-friendly to exist.

The collaboration would make perfect sense there, too – KEF could launch a more affordable product in that line without sullying its premium appeal, and Nothing could go to war in a crowded segment with the weight of a hi-fi giant behind it. With products promised this year, we're not expecting to wait too long before we see something from the two brands.