Nothing Headphone (1) review: unlike anything else on the market

This has been a long time coming. Nothing has grown from a fledgling phone brand – with its Phone (1) and Phone (2) models – to a wider tech disruptor over the last few years.

It was only a matter of time before it branched into trying its hand at making the best headphones. Its earbuds laid the groundwork, and now it has a flagship audio device to share in the form of Headphone (1).

These over-ears are some of the most eye-catching headphones to launch in recent years, with a visual identity that doesn't resemble anything else you'll find on the market. None of the best noise-cancelling headphones look like this, that's for sure.

Can Nothing stick the landing, though, and become a genuinely undercutting option in the premium audio space? I've been testing the brand's all-new headphones for a couple of weeks to find out.

Nothing Headphone (1) review: Price & Availability

The Nothing Headphone (1) only became official on 1 July, just ahead of its pre-order phase. It'll be up for sale on 4 July from Nothing directly (and some other as-yet-unconfirmed retailers), before its release on 15 July.

Here in the UK, the home of Nothing, it's priced at £299. That's mirrored by $299 in the US, and €299 in Europe. That means it's competitively priced across all regions, given the array of features on offer.

Nothing Headphone (1) review: Design

Well, let's get straight to it, shall we? The Nothing Headphone (1) looks like absolutely nothing else I've ever tested – it's got a design that you can tell apart from any competitor, even at a distance. Everything centres around two bold decisions.

First, it's that trademark Nothing transparency on the outside of each earcup, letting you see through to some internal parts (that look for all the world like an old cassette tape on each of your ears).

Second, it's the distinct square profile of each of those earcups. There are three layers – a rounded cushion, then a squared-off metal frame, followed by a rounded transparent plastic outer shell.

The end result is an utterly distinctive piece of design that has been splitting opinion ever since it started to leak pretty comprehensively ahead of launch. Depending on where you sit, it might be the most interesting and refreshing thing to happen in mainstream headphones for years, or a look that you quite frankly wouldn't want to wear if you could avoid it.

For my part, I think it's arguably both. When I look at them on other people, I think these headphones look absolutely brilliant. They're distinctive in a way that you don't often see – in the same way that Sennheiser's older Momentum headphones were before the big redesign to make them 'safer' (and blander, in my view). Nothing has done its dues in keeping up with the times.

Image 1 of 3

Many of the norms are still here, though, including brushed aluminium and soft cushions. It's only really how they look when you're directly side-on that's noteworthy, and your views will ultimately come down to taste there.

Each earcup is fastened to the headband with a neat swivelling arm, and that headband only has cushioning at the top of its span. I worried about that having an impact on comfort, but that didn't prove to be a problem for me. Its adjustment is handled by smooth extenders on either side.

It's not just those cassette-looking parts that are newfangled, though. Nothing has also sprinkled some impressive innovation into the controls of its headphones. It leaves the left earcup completely free of any ornamentation, but the right is another story.

It houses a USB-C charging port, along with a 3.5mm jack for audio. The power switch is extremely satisfying – tiny but easy to flick, and leaving no room for doubt about its power status. On the back edge of the earcup's metal section are two interesting new buttons, though.

Image 1 of 2

One is a paddle rocker that lets you skip tracks by pushing it forward or back – a neat way of handling things. You can also hold it forward or back to scrub through your song or podcast, which is a really nice touch.

Above it, there's what Nothing calls the Roller. It's a scroll wheel that you can roll forward or back to smoothly increase or decrease your volume, or press it in to complete a variety of actions.

Both of these work really nicely, and I've found them refreshing to interact with compared with the swipe and tap touch controls that so many big companies now use instead.

One final button is on the outside of the right earcup, and it's a handy extra, too. I'll get into the details of customisation later in this review.

Rounding out the bundle is a nice fabric-covered hardshell case. It doesn't do anything particularly special, and it isn't the smallest I've tried, but it'll keep your headphones safe in a bag quite capably.

Nothing Headphone (1) review: Features

The Headphone (1) asking price is a bold play from Nothing, because it's basically aiming to offer the features of the best travel headphones that might cost £100/$100 more (Sony, Bose, there are plenty).

To that end, it comes with the expected active noise-cancelling (ANC) and transparency modes that we've all become used to over recent years. This ANC can be toggled between three levels of intensity, as well as an Adaptive option. I'm a big fan of having these toggles – the more control you get as a user, the better. It can also be turned off, of course.

With ANC on, the Headphone (1) should last for around 35 hours of use, and they do have some fast-charging features. A 5-minute charge should get you around 2.5-hours of use, which could be handy if you realise they're dead just before leaving your home.

That said, Nothing hasn't clarified how these figures would change with ANC turned off – and I've used them with the feature on in my testing, because it's the best way to listen.

We need to return to those buttons, for a moment, though. Nothing's X app lets you choose what some of them do, from a list of preselected options that include toggling a voice assistant on, toggling between active noise-cancelling (ANC) modes, muting your mic and a few more. That's a nice degree of control to allow right out of the box, and it underlines the sense that this is a carefully designed pair of headphones.

One feature it's been crowing about is Channel Hop, which lets the Button (that's the one on the outside) toggle you between audio apps in your Recent queue. I'm not convinced this is something people actually need, but it's a neat feature if you have a Nothing Phone (3) to pair the headphones with.

This being 2025, the Headphone (1) also offers on-device spatialisation and built-in head tracking for those who want to toggle them on for some audio fun. The fact that they're both off by default is instructive, I think, but if you've found them rewarding in the past, you'll be able to indulge here, too.

On the connectivity side, the Headphone (1) has Bluetooth 5.3 and supports two-device multipoint connection, along with Fast Pair support on Android. That means setting up and maintaining connections is a piece of cake.

Nothing Headphone (1) review: Performance & Sound

As always, the real test of a new pair of headphones is their sound, especially when they're the first that a brand has ever produced. Nothing enlisted long-time experts KEF for help tuning its sound, but clarified upon request that this was purely tuning – all of the hardware and design was in-house Nothing work.

That means new 40mm drivers that are custom-built for the Headphone (1), and the extremely short version is that I've found they sound genuinely terrific. These aren't some amateur effort (as if they could have been), and have all the signs of a hefty amount of work to fine-tune them.

The huge bass swell that opens and closes Fantasy by The xx has all the depth and heft that I wanted, while the short track's detail wasn't subsumed by the noise. That's a starred grade, in effect.

Moving to something equally punchy but far grungier in overall sound signature, Muse's early hit Hysteria was the intricate, rising head-banger I remember well from my teenage years, and that central bass riff was unmissable in the low-end throughout.

The more I've listened, only one tiny flaw has surfaced, to my ears – the slightest lack of detail or clarity at times. This (as with much audio work) is somewhat subjective, but there is a small sample of tracks I know well where the mids could get slightly fuzzy compared to the highs.

Still, I won't pretend this actually impinged on my experience, since it's marginal stuff that I had to listen really hard to pick out – and not an absence in many a competitor's offerings either.

Turning to the ANC performance, meanwhile, things are impressive for the price, but perhaps not industry-upending. That is to say, you'll be happy with what you get, but this aspect of the Headphone (1)'s work won't ruffle too many feathers at Bose HQ.

The amount of cancelling is very decent, though (although I haven't been able to test them on a train or plane for fear of an embargo break on some less-than-subtle headphones). That said, when I compared it directly to the Sony WH-1000XM6, which I've done often for this review, the latter came out on top – as they should, since they're more expensive.

One area where the XM6 and Headphone (1) come in very similarly, though, is on battery life. Nothing says the headphones will get 35 hours on a charge, as I mentioned earlier, and I found that to be accurate. The Nothing X app also has a very precise charge counter for you, which is handy to learn more exactly where you stand.

Nothing Headphone (1) review: Verdict

There's nothing like a new entrant into a device category to inject some life into the whole sector. Nothing's arrival with Headphone (1) should be a shot across the bows for a whole heap of other brands. It has nailed the first attempt from many angles, not least arriving with a deeply competitive price.

The big headline-grabber here is the headphones' design, of course, and you'll probably either love it or hate it. I was on the fence, but after a couple of weeks to get used to it, I'm now a fan – and that's made easier by learning how comfortable they are to wear for hours at a time.

Overall, Nothing has done a tremendous job with its first-ever over-ears, nailing the price prospect and producing impressive audio quality. The Headphone (1) is a brilliant new option for those who want a slightly different approach to their headphones, without compromising the core of what matters.

Also consider

I've already mentioned them, but the obvious best-in-class option right now is the WH-1000XM6 from Sony. These are my go-to everyday headphones thanks to superb sound quality but also a whole heap of great features, including the best ANC I've ever tried. They're a good chunk pricier than Nothing's new option, though.

For a premium set of headphones that actually comes in far below Nothing's pricing, meanwhile, you could check out the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, which have a more generic design but some excellent balanced sound.