Nothing Headphone (1) Assessment: One thing Particular

As somebody who has been brazenly essential of Nothing’s claims that it’ll revolutionize the expertise world, I occur to really love the model’s merchandise. From the superb Ear (a)—amongst our favourite low-cost earbuds—to its inexpensive smartphones, the model leverages glorious design and near-top-tier internals to utterly dominate the mid-tier of the tech market.

The Headphone (1) noise-canceling over-ears, I’m pleased to say, proceed this custom. They give the impression of being pretty much as good (or higher) than dearer fashions from Sony, Apple, and Bose, they usually supply practically all the identical options, for tons of of {dollars} much less. That, plus a really usable set of controls, glorious passive noise isolation, and an easy-to-use app make these among the many greatest headphones you should purchase for $300 or much less.

Contemporary Confronted

The place different Nothing headphones straight steal their design cues from posher Apple fashions, the brand new Headphone (1) is clearly its personal factor. The rounded rectangles include clear outer ear cups that showcase a bass chamber contained in the headphones, with a pink dot on the appropriate ear cup so that you’ll by no means put them on backwards.

They seem like one thing a Stormtrooper would put on of their bunk between patrols, however for some motive they don’t make me really feel like a complete weirdo in public. The white-and-silver colorway of my evaluation unit is flashy, however I think about should you received them within the additionally accessible black-and-gunmetal model, you’d barely get a second look.

One factor you received’t really feel till you place the headphones on is how glorious the controls are. They arrive with a rolly, clicky wheel on the higher a part of the appropriate ear cup and a flicky change under that. This lets you regulate quantity and play and pause music, in addition to to shuttle between tracks. You’ll be able to even maintain the change proper or left to fast-forward or rewind—very good when skipping adverts throughout podcasts. Bodily controls are so significantly better than contact controls in practically all situations, and these are a few of the greatest and most intuitive controls ever designed.

On the underside of the appropriate ear cup you’ll discover the on-off change (pink when off, additionally very useful), a 3.5-mm cable port, and the USB-C port for charging. These headphones supply a Sony-, Bose-, and Apple-beating 35 hours of battery life, which is nice when on lengthy journeys.

Outdoors on the appropriate, there’s a button that permits you to use your voice assistant (or name up Nothing’s AI when you have a Nothing telephone), however I like that this button is hidden the place I’ve by no means unintentionally bumped it—an annoyance on rivals.

Getting a Head

{Photograph}: Parker Corridor

You’ll discover that the headphones really feel very safe in your head, due to an L-shaped metallic bar that attaches the ear cups to the headscarf from the very exterior. This enables for extra even strain distribution from the artificial leather-based and reminiscence foam of the earpads. They’re agency, however comfy sufficient for lengthy listening classes. The one draw back? Although the pads are technically detachable, Nothing presently has no plans to promote replacements. Hopefully that may change.