Nothing Headphone (1) Review: Something Special Leave a comment

As somebody who has been brazenly important of Nothing’s claims that it’s going to revolutionize the know-how world, I occur to really love the model’s merchandise. From the wonderful Ear (a)—among our favorite cheap earbuds—to its affordable smartphones, the model leverages wonderful design and near-top-tier internals to completely dominate the mid-tier of the tech market.

The Headphone (1) noise-canceling over-ears, I’m comfortable to say, proceed this custom. They appear pretty much as good (or higher) than more expensive models from Sony, Apple, and Bose, they usually supply almost all the identical options, for lots of of {dollars} much less. That, plus a really usable set of controls, wonderful passive noise isolation, and an easy-to-use app make these amongst the best headphones you should buy for $300 or much less.

Recent Confronted

The place different Nothing headphones instantly 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 crimson dot on the fitting ear cup so that you’ll by no means put them on backwards.

They appear to be one thing a Stormtrooper would put on of their bunk between patrols, however for some cause 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 in case you bought them within the additionally out there black-and-gunmetal model, you’d barely get a second look.

One factor you gained’t really feel till you place the headphones on is how wonderful the controls are. They arrive with a rolly, clicky wheel on the higher a part of the fitting ear cup and a flicky change beneath that. This lets you regulate quantity and play and pause music, in addition to to commute between tracks. You may even maintain the change proper or left to fast-forward or rewind—very good when skipping adverts throughout podcasts. Bodily controls are so a lot better than contact controls in almost all situations, and these are among the finest and most intuitive controls ever designed.

On the underside of the fitting ear cup you’ll discover the on-off change (crimson 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.

Exterior on the fitting, there’s a button that means that you can use your voice assistant (or name up Nothing’s AI you probably have a Nothing telephone), however I like that this button is hidden the place I’ve by no means by chance bumped it—an annoyance on opponents.

Getting a Head

You’ll discover that the headphones really feel very safe in your head, because of an L-shaped steel 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 snug sufficient for lengthy listening periods. The one draw back? Although the pads are technically detachable, Nothing at present has no plans to promote replacements. Hopefully that can change.