Nothing Headphone (1): First impression of over-ear headphones with ANC

With the Headphone (1), Nothing is entering a new product category after smartphones, smartwatches and in-ears. The over-ear headphones are presented together with the Nothing Phone (3) and are intended to compete with Bose and Sony.

The design of the 299 euro headphones is, according to the feedback on our test device, not everyone's cup of tea. The rectangular basic shape made of aluminum with the attached, transparent part is visually striking. However, the headphones (1) make a very high-quality, stable impression. The infinitely variable adjustment mechanism does not loosen, even when worn for long periods, and the headphones stay in good shape. Even on the smallest setting, however, it is still quite large, so people with small heads will have problems finding a comfortable position. The soft ear pads close comfortably and don't pinch even when wearing glasses. The Nothing Headphone (1) cannot be folded, but can only be laid flat by turning the ear pieces. At 329 grams, the weight is still within reason, but the Headphone (1) is not a featherweight headphone.

Sound and ANC

Nothing has teamed up with the British brand KEF for the sound. The headphones contain two 40 millimeter drivers and six microphones, which are used both for making calls and for active noise cancellation (ANC). The headphones, which are set up and managed via the Nothing-X app, support spatial audio, multipoint connections, wearer detection, Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair. Not all features are active by default; Multipoint, for example, must first be activated in the app so that the headphones can connect to two devices simultaneously.

Nothing has tuned the headphones (1) to be rather warm in the basic setting, the bass is not overly emphasized. The app allows you to adjust the sound to suit your own listening habits, either in the four pre-set modes Balance, More Bass, More Treble or Voice, or manually using the equalizer with eight controls for different frequency ranges. There is also a Bass Boost, which boosts the low frequencies even more. The manual equalizer is only available if the headphones are used without spatial audio. With Spatial Audio activated, the headphones (1) react sensitively to head movements, but the sound is somewhat muffled.

Wind gets through

Even at the highest level, the ANC does not completely block out external noise, but reduces it to a low background noise. This sounds more natural than complete silence, but others muffle a little more than the Nothing headphones. Noticeable: In strong winds, the Bluetooth headphones often let wind noise through to the ear despite active ANC. The transparency mode works reliably, so the headphones (1) can also remain on your head in the home office and you can hear the doorbell or phone without any problems. Nothing promises up to 35 hours of battery life with ANC, and 80 hours without.

The controls, which are all located on the right-hand side of the headphones, are well designed. In addition to the slide switch for switching on and off and a barely visible button on the inside that puts the headphones into pairing mode, there are three more: a roller, a rocker and a button. The roller adjusts the volume and switches between ANC and transparency mode. The rocker is used to rewind within and skip between songs. The button calls the smartphone's voice assistant to your ear or triggers other functions, which can be set via the app.

The scope of delivery includes a stylish case with a felt cover and zipper, in which the headphones can be transported together with the two supplied cables – jack and USB. The case is 4.5 centimeters thick and measures 21.5 x 21.5 centimeters.

At 299 euros, the Headphone (1) from Nothing is roughly on a par with the competition, which mainly comes from Bose and Sony. Their top models are somewhat more expensive, while cheaper models or predecessors are available for less money. In contrast to Nothing, the competition tends to opt for understatement.

(sht)