Intro
Contents
Physical buttons, an extensive equalizer, collaboration with KEF and a very distinctive design: the Nothing Headphone 1 is a product that… is absolutely different. What Alpha is mainly concerned with is: how does it sound? And is it worth 299 Euros?
It’s a kind of “retro meets sci-fi” vibe we get with the Nothing Headphone 1. It’s round and square, features transparent plastic, and uses metal where necessary…. Your author honestly doesn’t immediately fall for its design. But other Alpha members did. Let’s keep it at “hate it or love it”. Nothing leaves little room to discuss the design. And that’s okay of course!
Comfort and operation
The wearing comfort is downright good. The cushions are firm (but soft enough), seal well and don’t get bloody hot right away.
What we really find a huge plus compared to the Nothing Ear 2 in-ears is the controls. The Headphone 1 simply has physical buttons. On the right unit, a scroll/push button lets you control volume and pause/start (and pick up a call). A toggle switch below it is for skipping and for- / rewinding (if the app supports that). This works incredibly nicely and intuitively. Finally, there is a custom button that activates the voice assistant by default. However, you can put other commands behind it as well.
KEF
The Nothing Headphone 1 was created in collaboration with KEF. KEF is, of course, a big player in hi-fi land. However, mostly of “regular” speakers; not headphones, although they do have headphones.
Now you may think: if you can make a speaker, you can also make headphones. That’s not quite true. Designing headphones requires different disciplines. As a manufacturer, you have to consider other things. Think about comfort: you actaully wear headphones on your head; a speaker is placed somewhere in de room. That also has a direct impact on acoustic performance; so the tuning is also completely different!
Now we’re not saying KEF can’t do this. However, it is something to consider. There are simply specialists in every field and KEF is not a specialist in the field of headphones.
Delivery
The Nothing Headphone 1 comes in a neat, remarkably flat carrying case. We also see a USB-C cable to charge the headphones and a minijack cable to listen with a cable, should you want that. We tested mostly wireless.
Bit of technology
We can’t find much when it comes to engineering or specs. Only that Nothing uses a 40mm driver. This unit has a response of 20 Hz – 40,000 Hz. The headphones weigh 329 grams (which is neat for an active model). With noise cancellation, you can listen for 35 hours. Without up to 80 hours. Charging is very fast: 5 minutes of charging gives 5 hours of listening (without noise cancellation). Showering with the Headhone 1 is not possible, but running through the rain is (IP52).
What’s nice: both AAC, and LDAC and SBC are supported. However, we don’t see AptX.
Nothing App
Installing the headphones is done via the App. This is done in a few simple steps. In fact, it is only necessary to enable bluetooth on the phone, turn on the Nothing Headphone 1 and follow the step-by-step process.
Next, you can set all sorts of things through the Nothing app. Think noise cancellation, equalizers, a name for the headphones, ear detection, low latency, et cetera.
We are particularly pleased with the equalizer. It is very precisely adjustable. Also, you can create multiple profiles that then continue to work even without the app because they are stored in the headphones. Very nice!