I wouldn’t name myself an audiophile, however I’ve all the time been keen about private audio. That’s why, each time I want inspiration in life, I am going again to the great outdated days of the Walkman and iPod to take heed to music. Like all classics, they endure due to their timelessness, simplicity, clear design, and distinctive character. Headphone (1), Nothing’s first-ever pair of over-ear headphones, designed in collaboration with British audio firm KEF, give me the identical feeling. These headphones look basic, discreet, and polished like a Swiss-made high-end watch, with out utterly forgoing fashionable parts.
After I tried the Headphone (1) on the London launch final week, my first impressions have been optimistic. However truthfully, with a private audio product, it takes time to understand the finer particulars, or to uncover the issues and quirks that may floor with on a regular basis use. These headphones have so many nice parts that they simply overshadow the few shortcomings I discovered. I spent per week with the Nothing Headphone (1), and right here is my overview.
What: Nothing Headphone (1) |Value: Rs 21,999
How I exploit Headphone (1)
I put them on day by day once I begin my morning at 5:30 a.m. I put on them throughout my morning stroll and use them often whereas sitting at my desk. When I’m travelling—which I do usually—you will see that my headphones on for the complete flight. I additionally use them continuously for calls. I favor over-ear headphones to TWS earbuds. It’s no shock I get pleasure from working from cafés, my headphones journey with me identical to my laptop computer and iPhone. They’re my third most used machine in a day.
The over-ear cans include an adjustable headband. (Picture credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Categorical)
Classic vibe
With headphones basically, I’ve noticed that they have a tendency to both turn out to be overly difficult or stay overly easy, usually simply to seize consideration. Nonetheless, the Headphone (1) steers away from that development, and that’s a superb factor in my view. Nothing isn’t essentially attempting to start out one other development with the Headphone (1). Slightly, the corporate appears to exist in a bubble of its personal, a superb bubble, the place it creates merchandise that resonate with a sure form of person.
One of many issues that originally attracted me to the Headphone (1) is the robust sense of worth present in its vintage-inspired design. It appeals to these with a specific style, one thing we don’t usually see in right now’s tech merchandise.
As an alternative of the standard spherical or oval form that many premium headphones have, Nothing opted for a sq. design—let’s name it a squircle, for the reason that corners are rounded off. Whereas not an actual match, one pair of headphones that comes near the design of the Headphone (1) is the Bowers & Wilkins P5.
Whereas the earpads are detachable, they aren’t replacable. (Picture credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Categorical)
Tendencies come and go in cycles, however in terms of vintage-inspired designs, they by no means actually exit of fashion within the first place. Nothing’s option to go along with this explicit design feels each nostalgic and fashionable on the identical time. These are superbly crafted headphones, produced with meticulous consideration to element and experience. That a lot is obvious, you don’t should be an professional to see it.
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Every ear cup incorporates a rounded rectangular aluminum body with a clear, oval-shaped pod mounted on the skin—paying homage to a cassette tape. It made me nostalgic, reminding me of when my father purchased me my first Sony Walkman years in the past. The headscarf is made from gray plastic with a black cushion within the center and contains silent telescoping arms, which hook up with the plastic pod on every ear cup through a black, S-shaped metallic bracket. In the meantime, the ear cushions are oil-resistant and provide comfy reminiscence foam that conforms to your head and passively seals out ambient sound.
The cassette-like design is an homage to the Sony Walkman. (Picture credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Categorical)
The headphones felt comfy and durable, and I wore them for hours, even throughout my morning walks. At first, they could appear heavy at 329 grams (for comparability, the Apple AirPods Max weigh 385 grams), however I didn’t really feel uncomfortable. I discovered them well-balanced, and due to their form and design, they’re comfy sufficient for lengthy listening classes.
Maybe what made the largest distinction for me, as a person, was how Nothing applied bodily controls on these over-ear headphones. It may not appear to be a giant deal to many, however when you begin utilizing the Headphone (1), you start to understand how flawed the management schemes on most headphones actually are. Nothing has ditched contact controls solely on the Headphone (1) in favour of bodily ones and they’re cleverly executed.
There’s an precise on/off swap, a clickable curler button for adjusting quantity and toggling by means of noise-canceling settings, and a paddle button that permits you to skip tracks ahead and again. Alongside there’s a round button on the outer shell of the best aluminum body that prompts your voice assistant. It will also be programmed as a shortcut to different options like Nothing’s Channel Hop characteristic, which lets you toggle between latest audio apps like Spotify and Apple Music.
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Sure, there’s even a 3.5-mm jack on the Headphone (1). Picture credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Categorical)
An influence swap, standing LED, USB Kind-C port, and three.5mm jack are situated on the underside fringe of the best aluminum body. Every ear cup additionally options slits for 3 microphones. There’s no pointless branding on the Headphone (1); all you will see that is the textual content “sound by KEF” alongside a white mark beneath the left pod, and “NOTHING headphone (1)” plus a purple mark beneath the best plastic pod to assist distinguish the left and proper ear cups.
Clear sound, however not spectacular
I wouldn’t say the Headphone (1) are the best-sounding headphones I’ve ever heard. And that’s a tough declare to make anyway, contemplating audio is such a private, and subsequently subjective, expertise. They don’t seem to be geared toward audiophiles, both. Or reasonably, I ought to say the Headphone (1) is designed to impress common customers such as you and me, individuals who simply wish to placed on their headphones and take heed to music with none intrusion.
Soiund high quality is sweet, and the flexibility to take heed to music within the spatial mode is a bonus. (Picture credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Categorical)
The sound is pleasant to the ears: wealthy, well-balanced, with clear vocals, although it falls barely in need of delivering that costly, pure audio high quality. Nonetheless, it affords a constant listening expertise with no distortion, even at increased volumes. “Take On Me” by A-ha is a pleasure to take heed to, whereas “Masakali” by Mohit Chauhan and “Pasoori” by Shae Gill and Ali Sethi are a pleasure to the ears. A minor tweak to the EQ settings can additional improve the sound high quality, particularly the bass.
When it comes to tech, the Headphone (1) options 40mm drivers with a nickel-plated diaphragm, rim and dome. In keeping with Nothing, this provides rigidity, which helps enhance readability within the highs and energy within the bass.
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I paired the Headphone (1) with the Nothing Telephone 3 (overview coming quickly) and iPhone 16 Professional utilizing Bluetooth. The headphones help each AAC and LDAC audio codecs, although LDAC isn’t supported on the iPhone. In addition they help wired listening, with a 3.5mm jack for analog enter and a USB-C port for digital wired connections.
Terrific noise cancellation and lengthy battery life
The noise-cancelling is top-notch, and I used to be pleasantly shocked by it. To check it, I roamed across the streets of London and New Delhi, experiencing the busy interactions of those cities with the Headphone (1) on. They mainly mute your surroundings. Regardless of the place I’m, as soon as the ANC is activated, you’re absolutely immersed in your music. The transparency mode is equally good.
They’ve a clickable quantity wheel and a very good paddle you may push left or proper to skip monitor. (Picture credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Categorical)
On this mode, the microphone actively funnels the surroundings’s sounds into your ear, permitting for fast conversations to order espresso and croissants or to listen to bulletins on trains and airplanes. And when utilizing the Headphone (1) for calls, you may hear your self clearly—and be heard simply as clearly by the individual on the opposite finish, due to its six microphones, 4 of that are devoted to voice calls. This has made my life rather a lot easier, as I don’t have to hold a pair of TWS earbuds with me on a regular basis.
Battery life is fairly respectable for over-ear noise-cancelling headphones. With noise-cancelling turned on, you rise up to 35 hours of listening time at average quantity ranges, and as much as 80 hours with it off. A five-minute cost provides you 2.4 hours of battery life with ANC on, which is unbelievable.
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Stable options and app help
The Headphone (1) is a premium pair of headphones, and its options are equally high-end, although a lot of them have now turn out to be customary throughout over-ear fashions. Options like ear-detection sensors that pause your music while you take the headphones off and resume playback while you put them again on, a spatial audio mode with head-tracking, a low-latency mode for gaming, and multipoint Bluetooth pairing are all included. These headphones use Bluetooth 5.3.
I used to be impressed by the Nothing X app (iOS and Android).
I actually preferred the built-in equaliser. (Picture credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Categorical)
The app could be very clear and simple to make use of—corporations like Bose and Sony may study from it. I particularly preferred the equaliser, which affords two modes: a easy mode with choices like “Balanced,” “Extra Bass,” “Extra Treble,” and “Customized,” in addition to a sophisticated mode with an eight-band equaliser for fine-tuning the sound as per your liking.
Must you purchase the Nothing Headphone (1)?
Nothing’s debut Headphone (1) over-ear headphones are feature-rich, comfy, and distinct of their design. In addition they sound nice. Nonetheless, they aren’t made for everybody – they’re geared toward folks like me who’re a bit obsessive about design and desire a unique-looking product, although not essentially one thing audiophile-grade. I wouldn’t say the Headphone (1) is overly costly, however they’re priced on the upper aspect, like most premium headphones. That mentioned, in case you are on a tighter funds or in search of one of the best worth for cash, the Headphone (1) may not be the best selection.