Nothing recently unveiled its latest TWS earbuds – the Nothing Ear (3), but ahead of this, the company took the wraps off its first-ever headphone – the Nothing Headphone (1).
The Nothing Headphone (1) is priced locally at PHP 14,999, making it a more affordable option than the popular headphones today, like the Apple AirPods Max or Sony XM6 or even XM5. But it’s still not cheap for the everyday person. So how does it fare?
I’ve had the Nothing Headphone (1) for a little over a month. I’ve used it almost every day now, and here’s my experience with it. If you haven’t read my first impressions on it, you can read our article here.
Nothing Headphone (1) Review
Design and Build Quality
The Nothing Headphone (1) is perhaps the most unique and interesting-looking headphone in the market today. The company has impressively integrated its iconic transparent aesthetic in its first take on an over-ear headphone.
I had my doubts upon seeing the renders and photos of the intriguing design. This is mostly because of the double-shaped design with a rounded rectangle for the earcups, and on top of it is an oval for its plastic-covered transparent bit. While I can’t quite confirm, I assume the latter houses much of its hardware.
The White colorway offers a nice contrast between the silver aluminum earcup and the white innards. It also comes in a monochromatic Black color, which is equally stylish, but the White colorway is just more eye-catching.
The Nothing Headphone (1), despite the transparent bit, still has a bit of heft to it all while keeping a premium feeling and looking headphone.
Although it must be mentioned that the Nothing Headphone (1) doesn’t fold inward, making it quite a hassle to store, even with the included case. I often found myself either using a larger bag to accommodate the case or just having the Headphone (1) around my neck when I’m not using it.
One thing that I surprisingly enjoyed was the tactile control buttons that Nothing used. These include the Roller and Paddle on the back side of the right ear cup. I thought these were well-thought-out and pretty intuitive out of the box. The Roller is in charge of controlling the volume, while the Paddle allows you to switch songs and go back.
I enjoy this setup more than the capacitive controls that other headphones offer in the market nowadays. However, because the Nothing Headphone (1) is far from being mainstream, I can’t help but worry about repairs once these buttons do wear out over time.
In addition to the buttons being a reminder of which side is left and right, the company printed the text on the headbands in its new Sans font. It’s a small detail that can even be missed, but it is very good to see.
Comfort and Ergonomics
The Headphone (1) features oval polyurethane synthetic leather-covered earcups that comfortably sit on my average-sized ears. The company claims that it has a high-resilience memory foam, which adds comfort.
One thing about them, though, is that while you can remove them, there are no official earcup replacements from Nothing themselves. It’s uncertain as well if we’ll see third-party manufacturers offer replacements. This is pretty tragic if you plan to wear it at the gym or just sweat heavily, like me.
In addition to the earcups, the headphones also feature padding on top, with the same synthetic leather and foam combination. This drastically reduces strain over time, but also another thing that I hope you could replace.
A good thing about the headphones is that it has just enough clamp force to feel secure but it isn’t too tight that it hurts my head over prolonged use. In fact, I can easily use the headphones for hours while I use my glasses without strain. This, of course, is a huge win, by my book.
Sound Quality
The Nothing Headphone (1) is equipped with 40mm dynamic drivers with sound tuned by KEF. In addition, out of the box, it mimics the Harman curve, meaning you get good bass for Pop, K-Pop, Hip Hop, and similar genres, all while still hearing the vocals and instruments clearly.
If you need a bit more bass, Nothing offers a Bass Enhancement mode and even in-depth EQ options via the Nothing X app. The same can be said for those who want to tweak it a bit to lessen the bass a bit for a flatter sound.
Because I enjoy punchy bass, I used the Nothing Headphone (1) with its out-of-the-box tuning. I still got to enjoy all the instruments in Sleep Token’s The Summoning, Dirty Loops’ Run Away, Nubiya Garcia’s The Message Continues, and Muri’s Afternoon.
The Headphone (1) offers Active Noise Cancellation, and it’s quite impressive. I’ve used it countless times to tune out the noise in cafes. It also has Transparency Mode, which is pretty effective. I’ve used it during my Grab rides or when I need to order something, or in similar situations where I need to talk to someone else momentarily.
The headphones also feature and come with a 3.5mm headphone jack and cable. This means you can use the Headphone (1) for gaming sessions or just when you need an over-ear headphone to edit your videos. Keep in mind that it will still use up the battery of the headphones.
Microphone Performance
The Nothing Headphone (1) is equipped with 6 microphones in total, or 3 on each earcup. However, for calls, it only uses 4 out of the total 6.
That said, though, the mic quality seemed pretty good. I recorded audio on the native Nothing Recorder app in my room on Normal setting and with High Quality Format turned off, with electric fans blaring at me, and my voice was still very clear.
Battery
Nothing claims that the Nothing Headphone (1) can deliver up to 30 hours with ANC on, thanks to the 1040mAh battery onboard. You can go longer with ANC off.
I mostly used it with a mix of ANC on and off, and it still lasted a bit longer than the 30 hours. As someone who mainly used TWS earbuds, up until this point, it was such an added ease of mind and comfort, knowing I could use them when I go out and still be able to use them the next day without needing to charge them
Speaking of charging, a 5-minute charge is said to offer 2.4 hours of playback with ANC on, while a full charge requires around 2 hours. With how long the battery lasts, the 2-hour full charge isn’t so bad.
Software
Similar to all its audio offerings, and more recently its watches, the Nothing Headphone (1) also uses the Nothing X app.
If you’re using a Nothing device, connecting to your device is pretty quick. However, it still works with Apple and Android devices via the aforementioned Nothing X app.
The app is designed well, with a simple aesthetic design and a straightforward UI that makes it easy to navigate, while still offering quite a variety of customization options.
Customizations include being able to set the controls of all the tactile control buttons, namely the Button, Roller, and Paddle. The variety of options available for the Button is pretty diverse, including Noise control settings, Spatial audio, EQ presets, and Voice AI. Meanwhile, the Roller and Paddle are mainly used for volume control and track control.
Other options in the app include turning on Bass Enhancement, Low Lag Mode, and setting Noise cancellation and Spatial Audio. The last of which is pretty interesting because it widens the sound stage, while also changing the sound source depending on where you’re facing. It’s quite interesting, but I found myself not using it much.
The Nothing X app is up there among my favorite apps to manage and customize audio products. The variety of tweaking is just insane, especially for a device that doesn’t even break the PHP 15,000 barrier.
Verdict
The Nothing Headphone (1) fills the void in the mid-range headphone market while offering a pretty premium device with features like fully customizable EQ (if you’re a fan of that) and spatial audio.
The Headphone (1), like most of Nothing’s offerings, is first and foremost an eye-catching tech product that you can add to your wardrobe in most settings. It feels like a fashion accessory, while still being practical.
I don’t mind the Harman-curve tuning out of the box. If you may not share the same sentiments, you can always set your own EQ via the Nothing X app.
However, there are some setbacks to the Nothing Headphone (1), and this includes the lack of earcup replacements. I would’ve preferred a more generic design, so you can replace it with other earcups available in the market.
Moreover, the design doesn’t fold inward, which makes it quite large to bring around, even with the carrying case that it comes with.
Is it worth the PHP 14,999 price tag, though? I think it is. The iconic Nothing design, coupled with a practical approach to controls, offers a fresh but nostalgic touch to a pretty familiar headphone market. If you’re on the fence about its design, I suggest checking it out for yourself. It definitely looks better in person.
The Nothing Headphone (1) is available for PHP 14,999 via Digital Walker, open_source by Beyond the Box, and the official Nothing PH Shopee and Lazada stores.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
