Nothing has launched its first pair of over-ear headphones, imaginatively named the Headphone 1. At $299, these are priced to compete with flagship fare, distinguished primarily by their distinctive Nothing design language — proper right down to the buttons.
Whereas the boxy define calls to thoughts Apple’s AirPods Max, the semi-transparent detailing on the skin of every ear cup is all Nothing. So are the buttons, all in another way formed, with some you press, some you flick, and a few you toggle. They’re meant to be extra intuitive to make use of by contact alone, so that you don’t need to take the headphones off to remind your self which button activates pairing.
With lively noise canceling, spatial audio, and assist for lossless playback, these tick off a lot of the ordinary high-end headphone options. There’s 35 hours of battery life with noise cancellation on and an IP52 score for water resistance, and the audio itself was developed in partnership with HiFi model KEF, with customized 40mm drivers.
My colleague Andru Marino has already reviewed the Headphone 1, so check out his review to learn how they stack up. Preorders launch on Friday, July 4th, with a full launch on the fifteenth.