Nothing Headphone 1 Review: As Good as They Look?

Summary

MKBHD reviews the Nothing Headphone 1, the company’s first over-ear noise cancelling headphones at $300. Nothing has established itself as a design-focused company, and these headphones continue that tradition with a polarizing transparent aesthetic that’s either loved or hated. Beyond the looks, MKBHD was pleasantly surprised to find the functionality is actually good. The “Sound by KEF” partnership delivers solid audio quality (he bought KEF’s Mu7 headphones to compare and confirmed they’re distinctly different products). Physical controls include a scroll wheel for volume, play/pause button, customization button, and Bluetooth pairing button - no touch controls. Battery life hits 35 hours, comfort is excellent for 8+ hour sessions, and ANC is “B+” compared to Sony’s “A+”. At $300, these compete favorably against the $450 Sony XM6s - the question is whether Sony’s advantages are worth $150 more.

Highlights

”Nothing Has Become a Design Company”

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“So, Nothing has become known as a design company. And that’s not a bad thing, people love great design. But you can think of them as something like a fashion brand in the genre of consumer electronics.” — Marques Brownlee, 0:08

”More Elegant Than a Cybertruck”

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“Like all that means is some people are going to love it and some people are going to hate it because it looks different. I do think this is a bit more elegant than a Cybertruck, though.” — Marques Brownlee, 1:21

”Thankfully They’re Almost Nothing Alike”

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“So I bought them. They were like 400 bucks on their site, but they’re listed for $220 on Amazon, so that’s where I got them. But I’m happy to report that, thankfully, they’re almost nothing alike.” — Marques Brownlee, 3:03

”Thumbs Up to the Control System”

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“So no touch controls, only tactile, physical buttons and switches. Thumbs up to the control system.” — Marques Brownlee, 4:46

”If Sonys Are an A+, These Are a B+”

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“I will say on the extreme end, it’s about a notch and a half behind the Sonys. I could still hear some plane noise where I’d never hear it with the Sonys. But it’s definitely not a deal breaker. If the Sonys are an A+, these are a B+.” — Marques Brownlee, 6:43

Key Points

• Design Company (0:08) - Nothing is known as a design company, like a fashion brand in consumer electronics
• $300 Price Point (0:34) - First over-ear ANC headphones from Nothing, competing with Sony and Bose
• Polarizing Design (0:53) - Love it or hate it design, more elegant than a Cybertruck
• Sound by KEF Partnership (2:06) - KEF is a high-end speaker company with products up to $225,000
• KEF Mu7 Comparison (2:48) - MKBHD bought KEF’s own headphones ($220 on Amazon) to compare; they’re distinctly different products
• Scroll Wheel Volume (3:28) - Top button is a slider like mouse scroll wheel for volume, press and hold for ANC modes
• Play/Pause Button (4:01) - Large easy-to-find button, hold for scrubbing (works in Spotify and podcasts at 2x speed)
• Physical Controls Only (4:46) - No touch controls, all tactile buttons - thumbs up
• Build Quality (4:55) - Metal where you grab, plastic to save weight, very flexible headband
• 8+ Hour Comfort (5:24) - Tested on 8-hour flight with videos, music, and podcasts - impressed
• 35-Hour Battery (5:33) - Roughly average for category, lasted entire flight on one charge
• Auto Pause on Removal (5:38) - Takes them off to pause, not all headphones do this
• Don’t Fold Flat (5:46) - Case is larger, zipper design is frustrating
• Thick Ear Pads (6:25) - Great passive isolation even without ANC
• ANC Rating: B+ (6:56) - Good but not Sony A+ level, still heard some plane noise
• Transparency Mode Issues (6:58) - Own voice sounds muffled, ended up just taking them off
• Clear Sound Quality (7:33) - Clear from bass to highs, no distortion at high volumes
• Customizable EQ (7:51) - Nothing app has presets and advanced sliders with lots of range
• USB-C Audio & LDAC (8:52) - Good codec support
• Value Proposition (9:21) - $300 vs $450 Sony XM6s - are Sonys $150 better?

Mentions

Companies

• Nothing (0:02) - Design-focused tech company making the headphones
• KEF (2:06) - British high-end speaker company, “Sound by KEF” partnership
• Sony (0:44) - Makes competing XM6 headphones, the benchmark
• Bose (0:45) - Another premium headphone competitor
• Apple (5:17) - AirPods Max reference for premium materials
• Insta360 (9:41) - Sponsor, X5 360 camera

Products & Technologies

• Nothing Headphone 1 (0:02) - Main subject, $300 over-ear ANC headphones
• KEF Mu7 (2:48) - KEF’s only headphones, $220 on Amazon, distinctly different
• Sony WH-1000XM6 (9:03) - $450 benchmark headphones with better ANC and sound
• AirPods Max (7:01) - Apple’s premium headphones, transparency mode reference
• LDAC (8:52) - High-quality Bluetooth audio codec
• USB Type-C Audio (8:52) - Wired audio connection support
• Insta360 X5 (9:45) - 360 camera with 8K video, sponsor

Surprising Quotes

“These are the Nothing Headphones 1. So, Nothing has become known as a design company. And that’s not a bad thing, people love great design.” — 0:02

“I do think this is a bit more elegant than a Cybertruck, though.” — 1:23

“These things are $225,000.” (referring to KEF speakers) — 2:36

“I don’t love that they make a sound when they switch ANC modes.” (headphones sighing) — 3:50

“But are they $150 better? That’s up to you.” — 9:21

Transcript

0:02 These are the Nothing Headphones 1. So, Nothing has become known as a design company. And that’s not a bad thing, people love great design. But you can think of them as something like a fashion brand in the genre of consumer electronics. They’ve made a few phones where design is like their major selling point. They’ve also now made earbuds where design is their major selling point.

0:32 And now, this is their first pair of $300, over-ear, noise cancelling headphones. So now they’re playing in like the premium headphone space where people usually buy based on their audio quality, the Sonys, the Boses of the world. And so these will obviously stand out because of this design, but is that enough?

0:53 Now, first of all, the design is polarizing so it may be enough for some people. There’s a dark version and a light version. I’ve been rocking the light version. And yeah, it’s very distinctive, like it sticks out glued to the side of your head. So there’s nothing in the market that’s going to look quite like it, which, you know, hey, that’s the point.

1:14 Like all that means is some people are going to love it and some people are going to hate it because it looks different. I do think this is a bit more elegant than a Cybertruck, though. There’s some text, there’s this red dot, so you always know which ear is which. And then, of course, Nothing really likes the transparent aesthetic. And obviously, that’s a challenge with headphones because all you’d really see is drivers and wires, but I still think they pulled it off and it looks neat. Is that crazy? Am I crazy for that?

1:42 But I do have a theory. I do think that this design was easier for me to accept because the rest of the headphones is actually pretty good.

1:53 Now, when I first saw that Nothing was making over-ear headphones, you know, I read the spec sheet and I got all the information about them, and one thing kind of stood out to me that you might have also seen in a keynote or whatever announcement which is, “Sound by KEF.” Right, so these headphones are tuned by KEF, but obviously this is their first pair of these big, over-ear, premium headphones. So they’ve partnered with an audio company. I honestly don’t know that much about KEF.

2:20 And my immediate reaction is, okay, how much of a brand deal is this really? So I went digging around KEF’s website, and wow, they have a whole lineup of premium speakers. A few thousand dollars, a few tens of thousands of dollars. They’ve got bookshelf speakers, floor standing speakers. These things are $225,000.

2:41 But then, they did have, exactly, one pair of headphones on their site. One pair of wireless, over-ear, active noise cancelling headphones. These things are called the Mu7. Uh-huh. Is this one of those white-labeled OEM situations where Nothing just changed the design on the outside? That would feel kind of lame.

3:03 So I bought them. They were like 400 bucks on their site, but they’re listed for $220 on Amazon, so that’s where I got them. But I’m happy to report that, thankfully, they’re almost nothing alike. I mean they sound similar enough, but if the premise is that KEF contributed like these drivers and just sound tuning and all the features around it, then I think they’ve done enough to make an entirely different product.

3:28 There’s about five different physical controls on the Nothing Headphones 1. First of all, this top button here is actually also a slider, kind of like a mouse scroll wheel. So it’s smooth, it goes back and forth, and it’s volume up and down. But you can also press it to cycle through transparency and ANC modes, and then hold it down to turn them off and noise cancellation on.

3:50 I don’t love that they make a sound when they switch modes. But that’s already way better than those finicky, touch-sensitive areas we’ve seen on so many other headphones, so I’m down with it.

4:01 And then right below that, there’s a play/pause button that’s large enough and easy to find. And that is the next track and previous track button too. And in certain supported apps, it’ll also actually let you hold down to scrub through audio. Confirmed this works in chunks in Spotify, but it also works I think best in like a 2x scrubbing through a podcast.

4:22 But then the bottom of the right headphone has the on/off switch, and the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack. And then at the front of the right ear is a customization button. By default, pressing it once activates the voice assistant on whatever phone you’ve paired to. But in the Nothing app, you can actually customize what it does.

4:41 And then on the inside here is a subtle but useful Bluetooth pairing button. So no touch controls, only tactile, physical buttons and switches. Thumbs up to the control system.

4:55 And then they hit almost every other build quality fundamental too. These headphones are solid. The ear cups are a mix of metal, where you grab the headphones, but also plastic to save weight. And the headband is very flexible for a variety of head sizes. The ear cups are quite soft. They are a little warmer than completely plastic ANC headphones. They’re not AirPods Max heavy. And they’re still very comfortable for extended periods.

5:22 I know that because I just did a long flight with them. I had about eight hours of travel and I watched tons of videos and listened to music and podcasts, and I was impressed by how good they feel. And they did that all on one charge. The battery life is rated about 35 hours. Roughly, the average for this category.

5:38 And then when I didn’t need ANC or when I had to talk to somebody, I could take them off like this and they pause automatically, which is not something they all do. The one miss is these headphones don’t fold flat. So traveling with them, you know, that means the case is a bit bigger. And also, this zipper in the case is frustrating. I’m not just saying that from this one perfectly framed comparison to this perfect Sony case, but this is actually a common complaint that I’m confident will annoy other people too. Just watch other videos, I bet they also hate the zipper. Just a little thing.

6:11 Aside from that, though, as far as comfort and build quality, they’ve done a great job here.

6:19 So then, what about the sound? What if you are buying them for the sound? Well, I think you could do a lot worse. First of all, the ear cups, the pads here, are very soft, but also very thick. So when you put these on, the isolation from your environment, even without ANC, is really good.

6:36 So then you turn ANC on, and it does a great job with room noise and general white noise. Turn the music up, and that’s all you’re gonna hear. I will say on the extreme end, it’s about a notch and a half behind the Sony flagships. I could still hear some plane engine noise where I’d never hear it with the Sonys. But it’s definitely not a deal breaker. If the Sonys are an A+, these are a B+.

6:58 Transparency mode is a mixed bag. The AirPods Max and the Sony XMs are still the best here, and these kind of fall in the middle. I mean, functionally, they’re fine. I can hear my environment. If people talk to me, I can hear them. But my own voice, maybe there’s not enough mics inside, but my own voice is super muffled. It’s not comfortable to have a conversation wearing these, so I ended up just taking them off.

7:22 And look, honestly, I don’t think people will buy these just for the sound. Like I said, Nothing is a design company, but the sound by KEF and the drivers do perfectly fine thanks to the tuning. They’re clear, they’re well balanced all the way from bass to highs without distortion at high volumes. Not a particularly wide sound stage, but some may like that focused sound.

7:48 And you can dial in the exact sound profile you really like with the app. Matter of fact, let me show you the app real quick. This is where you can do a ton of stuff. You can change exactly what the customization button does with a single press or a press and hold. You can quickly manage which devices the headphones are connected to. And yes, they can be connected to multiple devices.

8:06 You can change the level of ANC from low to medium to high, and you can pick from a variety of EQ presets or go into the advanced one and literally drag the sliders around and make a preset for yourself. And there is a lot of range here. You can really mess up the sound or dial in something nice and subtle.

8:26 This might come as a surprise but these actually sound competitive with headphones that cost more. Now, part of that is because the really good headphones have moved up a bit in price. But I think that’s the point. The price you’d expect to pay for a rock-solid pair of premium noise cancelling headphones with good sound, good build quality, USB Type-C audio, LDAC support, and a good, well-featured app is around $400 these days. And these are $300.

8:59 So can you get better headphones for more money? Yeah, of course. The Sony headphones I keep referencing, the XM6s, are still the best overall over-ear headphones, like they’re better at basically everything. Better ANC, better sound quality. They fold, they have a better case. But are they $150 better? That’s up to you.

9:21 I mean, some people will prefer the actual physical switches and buttons on these headphones over the Sonys. Some people might prefer this design over the Sonys, believe it or not. Some people are going to prefer the price over the Sonys. So that’s where these come in.

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10:46 Insta360 clearly set out to make the X5 the most powerful and versatile 360 camera ever. And all of these new features are paired with their waterproof design and their best-in-class stabilization. So check it out today. And the first 50 people who order will get a free replacement lens kit and invisible selfie stick.

11:07 Thanks for watching. Catch you guys in the next one. Peace.