A colleague said, “Headphones have become boring,” and Nothing said, “No, they ain’t”.
The Nothing company was founded in 2020. Since then, they have done a great job in the tech space, specifically in mobile phone and accessories niche. They started with the Nothing Phone that had a unique back design, then they introduced their pair of earphones, and then an affordable Nothing CMF Phone.
The only thing that was missing was the headphones – I mean, a non-boring pair of headphones – which they have now introduced, an all-new Nothing Headphones (1). You might have multiple questions, such as what they sound like, what battery life is like, what the comfort level is, and whatnot.
I got my pair of these headphones delivered three days ago, and I have been using them since then. I will be addressing these very questions in this content piece, so join me as I do some nitpicking on the Nothing Headphones (1).
Contents
Price Comparison
Nothing has launched this headphone with a sweet spot price tag of 300 bucks, and that is why it will appeal to most people out there.
On the flip side, the good/great headphones from Sony, Apple, and Bose start at around 400 bucks. That’s a $100 jump. While they have their own perks like better active noise cancellation, slightly better sound, and comfort, it becomes subjective whether you want to spend $100 more on them or not.
Even though the Nothing Headphones (1) are cheaper, it doesn’t feel bad. I mean, the design, comfort, and sound quality are good (more on that coming up).
Design and Comfort Review
Design is the most unique aspect of the Nothing Headphones (1), and I like it.
Nothing is primarily a design company: look at their phones, earphones, and their watch. The design is unique but risky. I am saying it’s risky because I have had mixed feedback on the design of the headphones. Either people love it or they hate it, there is no in between.
The skeleton back exhibits the drivers and the battery, and that looks cool to me. However, it is not too much. I mean, there are a lot of components in a headphone, but the Nothing Headphones show just the driver and the battery. It’s a clean design in my opinion. The headphones come in two different colors: black and white. The black one looks much better than the one that was out of stock, so I have the white one.
Now, let’s come down to the comfort. Well, that aspect has been extensively tested by me and my girlfriend. I put the Nothing headphones on and binge-watched Ginny & Georgia in 4K on my high-speed AT&T Internet – any delay in connection was swiftly dealt with by AT&T customer service – and she binge-watched Game of Thrones (for obvious reasons, till season six). The results?
We didn’t feel any discomfort while wearing it for hours. However, it might feel slightly heavy because of the metal around the headband. Apart from that, they are pretty comfortable headphones.
Battery Life Test and Results
The Nothing Headphones (1) pack a 1040mAh battery that lasts for hours and hours.
Nothing claims that their playtime is 80 hours with active noise cancellation off, and 35 hours with active noise cancellation on. Well, those are big numbers. How did they actually perform?
Well, I couldn’t count the hours properly, but let me give you a rough estimate.
When I binge-watched Ginny & Georgia, they didn’t die. It took three binge-watching sessions with active noise cancellation, most of the time off, for the headphones to run out of battery charge. My binge-watch session is estimated to be 10 hours long, so that totals to 40 hours with noise cancellation on for some hours. This is amazing, and won’t be an issue when it comes to having longer battery life.
Audio Performance for Everyday Listening
Last but not least, the sound quality.
Most people buying these pairs won’t get them for mere sound quality because there are many better options available for that. Having said that, the Nothing Headphones (1) are by no means bad-sounding headphones. Let me explain.
The sound of these headphones is from Kef. Kef is a British sound company that assesses the speakers’ market, and they know sound pretty well. If I put them into comparison with the likes of Sony and Apple, that will be unfair because they are cheaper. But let’s just do it because you might want to know.
At my workplace, two colleagues had headphones from Sony and Apple. I made them try the Nothing Headphones, and I tried theirs. Well, the Sony and Apple do sound better, but the gap isn’t that huge, and totally not this huge that justifies the $150 price difference.
So, the bottom line is that you will likely be fine with the sound quality of the Nothing Headphones (1), as will most people, as the Nothing wants.
To conclude, if you are not a sound geek and want something that looks different, you should definitely invest in these headphones.
