Nothing Headphone (1) Evaluate: One thing Particular

As somebody who has been brazenly essential of Nothing’s claims that it’s going to revolutionize the expertise world, I occur to really love the model’s merchandise. From the superb Ear (a)—amongst our favourite low-cost earbuds—to its inexpensive smartphones, the model leverages wonderful design and near-top-tier internals to completely dominate the mid-tier of the tech market.

The Headphone (1) noise-canceling over-ears, I’m blissful to say, proceed this custom. They give the impression of being pretty much as good (or higher) than dearer fashions from Sony, Apple, and Bose, and so they provide practically all the identical options, for a whole lot of {dollars} much less. That, plus a really usable set of controls, wonderful passive noise isolation, and an easy-to-use app make these amongst the very best headphones you should purchase for $300 or much less.

Recent Confronted

{Photograph}: Parker Corridor

The place different Nothing headphones instantly steal their design cues from posher Apple fashions, the brand new Headphone (1) is clearly its personal factor. The rounded rectangles include clear outer ear cups that showcase a bass chamber contained in the headphones, with a crimson dot on the precise ear cup so that you’ll by no means put them on backwards.

They seem like one thing a Stormtrooper would put on of their bunk between patrols, however for some purpose they don’t make me really feel like a complete weirdo in public. The white-and-silver colorway of my evaluate unit is flashy, however I think about for those who bought them within the additionally out there black-and-gunmetal model, you’d barely get a second look.

One factor you received’t really feel till you place the headphones on is how wonderful the controls are. They arrive with a rolly, clicky wheel on the higher a part of the precise ear cup and a flicky swap under that. This lets you modify quantity and play and pause music, in addition to to travel between tracks. You possibly can even maintain the swap proper or left to fast-forward or rewind—very good when skipping advertisements throughout podcasts. Bodily controls are so a lot better than contact controls in practically all cases, and these are a number of the finest and most intuitive controls ever designed.

On the underside of the precise ear cup you’ll discover the on-off swap (crimson when off, additionally very useful), a 3.5-mm cable port, and the USB-C port for charging. These headphones provide a Sony-, Bose-, and Apple-beating 35 hours of battery life, which is nice when on lengthy journeys.

Outdoors on the precise, there’s a button that permits you to use your voice assistant (or name up Nothing’s AI in case you have a Nothing telephone), however I like that this button is hidden the place I’ve by no means unintentionally bumped it—an annoyance on opponents.

Getting a Head

{Photograph}: Parker Corridor

You’ll discover that the headphones really feel very safe in your head, due to an L-shaped steel bar that attaches the ear cups to the headscarf from the very outdoors. This enables for extra even stress distribution from the artificial leather-based and reminiscence foam of the earpads. They’re agency, however snug sufficient for lengthy listening periods. The one draw back? Although the pads are technically detachable, Nothing presently has no plans to promote replacements. Hopefully that can change.