Nothing mostly gets eyes for its smartphones at this point, but it’s audio that put this brand on the map. Over time, Nothing has built up a reputation for delivering excellent value in its audio products and rock solid sound quality at the same time. The Nothing Ear series blew away my expectations last year, so I was thrilled to hear the company was working on a pair of over-ear headphones. After hours of listening, though, I have mixed feelings about Nothing Headphone (1), as they don’t quite deliver the same charm as the earbuds.

The appeal of Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a) has largely been in a combination of value – with pricing starting at just $99 – and audio quality, along with some solid hardware and software to back it all up.

With Nothing Headphone (1), let’s start with the hardware.

Nothing’s design here is unique, to say the least. The partially square, partially rounded design gives off cassette tape vibes, which I rather like. It’s a look at first, but it grew on me with time. I’m still not sure I prefer it over more traditional designs like Sony’s XM series, Bose headphones, or others, but it’s unique in a good way at least. Nothing had a vision and create a product that stands out and fits in with their usual aesthetic, and I can at least applaud them in that.

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I think the design is also way more subdued in its black color variant. The white option that I’ve primarily been using looks nice and stands out more, but the design feels pretty tame in black.

The hardware itself is also very well built despite not using the most premium materials. The glossy portion is plastic, and the metal chassis doesn’t have the expected heft. That latter portion is good news, though, because it makes for a pair of headphones that’s comfortable over time. Both in wearing Headphone (1) through a workday and on a transatlantic flight, they remain comfortable for hours at a time. They only became uncomfortable to me about 7 hours into a 9-hour flight back home from Nothing’s London launch event, but even then I just needed to take a 10-minute break and I was just fine. There’s very little, if any, ear fatigue thanks to the memory foam cups, and the band across the top does a good job in keeping the weight off. These headphones are definitely heavier than many others, but the hardware does a good job of hiding that. There’s something to be said about sweat wearing these in a warmer environment, but that’s my only real complaint in wearing them.

Nothing has also thought a bit outside of the box on the controls. Instead of the usual handful of buttons, you get a different array, all on the right earcup. There’s a switch for power next to the USB-C and 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom, with a paddle switch and a roller on the “back.” Those are used for swapping tracks and adjusting the volume, primarily, with a press on the roller pausing or resuming playback. You can also hold the paddlein either direction to scrub through the track. It’s pretty intuitive! Nothing’s app (more on that later) offers customization of those buttons too. There’s also a top external button to activate your voice assistant, as well as triggering some other actions to your preference. That can include simply opening your music app. There’s a final hidden button on the inner portion of the earcup which is used to trigger pairing. This is easily the least intuitive part of the design, just because it’s practically invisible.

Touching on the software, the Nothing X app remains pretty great. While it has a distinct design, the app works well. It makes it easy to flip between ANC and transparency modes as well as changing sound presets. To put it succinctly, there are some awful headphone apps out there, and Nothing X is beyond ahead of the curve.

That app is primarily needed for ANC customization. While you can toggle it on and off with a long-press of the roller button – which triggers a frankly awful sound of someone breathing if your ear for some horrible reason – Nothing X lets you adjust the strength. And you’ll definitely need that in some cases. The default “Adaptive” mode works well in most environments, adjusting automatically based on your surroundings. But in some situations, you need to manually max it out. That’s what I found on a flight, as “Adaptive” never really felt strong enough. “High” is just enough for a flight, but it’s not as strong as some other headphones I’ve tried. It’s more than good enough, but I was hoping for a bit more. Nothing says ANC can handle up to 42db.

And that brings us to the sound quality.

It’s a mixed bag. By default, the sound quality is pretty solid overall, but its default settings feel not as well balanced as the crisp and pleasant sound of Nothing Ear, with perhaps just a bit too much emphasis on the lows. To be clear, it’s not bad, it’s just missing what makes Nothing’s other audio products so good. That was my biggest disappointment in using Nothing Headphone (1) – it just loses the charm. Why has this happened? The obvious finger to point towards if the new audio partnership with KEF. This brand is known for high-end audio products, but I can’t help but wish that Nothing had just stuck to its own established sound. By changing that, these just don’t feel like they fit as well as they should with the rest of the lineup.

That said, messing with EQ settings can go a long way here. Nothing’s built-in presets don’t do a ton to make up for the underlying tuning, but Max Weinbach, occasional 9to5 contributor, found a preset that sounds great. Adding a win to the software column, you can easily share custom EQ presets with a QR code. After switching to these new settings, I’ve become more and more fond of Headphone (1).

The other thing I’ve been pretty thrilled with is the battery life. Nothing promises 35 hours of listening with ANC turned on, a figure that seems realistic as even my 9-hour flight mentioned earlier barely made a dent in the fully charged battery. What’s more impressive is the 80-hour figure for when you’re not using ANC. That’s well above the industry standard. Fast charging is indeed fast, too, with my initial few days of listening being recharged in about 15 minutes before my trip.

And that leads us down to the value.

Nothing Headphone (1) retail for $299, putting them well below that of AirPods Max and even Sony WH-1000XM6. And while I still have mixed feelings about the sound quality, these still check a ton of boxes for their price point.

It’s also important to remember that this is just the first generation. If Nothing has shown anything through its product history, is that the company learns a lot of lessons with time, and I can’t wait to see what Nothing Headphone (2) looks like. In the meantime, though, Nothing Headphone (1) is a solid first step.

Nothing Headphone (1) pre-orders are open starting today with units shipping on July 15.

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