After creating good space in the smartphone and earphone markets with its bold and transparent designs, London-based tech brand Nothing has now launched its first over-ear headphones — the Nothing Headphone (1) in India and globally. Led by Carl Pei, the brand is now competing with big names like Sony, JBL, Marshall and Sennheiser.

Priced at Rs 19,999 (including launch offers), the Nothing Headphone (1) comes retro-inspired design and powerful features including a 3.5mm headphone jack and 40mm dynamic driver. It supports Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) up to 42dB and has a 4-mic setup for clear calls by reducing background noise. Let’s take a deep into the first over-ear headphones from Nothing.

Nothing Headphone 1 Design

The first thing that stands out is the design. The Nothing Headphone (1) follow the same transparent design language that we have seen in Nothing phones and earbuds. But this time, there’s a touch of retro styling too — the headphones remind you of old-school cassette players.

The outer metallic parts and earcups make them look very different from typical headphones in the market. To be honest, the design looks better than what you see in photos.

Instead going with the regular touch controls, the headphone (1) come with physical buttons — including a Roller, Paddle and Button and honestly, they work well. The Roller allows you to adjust the volume, play or pause music, and by long-pressing it, you can switch between Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Transparency Mode. The Paddle lets you control your music playback. The Button will activate the smart assistant on Nothing smartphones.

The build quality is solid the headband feels strong and there is decent padding on the earcups. However, I feel the ear cushions could have been softer. These headphones weigh around 329 grams, so after long usage, I did feel a little heaviness but still better than the competition. Overall, It’s a welcome change when it comes to design, especially in the headphones category I think.

Nothing Headphone 1 Specifications, Features And Performance

The Nothing Headphone (1) comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack and 40mm dynamic drivers to offer good sound quality. It supports Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) up to 42dB, and has a 4-mic setup for clear calls by reducing background noise. You can also connect it to two devices at the same time using Bluetooth 5.3. It works with Android phones running version 5.1 or above and iPhones with iOS 13 or later.

Let’s get to the most important part — sound quality. Sound is the most important part and Nothing has collaborated with British audio brand KEF, known for high-quality tuning.

The Headphone (1) comes with Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) that can block up to 42dB of external noise. I tested this in noisy environments and on the highest setting, the ANC works quite well — it easily blocks unwanted sounds, even in traffic.

I used the headphones with my iPhone 16 Pro. I played songs on Apple Music and watched some videos on YouTube. I also watched a couple of episodes of the Korean web series Weak Hero while wearing the headphones and I feel the audio quality was good.

The headphones managed to balance the lows, mids and highs, but I have seen better results on Sony headphones. I won’t complain here, as this is the first model from Nothing, but this can be enhanced in future models.

The Transparency Mode lets you hear ambient sounds when needed but I feel there is room for improvement here. There’s also Spatial Audio and Head Tracking, which give a 3D audio feel. I briefly tested them and they worked fine.

Coming to the microphones, it has a 4-mic ENC system which is powered by AI. During my testing, I took some video calls and regular calls on the headphones and I was able to hear the person on the other side clearly even when both of us were in noisy environments.

Now, coming to the battery life, the headphones pack a 1040mAh battery and charge via USB-C. According to Nothing, you can get up to 80 hours of playback time if ANC is turned off. With ANC turned on, the battery can last around 35 hours. During my testing, the headphones lasted for more than a day with ANC on and off. The battery life is good and the charging speed is also decent.

Overall, if you see the pricing, it ticks most of the right boxes in the first attempt. There are some things that you see in Sony headphones but I feel for a student or young audience who loves to go for looks and quality. Nothing Headphone 1 can be a good choice.

Nothing Headphone (1) Verdict

Priced under Rs 25,000 in India, the Nothing Headphone (1) is a good effort from the brand. The headphones offer a unique design with a retro touch that stands out from others.

They deliver good sound quality with balanced lows, mids, and highs. The Adaptive ANC works well to block outside noise. The physical controls are easy to use — though the ear cushions could be softer.

Overall, it’s a great option for students and young users who want style and solid performance at a reasonable price.