Nothing, in partnership with British premium audio manufacturer KEF, has released its first over-ear headphones, the Headphone (1). These wireless headphones were unveiled in the UK on July 1, 2025. The Bluetooth headphones launched at a good time. In August, we plan to update the over-ear headphones ranking here on mychooz.com. The Headphone (1) might make it into that ranking, as the model looks very promising. The headphones pack plenty of useful features, and here’s the most interesting stuff:
- Unique design.
- 40mm dynamic drivers with acoustics engineered in collaboration with KEF.
- Adaptive active noise cancellation (ANC) up to 42 dB.
- LDAC Bluetooth codec.
- Up to 80 hours of battery life with the AAC codec, and up to 54 hours with the LDAC codec, all without active noise cancellation (ANC).
- Game Mode, personal sound profiling, and spatial audio.
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Sound. The Headphone (1) uses 40mm dynamic drivers with a nickel-coated diaphragm. Impedance is 16 ohms, and the frequency response is 20 Hz – 40 kHz. The headphone acoustics were jointly developed with KEF, a British manufacturer of premium audio equipment since 1961. Nothing entered into a long-term partnership with KEF in May of this year, and the Headphone (1) is the first, and so far not the last, joint product. For wireless connection, the headphones support LDAC, SBC, and AAC Bluetooth codecs, and they also feature USB-C and 3.5mm ports for wired connections.
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). The headphones feature 6 microphones β 3 on each side. For calls, 4 microphones utilize AI-based Clear Voice technology for better voice isolation. Nothing claims the neural network was trained on 28 million real-world scenarios. Active noise cancellation (ANC) suppresses noise up to 42 dB, with a frequency range of 2,000 Hz. There’s an adaptive mode with automatic tuning, plus a transparency mode.
Battery Life. Expect up to 80 hours of playback time using the AAC codec, or 54 hours with the LDAC codec. With active noise cancellation (ANC) enabled, that drops to 35 and 30 hours, respectively. Fast charging is included: 5 minutes of charging provides 5 hours of playback.
Controls and App. They’re separate and intuitive:
- A double toggle switch to turn the headphones on and off.
- Volume dial.
- Paddle to switch tracks.
- Button for pause and playback.
And if you want, you can customize the controls in the Nothing X app for Android and iOS. Among other features, the app gives you access to:
- 8-band EQ and 4 presets.
- Adaptive bass enhancement feature.
- Spatial audio with head tracking.
- Built-in ChatGPT AI. This works only on Nothing phones.
- Game Mode, an ear tip fit test, a find-my-headphones-on-a-map feature, and on-head detection.
The app is useful, and based on my experience with CMF and Nothing headphones, it’s also convenient.
Build Quality and Materials. The appearance is unique and unusual; with these headphones, you’ll definitely stand out from the crowd, though some might find the design quite strange. The headphone construction uses molded aluminum and cast plastic. The ear tips are made of wear-resistant polyurethane. According to the manufacturer, the headphones passed 50 different wear resistance tests. They have an IP52 dust and water resistance rating, meaning they can handle dust and light water splashes. The headphones measure 173.85 x 78.0 x 189.25 mm and weigh 329g.
Connection. They feature Bluetooth 5.3 and support GOOGLE FAST PAIR for quick connection to Android devices, as well as MICROSOFT SWIFT PAIR for quick connection to Windows. The package includes a USB-C cable, a 3.5mm audio cable, and a convenient soft pouch.
Price and Availability. The headphones are available in white and black for β¬299 / $299 / Β£299. You can place a pre-order on the official website starting July 4th. Official sales begin on July 15, 2025.
What would you like to compare this model with? Let us know in the comments.
