After teasing them for weeks, Nothing has officially unveiled its first budget-focused headphones, the Headphone (a). It had previously launched the premium-priced Nothing Headphone (1) for $299 / £249 / AU$xxx, but the Headphone (a) are launching for just $199 / £149 / AU$329.
So the (a) are a third cheaper than the (1) in the US, and half the price in the UK — but having already used the Headphone (a) extensively, I can tell you that they’re somehow better than the Headphone (1). You can read my full Nothing Headphone (a) review if you want the in-depth low-down, or keep reading for the key info about the new model.
Here are the 5 elements I particularly want to highlight based on my testing that, in my opinion, make the new model better than the Headphone (1) — and you can read my full Nothing Headphone (1) review if you want more on that model.
1. The sound is better, even though it’s not by Kef
Nothing made a big (ahem) song and dance about working with British hi-fi great Kef on a range of new audio products, and the Headphone (1) was the first of them. However, I ended up being disappointed by the sound of those, while I found the sound of the Nothing (a) to be superior, thanks to its far more expansive soundstage.
They’re energetic and dynamic, and just great fun to listen too. Mine came with the EQ set to a bass-boosting mode, which wasn’t bad, but got a little hot and heavy in some tracks. Switching to the ‘Balanced’ mode calmed this down, though.
2. The design is less divisive this time
Nothing has made interesting changes to the design that make them look less aggressively ‘techy’, even though not that much has changed overall. They still have flat-sided earcups with rounded corners and an oval sticking out of them, but this time Nothing has used plastic rather than aluminum, rounded off the ovals, and made the ovals a plain color, and as a result the (a) strike a better balance between Nothing’s traditional ‘you can see the tech’ appearance and a regular headphone style.
They’re still the same size overall, they’re a little lighter (but still heavy compared to the competition) and fit snugly to the ears. But the build quality feels just as good as the Headphone (1), just in plastic rather than aluminum.
3. The battery life is class leading
135 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation turned off is basically as high as I’ve seen from anything on the market today. (I saw a pair of headphones offering 200 hours at CES, but they’re not available yet; and they also double as Bluetooth speakers, so it’s cheating.) The same goes for the 75 hours with noise cancellation on — it’s huge.
Bear in mind that the super-premium Sony WH-1000XM6 offer 30 hours. 60 hours is common from other headphones. 75 hours is… big. And from my testing, it seems to be realistic.
4. Nothing kept all the best parts of the Headphone (1)
When I reviewed the Headphone (1), I said they were “so close to being the best headphones debut I’ve ever seen” despite being disappointed by them in a few areas, and that was thanks to a few really excellent features. The app is best-in-class when it comes to making it easy to access all their cool features, for example, and that’s true here as well.
But it’s the controls I really want to talk about. I love the roller button that does volume, play/pause and switching ANC modes. It feels so high-quality, and requires none of the guesswork of touch controls. The paddle control to change tracks is equally clear and useful, and the customizable button on the side is great for adding control for whatever app-based feature you like the most.
The icing in the cake is that they have my favorite sound for communicating whether you’ve switched to ANC on or off. It’s just a short noise, but unlike most headphones, the two are absolutely unmistakeable. It’s a breath of air rushing out for enabling transparency mode, and then a sucking down and slamming sound for active noise cancellation. A little thing that makes you realize how mediocre everyone else is when it comes to handling this key feature.
5. This all makes the price kind of a steal
As part of my review, I tested them against not just the Headphone (1), but against other headphones you can buy in a similar price bracket, including the Sennheiser Accentum Plus and Sony WH-1000XM4 (which are still around, bless ’em).
When you look at the features, the build quality, and the sound quality of the Nothing Headphone (a) — and bearing in mind that this is the launch price, and they’ll surely drop over time, just as the five-star Nothing Ear (a) earbuds did — they’re going to be incredibly hard to beat on value.
The best noise cancelling headphones for all budgets
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