Nothing has always done everything its own way, and its Nothing Headphone (1) Pro absolutely does the same.
You get Nothing’s fantastic build quality, a pair of supremely comfortable headphones with really good ANC, and a brand-new triple-driver design that makes customizing your sound more personal than ever. I’m also a big fan of the new Flat EQ toggle, which is something you won’t find anywhere else.
But then there is the other stuff. The Nothing Headphone (1) Pro case is fun but mostly impractical; it doesn’t offer charging or anywhere to store cables. The feature-filled Nothing X companion app is great, but the Flat EQ button isn’t anywhere to be found. Customizing in the app is straightforward, but the triple-driver aspect is confusing; turning on the ANC cuts battery life by half…
Overall, I really like the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro, because it gets the core functionality right — good sound, decent battery life, ANC that actually works — and that’s the most important aspect of all, and what really makes them worth your time.
8/10
- Battery Life
-
Up to 68 hours, 30 hours with ANC
- Microphones
-
10
- Frequency Response
-
20 Hz – 40,000 Hz
- Weight
-
329g
The Nothing Headphone (1) Pro pairs Nothing’s signature transparent look with a sleek titanium and aluminium frame. It features a rarely-seen triple-driver architecture with a crisp xMEMS tweeter, tactile physical controls like a volume roller, up to 68 hours of battery life, and 46dB of adaptive ANC.
- Great ANC
- Comfortable for long listening sessions
- Good, detailed sound
- Extensive customization options
- Physical controls always a plus
- Weird, heavy case
- Price will put some folks off
Nothing kindly sent us the Headphone (1) Pro to review. It had no input in the content of this review and has not seen it before publication.
Nothing Headphone (1) Pro pricing and availability
The Nothing Headphone (1) Pro costs $399 in the US, which is $100 more than the original Headphone (1). It went on sale on September 29 in black and white, the only colors available. Though it has to be said that the white is definitely more of a silver, given the manufacturing materials/
You can pick the Headphone (1) Pro up on Amazon, or directly from Nothing, where you’ll receive the headphones, hardshell carry case, a 3.5mm cable, and a USB-C cable.
Familiar, comfortable, and wonderful to look at
Nothing’s design language is always top-notch, but I’m not sure about the case
Transparency is key to Nothing’s ongoing design ethos, stretching from its original Nothing Phone (1) through to the Headphone (1) Pro. It’s a unified design language that would make Apple proud, and that’s saying something.
I love the Headphone (1) Pro’s curved rear panels that let you peek into the drivers, and as observed on the Headphone (1) and (a), physical buttons are what most folks really want. We’re done with features buried several menus and long presses deep; let me push the slider one way, and feel that the headphones respond.
Scratch- and drop-resistant glass, titanium, and aluminum combine to give the Headphone (1) Pro an ultra-luxe feel, far beyond what Nothing typically opts for. But these are Pro headphones, after all, and that price tag needs suitable reflection in the materials.
It works, and they’re also somehow 2g lighter than the original design (327g vs. 329g), though a smidge heavier than the Headphone (a)’s 310g. It’s not noticeable either way. But what is notable is the clamping force, which Nothing has softened from the previous models, where it was on the tight side, even for those with “smaller” heads.
I like a good, tight clamp for audio, ANC, and general comfort, but the prior generation took a little getting used to for its sheer force, but the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro are more comfortable, and it doesn’t feel like your head is in a vice. In combination with the thicker earcup and headband padding, it all feels rather nice.
For all Nothing’s wonderful design work on the headphones themselves, the case is the real talking point. Big, gray, and unwieldy, it forces you to carry the headphones like a small handbag of sorts. It has no onboard charging functionality despite its size, and nowhere to store its charging USB-C cable.
That said, I quite like how pointlessly unique this design is. Someone at Nothing clearly had a “eureka” moment: no one has designed $400 headphones with a case like this before. Maybe the reality is that this design was thought of, prototyped, and cast away. The hardshell certainly grabbed a few sideways glances on the train from London and various cafes and eateries I’ve patronized recently.
Which is what Nothing is all about, right? Nothing isn’t just about headphones or a smartphone that works well; it’s about getting those glances with tech that looks different from the rest. So, goal very much achieved.
ANC that actually works, with decent battery life
Don’t be tricked by the battery numbers you’ve seen
I’ve had the pleasure of some train travel across the UK during my review period, and the Headphone (1) Pro ANC has made the whole experience much more bearable. A new 8mm silicone baffle definitely helps make the ANC more effective and also stops noise leakage as an extra bonus, and increasing the number of active ANC microphones to 10 certainly helps.
On one occasion, I was sat at a table with three other people conversing at normal volume, sometimes excitedly, and with music set to around 45 on Windows 11 and the ANC on full, I couldn’t hear a thing as I sat and worked.
Similarly, the headphones blocked out a good chunk of noise on the London Underground; commuters were basically shut out completely, but no headphones in the world can stop the high-pitched metal-on-metal grinding of the Northern Line. But on the ultra-modern Elizabeth Line? All good throughout.
Battery life feels like a contentious area, but the devil is in the details. Without ANC, the Headphone (1) Pro delivers up to 68 hours of playback, which is definitely quite good. But that figure drops significantly, to 30 hours, if you crank up the ANC, and you can cut a couple more if you use hi-res audio like LDAC.
On the face of those numbers, you lose more than half of your battery life. But compared to other similarly priced headphones, that drop only looks so drastic because Nothing already gives you much more. For example, the $349 Bose QuietComfort 2 we reviewed gives you 24 hours of ANC, but just 45 hours without. Sony’s incredible WH-1000XM6 offers 30 hours of ANC, but just 40 hours without, and costs 50 bucks more than the Nothing’s.
Charging is rapid, though. Five minutes with the USB-C cable plugged in gives you up to four hours of playback. I found a full charge takes slightly less than the advertised two hours, but then again, I probably had a little juice left in the tank. Either way, fast charging is useful and available.
Triple-drivers and spatial audio abound
More complexity sounds good, but how different is it really?
Triple drivers on wireless headphones of this nature is a bold design decision, but it works better than the handbag-case. Instead of a single driver, or even a dual-driver design, Nothing has slotted three individual drivers into the headphones: a 40mm dynamic, 13 x 8mm precision, and a 3.2 × 6.0 × 1.15 mm solid-state xMEMS silicone diaphragm driver for the high-end.
It’s a powerful combination designed to cover all the bases, and it works well in combination, but there is definitely an emphasis on the bass in the default tuning. I like the default tuning, mind.
Papa Was a Rolling Stone sounded as sublime as usual, and I felt the real deep-lying bass on Massive Attack’s Angel. Elsewhere, you could really hear the whole of Hans Zimmer’s legendary Time, helping to emphasize that Nothing has improved the overall soundstage on the Nothing Headphones (1) Pro.
I liked how crisp the intro sounded on Pink Floyd’s Money, too, but on other high-end tracks it sounded a little harsh at times. A good example is Skream’s remix of La Roux’s In For the Kill. La Roux’s vocals on the original work well, but on the remixed version on these headphones, they’re pushed to the wrong side of piercing. I know, it’s not the best track, but it’s where I noticed.
Then there is the extensive range of new spatial audio modes: Standard, Studio B by Metropolis, Live House, Club, Concert Hall. These deliver a different sense of space depending on the mode and the track you’re listening to. For the most part, they work well and give a newfound sense of space in the audio. But I have to say, it didn’t really feel like anything I hadn’t already experienced, despite the novelty of so many modes on these headphones.
Extensive audio customization
Customization in the Nothing X app is extensive, and with the addition of a new parametric-style EQ, you can really delve into the nuts and bolts of audio perfection. That is, if you know what you’re doing. The Simple tab lets you adjust the Bass, Mid, and Treble sliders, and really, for most folks, does the job.
The new Advanced tab takes this an enormous step further, allowing customization of any frequency from 20Hz to 40kHz, over the entire range, with multiple adjustable nodes. Then, there is the Q Factor tab that defines frequency width or sharpness and Gain to customize the volume of the specific frequency.
It’s something audio lovers have pushed Nothing towards in the past couple of years, reasoning that Nothing’s previous Simple EQ was, well, simple. I suspect that this level of audio tweaking is far beyond what most folks want, but it’s a great option for those that do want it.
And I always call out Anker Soundcore for this, so, Nothing, you get the same: a Balanced EQ isn’t completely flat visually, so don’t present it like that. You literally have a toggle on these headphones for a Flat EQ… so it’s “flatter” than this? Come on, headphone companies, be real.
Flat EQ and Auracast
On that, the slightly weirder and wilder side of the Headphones (1) Pro is the aforementioned Flat EQ physical slider that instantly switches from whatever EQ profile you’re using to completely flat, removing any tuning you’ve added. It’s a pretty cool addition to any set of headphones, but isn’t necessarily directed at day-to-day headphone users.
Nothing believes this is great for those who are reviewing audio and need to listen to music before it goes live, meaning it’s positioning the Headphone (1) Pro more in line with reference headphones and similar. Flicking the switch definitely tones everything down, but I’m not convinced someone in a studio will reach for these to master their latest banger.
Keeping with the weird and wonderful, Auracast support means you can broadcast your audio to other headphones and earbuds that support the standard. That makes for a really odd and surprisingly fun situation where you can share music with your friends and family, or really anyone around you that cares to join in.
I tried this with friends, and it worked surprisingly well despite our limited experience with Auracast, even though it launched a good few years ago now. Unsurprisingly, there were no takers on the 18:03 Monday train from London to Cornwall, which is obviously their loss.
Should you buy the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro?
You should buy the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro if:
- You love Nothing’s design language, and you want a real statement set of cans
- You use an Android with LDAC support
- You appreciate extensive EQ customization and know what you’re doing
- You want features you literally won’t find elsewhere
You shouldn’t buy the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro if:
- You want to travel light
- You need extensive battery life without reaching for another charger
- Spatial audio isn’t really your thing
Price is the real sticking point. At more than $150 more than the original Headphone (1), and $250 more than the Headphone (a), I appreciate that the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro becomes a very different proposition, especially as some aspects feel quite similar.
But Nothing’s push into the higher-end headphone market has come with some key improvements: more drivers, more features, more customization, and the familiar physical buttons we know and love. Furthermore, the inclusion of Auracast is what makes Nothing such a fun company overall. People love sharing their music, so why not enable this in person on our headphones?
These are a fun, comfortable set of headphones with more features than you’ll find on most, so why not give them a try?
8/10
- Battery Life
-
Up to 68 hours, 30 hours with ANC
- Microphones
-
10
- Frequency Response
-
20 Hz – 40,000 Hz
- Weight
-
329g
The Nothing Headphone (1) Pro pairs Nothing’s signature transparent look with a sleek titanium and aluminium frame. It features a rarely-seen triple-driver architecture with a crisp xMEMS tweeter, tactile physical controls like a volume roller, up to 68 hours of battery life, and 46dB of adaptive ANC.