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For a bargain price, the Nothing Headphone (a) bring a well-rounded audio profile (including a healthy helping of bass), capable noise-cancelling and a frankly ridiculous battery life. They feel great on your head too.
The Good
- Great sound quality with loads of bass
- Excellent value
- 75+ hours of battery
- Respectable noise-cancelling
The Not So Good
- Transparency mode can be hit or miss
- No hard carry case
Need-to-knows
- Great sound and noise-cancelling
- Huge battery life
- Light and the clamping force feels just right
- Value kings
Nothing has made a new pair of headphones. They’re called the Headphone (a) and they cost just £149/$199.
They sit below the Kef-tuned Headphone (1) in both price and a few key product details, but they are, to all intents and purposes, a well-built, great-sounding pair of active noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones that cost a lot less than the bigger-name competition.
There’s a catch or two (there always is), but there’s also a lot to love about the Headphone (a).
Such has been the utter madness of tech releases this year (it’s only March), I regrettably haven’t found space to review the Headphone (a) on my YouTube channel, hence the focus on delivering the goods here. Equally, when I reviewed the Headphone (1) on that channel, the resulting audience was relatively small.
This is a shame, because what Nothing is doing needs to be highlighted.
I’ve been using the Headphone (a) consistently for a few weeks now (I’m wearing them on a long-haul flight while typing these words, incidentally), and I’ve got lots of thoughts.
And, yes, I’ll tackle the elephant in the room: why buy the twice-as-expensive Nothing Headphone (1) when this new pair exists?
Shop the Nothing Headphone (a) review below!
At a glance
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Size / Weight | 177×78×190.4 mm · 310 g |
| Driver | 40 mm (titanium-coated) |
| Freq. Range | 20 Hz–40 kHz |
| Battery | 1060 mAh · ~2h charge |
| Playback | Up to 135h (ANC off) / 75h (ANC on) |
| Fast Charge | 5 min → 8h (off) / 5h (on) |
| ANC | Adaptive, up to 40 dB |
| Mics | 4 total (AI call noise reduction) |
| Bluetooth | 5.4 · 10 m · AAC/SBC/LDAC |
| Features | Dual connect, Fast Pair, Low latency, Hi-Res |
| Water Resist. | IP52 |
| Controls | Tactile buttons |
| Extras | Transparency mode, spatial audio |
Specs and pricing
The Headphone (a) are powered by 40mm titanium-coated dynamic drivers which support LDAC, AAC, and SBC codecs. They have a frequency response of 20Hz-40,000Hz and some fancy AI-powered algorithms that enhance the bass response in real time.
Download the brilliant Nothing X app, and you’ll gain access to an 8-band EQ and the ability to configure the Spatial Audio settings for watching movies or concerts.
The Headphone (a) can cancel up to 40db of external noise and have three settings to adjust the intensity. It’s adaptive ANC, too, which means it adjusts based on the environment you’re in and the fit around your ears.
Time for some silly numbers. The 1,060mAh battery in the Headphone (a) (headphone manufacturers rarely quote the battery size) offers up to 75 hours of playback with ANC turned on. Turn it off, and you’ll get 135 hours. And, if you need juice quickly, a five-minute charge will provide up to five hours of playback with ANC on.
Bluetooth 5.4 comes along for the ride, as does multi-point pairing for two devices.
The Nothing Headphone (a) are available now, and are widely available throughout the world.
Design and comfort
Unlike the aluminium Headphone (1), the Headphone (a) are made largely of polycarbonate and glass fibre. This certainly gives them a different feel to their more expensive cousin, but I wouldn’t say they feel ‘cheaper’. Because they don’t.
In fact, for the price, the Headphone (a) are an impressive pair of headphones, design- and build-wise. They’re funky, too (such is the want with entry-level tech these days). Aside from black and white, you can grab a pair in either pink or a very noticeable yellow, which arrives next month, in limited quantities.
Despite this, the Headphone (a)’s design feels a bit more inconspicuous than the Headphone (1). They’re less see-through, not quite as chunky, and, particularly in the white and black variants, rather normal-looking. The only giveaway that they’re not a pair of Bose or Sony headphones is the fact that they have squared-off ear cups.
They’re super comfortable, too. I’ve been wearing them for the last four hours on this flight, and they still feel great. There’s a lightness to them, and the clamping force is just right, which is what you need during this kind of travel. And as for the battery life, well – I have no concerns on this particular flight.
Related: Nothing Phone (3) review
Time for a concession. I think. Unlike the Headphone (1), the Headphone (a) don’t come with a case. They come with a bag. This is a common tactic at this end of the market, and it’s one which, for a headphone case bore like myself, takes some adjustment. It does make sense after a while, though.
The bag (it’s a nice one) keeps costs down for Nothing and the people buying the Headphone (a) are likely to keep them wrapped around their neck, looped through a rucksack strap, or half-snuck inside their coat pocket when not in use. I’m also told somewhat relentlessly in the YouTube comments section that lots of people just ditch headphone cases altogether and chuck their cans in their bag, naked.
Fair enough.
One area where the Headphone (a) score very highly is in the control department, which has been borrowed from the more expensive pair. There are no touch controls (hallelujah). Instead, we get proper buttons, a paddle, and a brilliant roller thing for play, volume, ANC, and voice assistant controls (not necessarily in that order). It’s almost too much. But they’re tactile, well-thought-out, and a billion times better than any kind of touch control.
Keep being you, Nothing.
Oh, did I mention that they’re IP52-rated for water and dust resistance, too? So, they’ll take a good beating at the gym, as well.
Sound
The Headphone (1) are tuned by UK-based masters of premium home audio stuff, KEF. The Headphone (a) aren’t. That means Carl Pei has led his merry band of in-house audio engineers into the battlefield to make a pair of headphones that sound almost as good but not quite as good as the expertly tuned pair.
They’ve done a really good job. And I’m not being facetious here. The Headphone (a) deal with pretty much anything I throw at them. They are, clearly, tuned for significant bass performance, and if your favourite genres include lots of thumping kick drums, saturated bass lines, and sub 30Hz sine wave drops, you’re going to love them.
That doesn’t make them a one-trick pony, though. The Headphone (a) produce mid and high frequencies admirably and never in a way that becomes jarring or fatiguing.
The Headphone (1) do sound better, and are less inclined to smash you in the face with bass when the moment demands it, but there’s not a huge amount in it.
Hats off… but this does create a problem, which I’ll get to in a moment.
Noise cancelling
As I sit on this plane, the Headphone (a) have removed the bottom-end rumble emanating from the engines, and the overall ambience of the cabin (you probably know what I’m referring to – the constantly blaring air conditioning, rustling of crisp packets and clickety-clack of seatbelt attachments) is satisfyingly dampened.
We’re not talking Sony XM6-levels of noise cancelling here, but it ain’t far off. And for a pair of ANC headphones which sit firmly in the ‘that’s worth a punt’ price bracket, that’s super admirable.
Transparency mode is where the Headphone (a) reveal some of their budget-conscious corner-cutting. It’s ok. But it’s quite a distance from what you get on the best out there from Sony, Apple, and Bose. But let’s remember the price differential here. On the Headphone (a), the transparency mode enables you to hear yourself and your surroundings, but it’s a bit ‘boxy’ (i.e. you know you’ve still got a pair of headphones clamped to your ears).
When it comes to calls, the adequate transparency mode and what must be fairly decent mics do a good enough job to prevent any complaints at this price point.
Nothing Headphone (1) vs Headphone (a)?
Here’s where things get confusing. And a little frustrating for a reviewer like myself.
I’m a big fan of Nothing. I love how they’ve shaken up the industry, even if that strategy hasn’t quite broken out to the masses yet (ask your mates and family who Nothing is; I’m yet to find anyone within my circle who hasn’t stared back at me blankly). But that, too, is admirable – and damn cool. They’re doing something right, and it’s all a bit under the radar.
The problem is that Nothing has an extremely confusing smartphone lineup. Head to that section of its website, and I defy you not to get overwhelmed quickly. There are just too many devices. And they all look really tempting. That isn’t a good thing, by the way.
We haven’t reached that stage with the Headphone side of things yet. And I hope we don’t. What we have reached, though, is a point where I can’t think of a single reason why you’d buy the Headphone (1). They cost double the price, have worse battery life, weigh more, have no official IP rating, and are, in my opinion, slightly more divisive, looks-wise.
Best earbuds? Sony WF-1000XM6 review
It feels like the Headphone (a) are the cans the Headphone (1) should have been. As it turns out, we didn’t really need the KEF tuning. Or the case. If they had arrived with this price point last year, I think the audience would have been bigger (the headlines certainly would have been).
Conclusion
This isn’t a negative review of the Nothing Headphone (a). They are, without question, one of the best pairs of headphones I’ve tested in recent times, and, for the price, they’re an absolute bargain.
If you’re tempted, buy a pair. You won’t regret it.
Check out my Oppo Find N6 review!
I just hope that interest in Nothing breaks beyond the tech press, fashion industry (where it is undoubtedly scoring highly – a smart move), and the regions in which Nothing is increasingly revered (India being one such place). I also hope that we start to see some clarity in Nothing’s entire product line-up. As I’ve discovered during this review process, one pair of headphones would have done just fine. Three or maybe four smartphones – again, fine.
Keep being you, Nothing, just please make it a little easier for us to recommend the right stuff to the right people – they deserve to hear, feel, and experience it.
4 Comments
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I always like reading reviews before choosing new tech products, and it’s great to connect with @ Carmatec UK and explore innovation across different industries.
Nothing Headphone (a) must be the kind of product that proves good audio does not need a premium price. I used a pair of blackweb headphones for years, so I appreciate devices that focus on comfort, clear sound, and everyday reliability. The design here also feels distinctive without looking overdone. For commuting, podcasts, and evening playlists, solid battery life and easy controls matter more to me than tiny technical differences. A reasonably priced pair that performs well can be more satisfying than chasing the most expensive model. Your review makes the Headphone (a) seem like a smart, practical choice overall.
I think the value point is what makes this review really interesting. Once you get into the cheaper end of ANC headphones, it’s easy to compromise too much on comfort or battery life, so having both without going into flagship pricing is a pretty big deal. The 75+ hours is especially impressive for anyone who travels or uses headphones throughout the day. I also like that you tested them for several hours rather than judging them just from a quick first impression.
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