There’s a certain pleasure in watching a young brand define itself piece by piece — or, in this case, launch by launch. Since its founding in 2020 by Carl Pei with original design guidance from celebrate Swedish design brand Teenage Engineering, Nothing has built a reputation for injecting style, transparency, and a touch of sci‑fi nostalgia into consumer tech. From the minimalist, dot‑matrix‑inspired Ear (1) earbuds to the stripped‑down Phone (2a), the company has steadily shaped a visual world of its own. The Headphone (1) arrives not just as another product, but as a crystallised expression of those ambitions: transparent, tactile, rectilinear, and proudly different. Maybe too different?
At first glance, what surprises is the shape. You expect over-ear headphones to be circular or oval, but Headphone (1) breaks that rule entirely. The earcups — the two main elements that cover your ears — are boldly rectangular, almost like small handheld devices. It’s a visual shock, especially when you realise the references to Nothing’s smartphones are more than accidental. The form is unfamiliar, even slightly uncanny — and that’s precisely what gives the object its presence. A strong identity, straight out of the box.
Nothing Headphone (1) review: pushing design language to the limit
Rectangular, transparent, unapologetically odd: Headphone (1) marks a new high point in the young tech brand’s Space Age aesthetic. We tested it — here are our impressions.
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- Alessandro Scarano
- 02 July 2025

Look closer, and the formal strangeness reveals a surprising attention to composition. Transparency isn’t just a visual trick here — it’s a structural attitude. Through the clear plastic shell, you glimpse screws, meshes, etched text, tiny circles and glyphs that seem borrowed from sci-fi circuit boards or fictional tech manuals. Even the contrast between the inner oval cushion and the hard, rectangular earcup it’s mounted on is striking: soft mounted onto hard, curve onto angle. The foam seems to float, anchored by a brushed aluminium plate that feels more architectural than ergonomic. It’s as if someone tried to reverse-engineer comfort starting from a blueprint — and somehow got it right.
Will this strange, futuristic headset break out of its niche? We don’t know. We only hope it does.
Where other headphones hide their functions behind swipes and taps, Headphone (1) goes fully analog. The control system — a Roller for volume, a Paddle for media, and a single Button — is a deliberate rejection of touch-era ambiguity. Instead of guessing where to press, you rotate, push, click. It’s intuitive in a way that’s almost nostalgic: the pleasure of pressing something and knowing it worked. It’s also unusually satisfying — more like adjusting the volume on a high-end stereo than operating a gadget. In a market where “invisible” often means “unusable,” this physicality feels like a kind of rebellion. Undoubtedly, it also recalls the AirPods Max, where Apple avoided digital touch controls.
The audio side of Headphone (1) was developed in collaboration with British brand KEF, known for its high-fidelity expertise. Through the Nothing X app, users can switch between a standard equalizer and a new advanced 8-band EQ mode, create and save presets, or activate spatial audio with dynamic head tracking. Active Noise Cancellation adapts in real time, while Transparency Mode lets outside sound through with a tap. The headphones also support LDAC, USB-C wired audio, and a 3.5mm jack — covering both wireless and traditional listening setups.
Beyond sound, the Nothing X app acts as a thoughtful companion to the headphones. It allows toggling between standard and advanced 8-band EQ modes, activating spatial audio with head tracking, and fine-tuning ANC and Transparency settings. You can remap the Button, create listening presets, or even use Channel Hop on Nothing phones to switch audio sources. It’s clear Nothing intends these headphones to be part of a broader — if still niche — ecosystem of personal audio tools. The ambition is clear: headphones that don’t just play music, but interact with the wider interface of life, or at least with the brand’s version of it.
Nothing has been accelerating fast — not just in launching products, but in constructing its own idea of cool: a bit nerdish, a bit nostalgic, and increasingly coherent. With Headphone (1), that direction reaches its boldest, most uncompromising expression yet. This isn’t just another pair of headphones; it’s a statement that crystallises the brand’s visual identity in a form that may be hard to walk back from. We’ve seen unexpected objects — like Apple’s AirPods Max — evolve into fashion staples and status symbols. But Nothing isn’t Apple. It’s a small, independent brand with a loyal community and a very specific aesthetic vocabulary. Will this strange, futuristic headset break out of its niche? We don’t know. We only hope it does. Because in a world where tech often looks indistinguishable — or just plain dull — we’ll always root for coherence. And bravery.
Opening image: © Nothing