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) at $299 / £249 / AU$xxx, but the Headphone (a) is launching for just $199 / £149 / AU$329.
So (a) is one-third cheaper than (1) in the US, and half UK price — but having used the headphones (a) extensively, I can tell you that they are somehow better than the headphones (1). You can read my full Nothing Headphone (a) review if you want the in-depth low-down, or keep reading for the key details on the new model.
Here are the 5 elements I want to highlight in particular based on my testing that I think 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 if it is not by Kef
Nothing made a big (ahem) song and dance about working with British hi-fi giant Kef on a series of new audio products, the headphone (1) being the first of them. However, I ended up being disappointed with the sound of them, while I found the sound of the Nothing (a) to be superior, thanks to its far more expansive soundstage.
They are energetic and dynamic and just fun to listen to. Mine came with the EQ set to a bass boost mode, which wasn’t bad, but got a little warm and heavy on some tracks. Switching to ‘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’, although not much has changed overall. They still have flat-sided ear cups 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 solid color, and as a result (a) achieves a better balance between Nothing’s traditional ‘you can see the tech’ look and a regular headphone style.
They are still the same size overall, they are one little lighter (but still heavy compared to the competition) and sits well on the ears. But the build quality feels just as good as the headphone (1), just in plastic instead of aluminum.
3. Battery life is leading
135 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation turned off is about 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 that’s cheating.) The same goes for the 75 hours with noise canceling on—that’s huge.
Remember that the super-premium Sony WH-1000XM6 offers 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 headphones (1) I said they were “so close to being the best headphone debut I’ve ever seen”, despite disappointing them in a few areas, and that was thanks to a couple of really excellent features. The app is best in class when it comes to making it easy to access all of their cool features, for example, and that applies here as well.
But it’s the controls I really want to talk about. I love the scroll button that does volume, play/pause and toggles ANC mode. It feels so high quality and takes none of the guesswork of touch controls. The paddle control for changing tracks is just as clear and useful, and the customizable button on the side is great for adding control to the app-based function you like best.
The icing on the cake is that they have my favorite sound to communicate whether you’ve switched ANC on or off. It’s only a brief noise, but unlike most headphones, the two are absolutely unmistakable. It’s a puff that gushes out to activate transparency mode, then a sucking and slapping 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. All of this makes the price something of a steal
As part of my review, I tested them not only against the headphones (1), but against other headphones you can buy in a similar price range, including the Sennheiser Accentum Plus and the Sony WH-1000XM4 (which still exist, bless them).
When you look at the features, build quality and sound quality of the Nothing Headphone (a) – and keep in mind that this is launch price, and they’re sure to drop over time, just like the five-star Nothing Ear (a) earphones did – they’re going to be incredibly hard to beat for value.
The best noise canceling headphones for all budgets
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