12 hours ago
Nothing's Headphone 1 Might Be Its Riskiest Audio Product Yet
Nothing has lots of wireless audio products at this point—trust me, I've covered basically all of them. First, there was the Ear 1, then the Ear 2, then the Ear Stick (RIP), then the Ear, then the Ear A, then Ear Open, and, oh my god, that's a lot of wireless earbuds. There's one kind of audio product that it hasn't ever released, though, and that's an over-ear pair of headphones. That's all going to change very soon, according to recent leaks from Nothing_fan_blog on Instagram, which has leaked the company's Headphone 1.
Nothing Headphone (1) First Look ! 👀
Do you guys like it? It's quite different.
— TechiBoy (@techiboy96) June 20, 2025This is apparently Nothing's first over-ear headphones, and it's not just a precedent; it looks like a heck of a big swing. First, there's the look. As you can see, there's still the characteristic Nothing transparency—you can see a little bit inside the headphones just like in the Ear-series earbuds, but with a slightly different spin. I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting a big cassette/tape recorder vibe, which pairs well with Nothing's canonical reverence for old tech like Game Boys and Walkmans. There's even a new soft blue color that treads outside of the typical white and black and evolves a theme solidified by the Ear A wireless earbuds, which debuted in a Playdate-esque yellow color.
Probably even more notable than the color or the transparency, though, is the actual shape of these things. One choice you've probably noticed is that the earcups—or really the whole apparatus that holds them—are rectangular instead of round or elliptical like most headphones. That, to me, is actually the most jarring of all of the design choices and one that I'm going to guess may be divisive among Nothing audio fans and non-fans alike. As someone who has a hard time not looking like a small child in oversized headphones, I have my doubts about Nothing's decision to go rectangular here, but I'll reserve judgment until I get a pair on my head.
That's all to say: Nothing is taking some chances, and it's not just design. Wireless, over-ear headphones also connote a few things about price and quality. On the latter front, the price, we can reasonably expect the Headphone 1 to be more expensive than any of its wireless earbuds of yore. If I were a betting man, I'd guess they'll still be well under high-end competitors like AirPods Max, but still $200 or more. And on the quality side of things, we can expect the Headphone 1 to be decidedly hi-fi. Nothing has already announced that it's partnering with KEF, a known entity in the hi-fi audio space, and the Headphone 1 appears to be the first Nothing product born from that partnership. As noted by WhatHiFi, leaked images show 'Sound by KEF' emblazoned right on the headphones themselves, making them the first clear traversal into a more premium audio space.
So, to recap, what we're looking at is a first-ever product for Nothing in a new audio niche with a higher price and quite a big swing on design. To be honest, that's not just one swing; that's more like three, and according to America's favorite pastime, three strikes and you're out. To be clear, it's impossible to say at this point if any of those swings from the Headphone 1 are a miss, though. I haven't seen the headphones in person, I haven't listened to them, and I don't know how much they cost. Maybe we're looking at two or three runs on base, or maybe Nothing hit a grand slam. In any event, Nothing is clearly playing a new game here, and I look forward to seeing (or hearing, I guess) how this one turns out.
