In a market dominated by giants like Sony, Bose or Sennheiser, Nothing has emerged with the intention of doing something different: turning technology into an object with personality. It has achieved this with its smartphones and its intraneural headphones, but with its new Nothing Headphone (a) it has gone one step further. Not only because of the design, very similar to the first generation, but for its colors, very far from the initial primary palette of white, black and red.
This model, launched in March 2026, seeks to democratize the experience of its over-ear headphones by reducing the price compared to the previous model (just 159 euros), but maintaining a good part of its premium functions. And the truth is that, after trying them, it is clear that Nothing not only wants to attract attention with the design: It also aims to seriously compete in the mid-range of wireless headphones. But let’s go to the beginning.
If there is something that distinguishes Nothing products, it is their aesthetics. The brand founded by Carl Pei has turned design into a statement of intent, and these headphones are no exception. The Nothing Headphone (a) maintain the company’s characteristic visual language: unconventional geometric shapes (a window to the 1980s), translucent materials and a style that seems closer to industrial design than traditional headphones.
The cups have an unusual rectangular shape and house a quite original system of physical controls– a roller for volume, a lever for changing tracks or answering calls and dedicated buttons for quick functions. According to various tests, these physical controls are more intuitive than the touch panels used by many competitors.
Weighing in at around 310 grams, they’re not the lightest headphones on the market, although the foam pads and relatively balanced pressure allow them to be worn for long periods without too much fatigue. Inside we find 40 mm dynamic drivers, capable of covering a frequency range between 20 Hz and 40 kHz. The sound is characterized by a powerful and energetic signature, with subtle bass, but well integrated into the mix.
Depending on how we configure the customization part of the application, certain equalization settings can cause the presence of bass to be too evident. Here it is recommended to play with the options and take into account each person’s musical tastes. The fact of having Support for LDAC, a high-resolution audio codec that allows you to stream higher quality music from compatible Android devices.
Important: Nothing Headphone (a) includes active noise cancellation (ANC) capable of reducing up to 40 decibels of ambient noise, enough to eliminate the constant hum of an airplane or the murmur of an office. It is not the ANC of the high range, but its ergonomics help a lot and they behave more than acceptable. There will be updates in the future that will allow for better fine-tuning of the microphone system to further elevate the ANC experience.
They also have transparency mode to listen to the environment without removing the headphones, Bluetooth 5.4 and multipoint connection, allowing them to be connected to two devices at the same time, such as a computer and a mobile phone.In terms of connectivity, they include both USB-C and a 3.5 mm port, something that is becoming less common and very useful for those who prefer to use cables or connect them to traditional audio equipment.
Finally we have the battery, one of the strengths of these headphones. The Nothing Headphone (a) can reach up to 135 hours of playback without noise cancellationan extraordinary figure even for much more expensive headphones. With ANC activated, the autonomy remains impressive: around 75 hours.
To put it in perspective, most mid-range wireless headphones offer between 30 and 40 hours of use. In addition, they have fast charging: five minutes of charging can provide up to eight hours of playback, a very practical function when you need to leave the house in a hurry.
Verdict:
In a market where many products seem to be clones of each other, Nothing demonstrates with these headphones you can create something differenteffective and with a battery that defies everything we know.