London-based Nothing’s latest gadget is a set of over-ear headphones that throws out the dull design norms of noise-cancelling cans for an attention-attracting look that is a cross between a 1980s Walkman and Doctor Who’s Cybermen.

The large, semi-transparent cans are certainly a statement piece on your head, with an outer design covered in details, dot-matrix print and physical buttons, but sadly stopping short of the flashing LEDs of the company’s phones.

The unconventional design has a rather more conventional price, costing £299 and landing the Headphone 1 in competition with the very best noise-cancelling headphones from Bose, Sony, Sennheiser and myriad others.

The eye-catching transparent plastic ovals protrude from smooth aluminium squircles to form the ear cups, which are attached to the headband by black steel arms that rotate and tilt to adjust the fit.

The headphones are relatively heavy at 329g, but have a well-judged clamping force that keeps them secure on your head without too much pressure. The ear cushions are slim and quite comfortable, if a bit sweaty on warmer days. But the padding on the headband is a little too thin and can create a sore spot on your head after a few hours of listening.

The right ear cup has five buttons and two ports dotted around it. The power switch, USB-C and headphones ports are in the bottom edge, with a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button hidden on the inside edge. A rolling button controls volume and presses in for play and pause or to switch noise-cancelling modes.

Below the roller is a paddle that rocks left and right to skip track, fast-forward or rewind. A final button on the outside of the ear cup activates the phone’s voice assistant, but can be customised to other functions such as controlling noise cancelling. It is really nice to have multiple tactile buttons compared with the various touch or single-button controls plaguing most headphones.

The battery lasts 30 to 35 hours with noise cancelling, or up to 80 hours with it off, which is in line with the competition and long enough for a week of commuting or any flight. A full charge takes two hours.

The headphones support Bluetooth 5.3 and can connect to two devices simultaneously. They also have a standard 3.5mm headphones socket and can play audio over USB-C, which is handy for wired listening with a phone.

Specifications

• Weight: 329g

• Dimensions: 189.3 x 173.9 x 78mm

• Drivers: 40mm

• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint, 3.5mm, USB-C charging and audio

• Bluetooth codecs: SBC, AAC, LDAC

• Rated battery life: 35 hours ANC on

Sound by KEF, noise cancelling by Nothing

Nothing partnered with the storied British speaker maker KEF for the audio tuning of the Headphone 1, resulting in some great-sounding headphones. They have a fairly bassy profile, with plenty of punch in the low end without drowning out the mids and high tones. They produce a relatively wide soundstage with solid detail and separation of tones.

But they sound best with noise cancelling turned off. Switch it on and they sound narrower and a bit muted in some more complex tracks, lacking a bit of punch here and there. They won’t trouble the very best in the market for high-end nuance but they sound good for general listening across a range of genres.

The noise cancelling is similar: reasonably effective but some way behind the best in class. It can handle rumbles and other lower end tones reasonably well. But it really struggles with higher tones such as voices, which are clearly audible even with noise cancelling set to maximum, making them a poor choice for trying to focus in an office or cafe.

The transparency mode sounds clear and natural but is a bit too loud, increasing the volume of world around you unnecessarily. It is great for awareness, but can overwhelm the music. Call quality is good, coming through nice and clear in quiet or noisy street environments.

The excellent Nothing X app on Android or iPhone handles settings, updates and has a full equaliser. It can be used to turn on some good spatial audio with or without head tracking to add a bit of space and realism for movies.

Sustainability

The headphones are generally repairable with replacement ear cushions available from customer service, but they are not made with any recycled materials.

Price

The Nothing Headphone 1 cost £299 (€299/$299/A$549) and come in white or black.

For comparison, the Sony WH-1000XM6 cost £399, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra cost £350, the Sonos Ace cost £399, the Beats Studio Pro cost £350, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless cost £199 and the Fairbuds XL cost £219.

Verdict

The Nothing Headphones 1 stand out above the very samey-looking crowd of noise-cancelling headphones. But that overt design draws more attention on the street than I would like, particularly in white as tested.

They do sound pretty good, but their noise-cancelling performance falls short of rivals’ at this price. As does the comfort with the headband lacking enough padding for really long listening sessions.

Solid battery life, great connectivity and a quality app make the headphones easy to live with. It is nice to have multiple physical buttons for the playback and other controls too.

At £300 or equivalent you can easily get a better combination of sound, noise cancelling and comfort from leading rivals. That means, even more so than with the company’s phones, you have to really want something to make you look different to choose these headphones.

Pros: standout design, great button controls, good sound, noise cancelling, good app for Android and iPhone, good spatial audio, 3.5mm and USB-C audio, Bluetooth multipoint, decent case.

Cons: headband padding a bit thin, relatively heavy, do not fold up for travel, average noise cancelling, attract quite a lot of attention, expensive.