The Nothing Headphone (1) lists at $299 on Nothing’s US store, and a Black Friday headphone roundup published on November 6, 2026 showed it at $199 on Amazon. Sound is engineered with KEF, and Nothing says the battery lasts up to 80 hours.
Nothing sells the over-ear headphones in black and white, with real-time adaptive noise cancelling. The Nothing UK store lists the same model at £249. When we opened both colour listings on amazon.com on November 7, each showed $299.00, so check the price at checkout before you count on the lower figure.
What is the Nothing Headphone (1)?
It is Nothing’s first over-ear headphone, tuned with the British speaker maker KEF. KEF’s own product page gives these specs:
- Driver: 40 mm custom dynamic driver, 16 ohm, 20 to 40,000 Hz
- Noise cancelling: real-time adaptive ANC, plus a 4-mic ENC system for calls
- Battery: up to 35 hours with ANC on, up to 80 hours with ANC off
- Fast charge: 5 minutes gives up to 5 hours of playback
- Weight: 329 g for the headphones, 264 g for the case
- Wireless: Bluetooth 5.3 with a 10 m range, LDAC and Hi-Res Audio support
- Wired: USB-C lossless playback and a 3.5mm audio cable in the box
The box also holds a protective soft case, a USB-C to USB-C cable, safety and warranty information and a user guide. According to KEF, the buttons are tactile controls shaped for intuitive use.
Why are people talking about it?
Early Black Friday lists are pulling it into view. The roundup dated November 6 lists the Headphone (1) at $199, down from $299, next to the cheaper Nothing Headphone (a) at $129 from $199. Retailer lists change daily, and the roundup states no end date.
Reviews also help. SoundGuys scored the Headphone (1) 8.1 and called it “a bold first step into the over-ear market”. It rated the noise cancelling 8.5 out of 10 and measured about 42 hours 53 minutes of battery with ANC on, above the 35 hours Nothing claims. It also lists IP52 water and dust resistance and dual-device multipoint, which lets you switch between two paired devices.
The same review names the weak spots. The default tuning sounds dark, the headphones rotate flat but do not fold so the case stays full size, and some features, such as Channel Hop, work only with the Nothing Phone (3). The Nothing X app has an 8-band parametric EQ and head-tracked spatial audio, which can fix some of the tuning.
Prices
- Nothing US store: $299 (USD)
- KEF US page: $299.00 (USD), with only White shown and on backorder when we checked
- Nothing UK store: £249
- Amazon roundup of November 6, 2026: $199, down from $299 (USD)
- amazon.com on November 7: $299.00 for both the White and Black listings
We have not converted any currency. Amazon prices can change at any time, and the November 6 roundup gives no end date.
How does it compare with the Sony WH-1000XM5?
The Sony WH-1000XM5 is the obvious rival at a similar sale price. The same roundup lists it at $198 from $399.99, MacRumors lists it at $199.99 from $399.99 at Amazon, and the Amazon page showed $198.00 on November 7.
On Sony’s own specifications page, the XM5 runs up to 30 hours with noise cancelling on and up to 40 hours with it off, weighs about 250 g and uses a 30 mm driver with Bluetooth 5.2. It supports SBC, AAC and LDAC and comes with a carrying case. The Nothing claims more battery (35 hours with ANC on, 80 hours off) and adds an IP52 rating according to SoundGuys, but it is heavier at 329 g.
SoundGuys says listeners who want good sound without touching an EQ should look at the Sony WH-1000XM6 or the Bose QuietComfort Ultra. The roundup lists the XM6 at $378 from $459.99.
Who it suits
Frequent travellers. A claimed 35 hours with ANC on and 80 hours with it off, plus 5 hours of playback from a 5 minute charge, means fewer trips to the charger on long journeys.
Tinkerers. The 8-band parametric EQ in the Nothing X app suits people who like to shape the sound, which is what SoundGuys says the dark default tuning calls for.
Nothing phone owners. Some features, such as Channel Hop, work only with the Nothing Phone (3), so the full feature set favours that phone.
Who should wait. If you want good sound straight out of the box, or headphones that fold small for a bag, the headphones do not fold. At $299 the case for it is weaker than at $199, and the lower price was not showing on amazon.com when we checked.
What is still unknown?
The roundup gives no end date for the $199 price, and we cannot say whether it returns. KEF’s page showed White on backorder, so colour and stock may vary by store. Nothing and KEF do not list an IP rating or multipoint on the pages we read, so those two points come from the SoundGuys review.
Before buying, open the Amazon listing in your own country and compare it with the $299 on Nothing’s store.
