7+ Years of BT ANC Advancement? The Nothing Headphone 1
See link to YT review at the end of this post!
These new over-the-ear headphones from Nothing have been covered well by a variety of technology and audio outlets. What else is there possibly to say about them that probably hasn't already been said in multiple languages and on manifold forums by now?
I am not a person who buys over-the-ear headphones very often. As a woman with a short haircut and a short head, most of these headphones don't fit my head well. I always need to wear them on the tightest/smallest setting, and even then, the earpads may hang down well below my ears and cause discomfort on my jaws after some time. The main reason for me to buy full-sized headphones is for noise cancelling, as I'm able to get very solid audio performance from in-ear monitors (IEMs) and even some on-the-ear headphones, which are typically smaller than their over-the-ear siblings.
And it turns out that I haven't bought a full-sized pair of Bluetooth over-the-ear noise cancelling headphones in many years. In fact, it was well before the pandemic. It was a time when I worked in a typical open-floor cubicle farm in a large corporate headquarters building with many opportunities for noise to disturb the peace of my day. I bought a pair of Bower & Wilkins PX from Best Buy to try to escape the madness.
This was a great extravagance for me at the time as they cost about $400. My previous pair of ANC headphones had been a much cheaper brand, but I wanted something better and nicer. Reviews of the B&W PX at the time were mainly favorable. So, I bought them and wore them from time to time. I took them to work sometimes, but because of that aforementioned open-floor plan, I didn't really feel comfortable leaving expensive headphones sitting at my workspace. I bought a cheaper pair of ANC headphones to leave at work and kept the PX at home for select listening situations, that is, those that involved noise I wanted to block out.
I never really loved the sound of the PX. Even back then, they weren't the absolute best at canceling noise, but the ANC was above average, and they reviewed well from a sound quality perspective. Yet there was something about the sound that bothered me. When the pandemic hit and I started working from home full-time, all my gear came back home, and I rarely pulled out the PX after that. I moved on to true wireless earbuds and wired IEMs for more serious listening. My husband got me a pair of custom-molded IEMs that were as good as blocking out noise as most ANC headphones and earphones. I had what I needed; I was good.
And for a long time, that remained the case. I continued to experiment with true wireless earbuds and earphones, including open-ear styles. I wasn't particularly interested in buying another pair of ANC headphones. But for some reason, when the Nothing Headphone 1 came out, I was interested. I read all the reviews. I watched all the videos. I almost bought them a few times, but each time caught myself. I did not need another pair of ANC headphones. I wasn't using the pairs I already had. But eventually, they went on a small sale at Amazon and open-box items became available, so I took the plunge, feeling better about returning them if I didn't like them if they were already open in the first place.
My thoughts here on the Headphone 1 are from a place of evaluating what more than 7 years of technological advance have brought as I compare them against my trusty-if-not-necessarily-beloved PX. Both of these headphones are striking in their own way, and certainly fashion plays a role here, but my focus isn't so much the way they look. It's how they sound and perform and whether or not I feel that enough has improved over time that it's worth it to me to keep the Headphone 1 in my life.
Controls
One of the first things that struck me about both headphones is how similar they are when it comes to how you use them. Both devices have physical buttons for turning them on, pairing, playing/pausing, controlling ANC modes, etc. The PX has more buttons and most of them are tiny and somewhat hard to identify by feel when you're wearing the headphones. All of the controls are on the right earcup. The 3.5mm and USB C ports are also on the right earcup. You can listen via a 3.5mm audio cable or the USB C port, but the headphones must be powered on in both cases. The PX have a wear sensor, and the headphones will stop audio playback when they are removed.
The Nothing Headphone 1 is very similar here. All of the controls are managed via the power switch, the roller button, the left/right paddle, the customizable button, and the pairing button. All buttons are also on the right earcup along with the 3.5mm audio and USB C ports.
Both ports can be used for powered listening as well. They also have a wear sensor that will stop audio when the headphones are removed.
While I prefer the controls on the Headphone 1, they aren't so far off from the controls on the PX. Both models are somewhat unique in this regard as so many other BT ANC headphones sport touch controls, which can be effective or offensive, depending on their implementation.
Construction
The PX look more expensive than the Headphone 1 for sure, even after all these years. The leather earcups and headband along with the signature B&W industrial design have aged well. The arms still pull smoothly for size adjustment. There is some metal visible which also lends to a more premium appeal. The Headphone 1 come across as very plasticky in comparion, but the unique design can take your mind off that for a bit. I like the way both headphones look from the front as they have relatively low profiles, but from the side, the understated elegance of the PX is more my style. However, I don't at all hate the way the Headphone 1 look. There's nothing else like them out there right now. Having had the PX for many years, I confidently say that if you treat them well, they will last for a while. And because you can use them over USB C, you'll get use out of them even after they aren't as valuable to use over battery power. This last feature will also be true for the Headphone 1 moving forward as well, but because they are mostly plastic, they could more easily be damaged. However, the IP52 rating does provide a bit of confidence for using them outside. I don't think I would use my PX outside whether it was raining or not. Nevertheless, I give the PX preference here for its superior build quality.
Sound
This is what everyone really cares about, right? Both headphones have an app, but the Nothing app offers much more customization for the sound. The B&W app lets you change ANC settings but there is no EQ. The Nothing app has sound profiles along with an 8-band equalizer that allows you to not only to tweak the levers for the frequencies but control the sound curve with Q values. And because Nothing allows you to create QR codes to represent your EQ curves, EQ settings can easily be shared with others. Nothing offers a few on their community website and others have chimed in with their own there as well. So, there is the ability to really alter the sound of the Headphone 1 far beyond what you are able to do with the PX. Nevertheless, even without customizing, there are key differences in these two pairs of headphones. The PX have a pleasant warm sound that isn't too bassy. It's a sound profile I generally enjoy. All the instruments are nicely separated, and the sound stage is decent. In a vacuum, these headphones sound pretty good, even after all these years. But the problem I always had with them becomes obvious to me when I listen to the Headphone 1. The sound feels as if it has a veil over it with the PX. It's almost tunnel-like at times. All the sound is there but it's not quite as clear as I would like. There's also a subtle impact to timbre as some details like cymbals sounded a bit off to me. Even before I played with the EQ on the Headphone 1, I felt the sound they provided offered more clarity, a little bit more detail, and a more natural timbre. Being able to change the sound for the Headphone 1 is a major win as despite the improved clarity over the PX, the sound was still a little too recessed in the midrange for me. A quick trip to the EQ settings fixed that. With the ability to tweak EQ, I'd take the Headphone 1 over the PX every day, all day. However, if there was a way to remove that veil over the sound of the PX, I think these two would compete much more equally on their out-of-the-box sound profiles.
Other Stuff
And speaking of all day, when the PX were new, they were rated for 22 hours with ANC and 29 hours with ANC turned off. Most headphones nowadays offer at least this much battery stamina, but many pairs offer double or more usage time. The Nothing headphones offer 30 hours with LDAC and ANC and a few more hours with other codecs. But with ANC turned off, they claim 80 hours of use. I did most of my testing with ANC and LDAC turned on and I charged them once in a week's time. The PX do not have a transparency mode for hearing your surroundings. The transparency mode on the Headphone 1 is quite good. The ANC on the Headphone 1 is also quite good and neither setting suffers from the added white noise you get from the PX with ANC turned on. The ANC performance is similar, but the Headphone 1 get the win here with the absence of white noise for the ANC and the mere existence of a transparency mode, not to mention superior battery life (age of the PX notwithstanding).
The microphones on both headphones are acceptable but not excellent. The PX comes across louder, but there is a fuzziness to the sound. The Headphone 1 have clearer microphone performance, but the sound is quieter. Both microphones can block out some noise in your background but won't eliminate it (check the YouTube review for microphone samples).
I prefer the fit of the PX because they adjust a little bit smaller than the Headphone 1 and don't cause that jaw discomfort. The clamping force of both is about the same, with maybe the PX offering just a smidge more. Both headphones are fairly heavy with the Headphone 1 coming in a 329g and the PX at 362g.
Despite the PX costing so much money, they did not come with a hard case but instead had a soft slip case. It looks like a little black purse without a strap.
In hindsight, I doubt that many men who bought these headphones appreciated this case and most promptly lost or replaced it. I think whether then or now, if you pay $400 for headphones, they should come with a hard protective case. The Headphone 1 comes with an acceptable hard case.
It's not especially elegant or fashionable but it is reasonably protective and has a space for carrying your cables so you're less likely to lose them. There is a little pouch in the PX case, but nothing about the case feels secure and with the openings at the bottoms, I feel like you could still lose the cables if you tried hard enough.
The B&W PX still hold up pretty well after all these years, but now that I've heard the Headphone 1, I think I have to keep them. Maybe something will come along in another 6-7 years to make me try this experiment all over again.
Buy the Nothing Headphone 1 from Amazon (affiliate link; purchases will help financially support this website and my YouTube channel - thanks in advance!)
YouTube review:
