Nothing Headphone (1) Pro Review — Flagship noise cancelling and a clever Flat switch, if you're willing to EQ

Nothing's first $399 flagship headphone is the most-watched headphone launch of the past month: the ten English-language reviews we used, published between September 29 and October 17, 2026, add up to about 6.6 million views, most of them from Marques Brownlee's video. We read the full transcripts of all ten, from SoundGuys' and The Headphone Show's lab measurements to RecordingNOW's scored breakdown and Picky Audio's ranking against more than 35 headphones. They agree on the noise cancelling, the controls, and the case. They disagree, sharply, about the sound.

What you're actually getting

The Headphone (1) Pro keeps the square ear cups and see-through look of the Headphone (1), now with machined titanium arms, an aluminum frame, and scratch-resistant glass backs. The ear and headband cushions are noticeably softer, and RecordingNOW rated comfort 9.0 out of 10. The headphones swivel flat but do not fold.

Each ear cup holds three drivers: a 40mm bass driver, a precision driver for the mids, and an XMEMS solid-state treble driver. A physical Flat switch inside the left cup, tuned with London's Metropolis Studios, turns off the stock tuning; the Nothing X app adds an 8-band parametric EQ, spatial audio modes, and a hearing test. You can listen wirelessly over Bluetooth 6.1 with LDAC, or wired over USB-C (up to 24-bit/192 kHz) or 3.5mm.

The controls are physical: a roller for volume and play/pause, a paddle for skipping tracks, a customizable button, a Bluetooth pairing button, and a power switch. Reviewers almost universally like them. Picky Audio gave them 10 out of 10, and MKBHD calls the roller and paddle the best physical controls in the headphone space.

Performance — what reviewers actually measured

Amazon has little buyer feedback yet. On October 27, 2026, the Black model showed 4.1 out of 5 stars from just 14 ratings, sold and shipped by Amazon.com at $399.

Where it actually wins

The noise cancelling is a big step up for Nothing. Every reviewer who tested it rates it well above Nothing's earlier headphones. SoundGuys measured an 87.4% average reduction in perceived outside noise, and its comparison video called the noise cancelling round "Headphone 1 Pro wins, flawless victory, everyone go home." Mark Ellis heard it as "They are very close to AirPods Max. Very close." RecordingNOW puts it in its top 10 of more than 60 headphones tested, and MKBHD said "if the Sony's are a nine in ANC, then these are close to an eight, which is better than expected." It is particularly good at mid-frequency sounds like voices and keyboards. On a 14-hour flight, WhatGear wrote that "These headphones allowed me to get fully immersed into the content without even thinking about the plane noise." Not everyone agrees: Tech Spurt said "I found that the noise cancellation here in the Nothing Headphones 1 Pro was merely fine."

The Flat switch is a genuinely useful idea. Flip it, and the bass-heavy stock tuning gives way to a much more neutral sound. RecordingNOW's preferred setup is exactly that: "the best way to listen to the headphone 1 pro is listening with the flat EQ switch turned on and listening in that LDAC mode," and in that mode it scored the sound 9.2 out of 10. MKBHD found that "I actually did find that I enjoyed listening to some music more in flat mode." Mark Ellis, who makes music, used it in Logic Pro and said "knowing that the flat EQ is on is quite reassuring." Two caveats from Picky Audio: Flat mode is louder than the stock tuning, which can make it seem more detailed than it is, and you cannot use transparency mode or EQ while it is on. SoundGuys remains unconvinced that it is better for editing audio.

The EQ and connectivity are flagship level. The parametric EQ lets you place all eight bands anywhere, and Picky Audio found you can also adjust one driver separately. With its own EQ settings, Picky Audio rated the sound 9.25 out of 10 and ranked the headphones fourth overall, concluding "they're one of the best headphones you can get right now at this price." Wired lossless USB-C audio, a 3.5mm jack, LDAC, multipoint, and LE Audio broadcast are all here, which is more than most rivals offer.

Transparency mode and comfort are strong. MKBHD found transparency much less muffled than on Nothing's previous headphones, and Picky Audio scored it 9.5 out of 10. Mark Ellis called the headphones one of the most comfortable pairs he has worn, though Picky Audio felt some contact inside the ear cups after about two hours with larger than average ears.

Where it falls short

The case. This is the thing most reviewers criticize. The hard half shell clamps over the ear cups, leaves the plastic headband exposed, has no room for the cables, and blocks the charging port. MKBHD's verdict: "This is the worst case I've ever seen with headphones," and after a week he already saw some wiggle in its hinge. RecordingNOW, who weighed it at 383.8g, said "that case is the worst thing I've ever tested along with this headband that doesn't seem fit for a $400 headphone." Tech Spurt found "there's absolutely bugger all room inside to stash your cables." Kevin Breeze is the exception: he likes how it looks and thinks it is still functional.

The stock sound divides reviewers. MKBHD heard a fun V-shaped tuning with less bass punch than he hoped for, and the weakest instrument separation in back-to-back listening with the Sony XM6 and AirPods Max: "these sounded by far the most like muddied together of all the different sounds," rating the sound "almost a seven" against nine for the best. The Headphone Show measured heavy bass and a harsh treble resonance, with the treble "flaying my eardrums with this treble resonance between like 5 and 7 kHz," plus "a notable channel imbalance" on its unit that EQ cannot fix. Picky Audio found the bass a bit bloated and the treble piercing before EQ, and said plainly "The headphone 1 Pro need a lot of EQing to sound good." On the other side, Mark Ellis, WhatGear, and Kevin Breeze liked the stock sound, and RecordingNOW rates it among the best-sounding headphones of 2026 in Flat mode.

The triple-driver design makes results depend on fit. SoundGuys' first review unit showed distortion that Nothing's engineers agreed should not happen; a replacement measured more reasonably, but SoundGuys still found the headphones hard to position on its test head. Its conclusion: "I'm really stumped on the triple driver design for the Nothing headphone 1 Pro, as it seems like a bit of an own goal." The Headphone Show got a wide spread of measurements from repeated placements and argues that rivals with inward-facing microphones, like the Bose QC Ultra (2nd Gen), "absolutely demolish it in terms of acoustic consistency across different heads." In practice, what you hear may differ from what any one reviewer heard.

It is heavy and doesn't fold. At about 327g it is heavier than the Sony WH-1000XM6 and the 294g Beats 360, though lighter than the AirPods Max 2, and the non-folding design plus the case make it bulky to travel with. The glass backs also pick up fingerprints easily.

Nothing Headphone (1) Pro vs Sony WH-1000XM6

The Sony WH-1000XM6 is the obvious rival. MKBHD and RecordingNOW give Sony the edge on noise cancelling: MKBHD rates Sony a nine to Nothing's "close to an eight," and RecordingNOW still considers the XM6 superior. SoundGuys, by contrast, puts the Headphone (1) Pro's noise cancelling in the same league as the XM6. MKBHD also preferred the Sony's sound and pointed to Sony's re-released WH-1000XM4 at about $300 as better headphones that fold. The Headphone Show reaches a different conclusion on sound: the XM6's treble problems can't be fixed without a parametric EQ, while with the Nothing "you'd probably be able to get this to sound better than the XM6."

The Nothing wins on flexibility: parametric EQ, the Flat switch, wired lossless USB-C, physical controls, and longer battery with ANC off (68 hours). On October 27, 2026, the XM6 was $458 on Amazon versus $399 for the Nothing. See our Sony WH-1000XM6 review.

If you're choosing between this and the Beats 360, Kevin Breeze compared them directly: "without a doubt, the Nothings are the better sounding headphones of the two," and only the Nothing offers wired audio and auto-pause, but the Beats is lighter, sweat resistant, and has swappable cushions for the gym. See our Beats 360 review. For more options, compare the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) and Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless.

Should you buy it?

Buy if you:

• Want strong noise cancelling and physical controls instead of touch panels
• Will tune your sound with a parametric EQ, or want a Flat mode for editing
• Want wired lossless audio over USB-C, or LDAC on Android
• Don't mind replacing the case with a third-party one

Skip if you:

• Want great sound out of the box without EQ work
• Travel a lot and need a compact, folding headphone with a light case
• Want the very best noise cancelling, where Sony, Bose, and Apple still lead
• Are on a budget: SoundGuys recommends Nothing's Headphone (a), and RecordingNOW thinks the Headphone (1) gives about 85% of the experience for less than half the price

Our verdict is that it depends on how much tuning you'll do. RecordingNOW, the most positive of the scored reviews, concluded "I do think it justifies the $399 price tag. I would just find a way to swap out this case." Reviewers who judged the stock sound alone were much cooler on it. If you buy, use the return window to try Flat mode and the EQ on your own head, since the measurements suggest fit changes what you hear.

Sources consulted

• Marques Brownlee — Nothing Headphone 1 Pro: They Copied the Wrong Thing!
• The Headphone Show — Nothing Headphone (1) Pro: This Was a Mistake
• SoundGuys — We TRIED testing the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro. Here's what happened...
• SoundGuys — We FINALLY TESTED the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro! Here's how it compares...
• RecordingNOW — The TRUTH about Nothing Headphone (1) Pro...
• Tech Spurt — As Good As Sony & Bose? | Nothing Headphone 1 Pro Review
• Mark Ellis Reviews — Nothing Headphone 1 Pro - I Didn't Expect This
• WhatGear — Nothing Headphone ( 1 ) PRO - They Almost Made It Perfect…
• Picky Audio — Nothing Headphone (1) Pro (RANKED against 36 Headphones)
• Kevin Breeze — Beats 360 vs Nothing Headphone (1) Pro - Which Should You Get?
• Amazon.com — Nothing Headphone (1) Pro customer ratings (4.1/5 from 14 ratings, checked October 27, 2026)

Synthesis combines independent reviews above. Verdicts and quotes attributed to original creators; quotes are verbatim from each video's English captions and link to the moment they're said. Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases via Amazon links.