There’s a new Nothing product on the horizon, and as per usual, it’s leaked ahead of time. The reaction to the new over-ear headphones’ design has been mixed.
The Nothing Headphones (1) are the brand’s first attempt at over-ears after a succession of true wireless models that have, more or less, been decent.
It carries the similar transparent aesthetic to the true wireless headphones but as images and videos have leaked, online commenters and even brands have weighed in on its looks and opinion has been mixed.
I’m in the “don’t quite like it” category, but I’m also not sure that I really care all that much about the subject. The Nothing Headphones (1) are different but they’re not that weird.
They’re not that unusual
I’ve read some articles that have mentioned the ‘squircle’ design (whatever that means), and yes, the Nothing goes against the conventional grain of the oval-shaped earcups but it’s not as if others haven’t attempted this look before.
It’s interesting that Sennheiser Consumer weighed in on the conversation (now deleted), effectively calling it a design by the salespeople. I don’t think they’re altogether different from the AirPods Max. Would you poke fun at the AirPods Max with their similar-ish design?
Actually people did when the AirPods Max first launched in 2020. The square-ish earcups with rounded edges, the charging case that looked like a sports bra. Everyone thought they looked weird at first but after a while people accepted, and now, there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t see someone wearing the AirPods Max.
Even Dali, a hi-fi company, adopted a similar look with its IO-12 headphones and no one batted an eye.
The design is not that unusual and it’s worth commending Nothing for going in a slightly unexpected direction. They’re just not that nice looking.
The sin of looking bland
This is really where I find the Nothing Headphones (1) to lack appeal. They just look a bit ‘meh’.
Everyone has their own tastes but I’d have been much more interested if the translucent look extended further than just the circular bit on the earcup. The minimalist design feels a bit too stark, as if this model is the test dummy mock-up and not the final version.
I also find that they don’t really stand out. You could argue that the Sony WH-1000XM6 look on the bland side but at least they look distinctly like a pair of Sony headphones.
The Nothing Headphones (1) are the company’s first over-ears, so it’s the beginning of a series rather than a continuation. But you start as you mean to go on and aside from the translucent aspect, I’d say they’re so minimalist that the look anonymous.
But heh, these are just pictures. Maybe it’ll look better in the flesh.
But it’s not all about the design
Regardless, at the end of the day, if the headphones sound great (and they’re tuned by KEF so there’s a good reason they will), then no one will be too bothered about the looks.
Yes, they’ll be those who can’t help but comment on them (over and over) but if the Nothing Headphones (1) achieve a good level of performance, then I wouldn’t be surprised if the backlash to the backlash resulted in the headphones being considered interesting.
After all, there have been worse designs for headphones than this. Has everyone forgotten the Dyson Zone?
