The Nothing Headphone 1 are here and as you can tell by our review, we’ve got a mixed opinion on them. They’re fine, but for the price we reckon there are better options.
One potential option could be the Bose QuietComfort Headphones. Launched back in late 2023, they’ve been around for longer but can be had for a similar price and considering it’s Bose, they’ll offer some stiff competition to Nothing’s first ever over-ear pair.
We’re still in the process of reviewing the Bose QuietComfort Headphones, but if you’re considering a new over-ear headphone purchase, here’s how the Nothing and Bose headphones shape up against each other.
They’re both around the same price
The Bose have been on sale since 2023, and although Bose headphones tend to keep a high price over a long period of time, the Bose QuietComfort Headphones have fallen from their original £349 launch price to £249 as of July 2025. You can usually find them for £299.
The Nothing Headphones 1 command a fee of £299 / $299 / €299. Ignoring the discounted price of the Bose, that’d put them on level pegging.
The Nothing has spatial audio support
The Nothing headphones are the latest to surf on the immersive audio wave. The Spatial Audio feature can take stereo music and upmix so it can be heard around you, and with the headphones’ head tracking support, you can move (turning your head this way and that) and the music stays in the same place.
It’s a decent enough performance, though the warmth and colour of the headphones’ sound profile means it’s not the most detailed.
The Bose QuietComfort Headphones do not support their own version of spatial audio or head tracking. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones is the model that comes with those features, and that’s more expensive than either headphone at £449 / $449 RRP. If you’re interested in spatial audio, Nothing is the one that has it.
High-res and wireless audio on the Nothing
The Nothing Headphone 1 come with support for Sony’s LDAC, which allows for more data over a Bluetooth connection, which essentially means you can listen to music at higher bit-rates. Higher bit-rates equals higher quality.
It is, however, worth noting that LDAC doesn’t offer a true lossless wireless experience. It’s lossy, which means data is lost as it is transmitted.
Having cables that terminates in 3.5mm and USB-C connections also means you can listen to lossless audio without losing any data.
By comparison, the Bose QuietComfort Headphones wireless performance taps out at AAC. That equals CD quality but not quite true lossless or Hi-Res Audio.
The headphones come with a 3.5mm cable though Bose makes no claim of offering Hi-Res Audio support. Although with a cable you should be able to access higher resolution audio.
The Nothing Headphone 1 are IP-rated
Here’s a genuine surprise. It’s not often we see an over-ear that comes with an IP rating. In fact, aside from the best running headphones, it’s rare that we see it at all on more traditional headphones.
But the Nothing Headphones 1 are IP52 rated, which protects them from jets of water and some dust getting in. That doesn’t mean we’d wear them during the shower, but that’s a level of protection you don’t often get.
There’s no mention of an IP rating on the Bose QuietComfort Headphones. That’s not to say that it doesn’t carry an IP rating, but the fact that Bose doesn’t proudly display means it’s either very low or non-existent.
The Nothing Headphone 1 beat Bose for battery life
Bose has never been big on battery life. The QuietComfort Headphones tap out at 24 hours, and that’s been the case with many of their full-sized headphones.
The Nothing Headphones 1 reach for a higher level at 35 hours with ANC on (AAC Bluetooth), and the tests we carried out suggest it’s more than capable of reaching that figure.
We’d say that Bose offers better quick charging performance. A 15-minute charge offers an added four hours, while the on the Nothing, five minutes offers 2.4 hours.
Early Verdict
We can’t judge which one is better until we’ve got our review of the Bose QuietComfort Headphones done. But from a spec performance, the Nothing Headphones 1 shapes up very well against its esteemed Bose counterpart.
The battery life goes on for longer, it carries support for wireless and High-Res audio options. The unique design, which stands out from other headphones, also comes with an IP rating to protect against dust and water.
The Nothing may offer more overall value than the Bose, but in terms of performance we’ll have to wait and see. It’d be hard to defeat Bose in terms of noise-cancellation, and when it comes to comfort, Bose are one of the best.
