Nothing Headphone (1) Pro Goes Official at $399: Triple Drivers, Studio Tuning, 68-Hour Battery

Nothing's first over-ear headphones were a design statement. The follow-up, the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro , is a statement about audio engineering — and it's aimed squarely at your commute, your home studio, and your wallet.

The Basics: Price and Availability

At $399, the Headphone (1) Pro is $100 more than the original Headphone (1). That puts it in direct competition with the Sony WH-1000XM6 (~$460) and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) ($449). But as you'll see, Nothing isn't trying to beat them at their own game — it's playing a different one.

The Triple-Driver Architecture: What Makes These Different

Most wireless headphones use a single dynamic driver per ear. The Headphone (1) Pro uses three separate drivers per earcup , each handling a specific slice of the frequency range.

Here's the breakdown:

The xMEMS tweeter is the real headline here. It uses a silicon diaphragm that Nothing claims is 95 times harder than plastic , which means it reacts faster to transient signals. In plain English: cymbals sound sharper, hi-hats feel more defined, and instrument separation gets noticeably better.

This kind of setup is rare in over-ear headphones. The only other major manufacturer using xMEMS in this category is... nobody, really. Nothing has the space largely to itself right now.

Studio Tuning with Metropolis Studios

Nothing partnered with Metropolis Studios — the legendary London recording facility where everyone from Queen to Adele has worked — to tune the Headphone (1) Pro.

The most practical result is the Flat EQ switch . It's a physical toggle on the inside of the left earcup that instantly switches the headphones to a completely neutral sound profile. No app needed, no fiddling with sliders. If you're mixing, producing, or just want to hear music the way the engineer heard it, you flip the switch and you're done.

There's also a Studio B spatial audio mode developed with Metropolis, alongside four other modes:

• Standard
• Studio B (Metropolis-tuned)
• Live House
• Club
• Concert Hall

All five spatial modes support head tracking , so the soundstage stays put even when you turn your head. The Flat EQ switch does disable spatial audio and EQ when it's on, which makes sense — you can't have a neutral reference signal and a 3D soundstage at the same time.

ANC: 10 Mics, 46dB, and a Smarter System

Nothing upgraded the noise cancellation in a big way. The Headphone (1) Pro uses 10 microphones — that's up from the previous model — arranged with 3 feed-forward and 2 feedback mics on each side.

The result: up to 46dB of adaptive noise cancellation , a 5dB improvement over the Headphone (1). Nothing also claims the system covers a 40% wider range of frequencies , so it's better at blocking out everything from airplane engine drone to office chatter.

Here's the clever bit: all 10 microphones are positioned inward on the earcup , which reduces wind interference during calls and outdoor use. A new 8mm silicone baffle inside the ear cushion adds passive isolation on top of the active system. Transparency Mode is still here for when you need to hear what's going on around you.

Battery Life: Great, With One Catch

68 hours with ANC off is excellent. 30 hours with ANC on is solid. But here's the thing — the original Headphone (1) claimed 35 hours with ANC on . So the Pro model actually has slightly worse ANC battery life than the non-Pro.

Nothing hasn't officially explained this, but the triple-driver setup and upgraded ANC hardware likely draw more power. The 1,060mAh battery is the same capacity as before. It's a trade-off, and whether it matters depends on how you use them.

Sound Quality and Connectivity

Hi-Res Audio certification is on board for both wireless and wired listening. USB-C gives you lossless playback up to 24-bit/192kHz — that's proper studio-grade fidelity from a pair of Bluetooth headphones.

Advanced EQ in the companion app lets you drag tuning points across the different drivers, which is a level of control you don't usually get in consumer headphones.

Design: Still Weird, Still Great

Nothing's design language is love-it-or-hate-it, and the Headphone (1) Pro doubles down. The transparent earcups are still there, but now they're made of 9H Panda Glass — scratch-resistant and shatter-resistant. The frame is machined aluminum and titanium , which keeps the weight down despite all the extra hardware inside.

The headphones weigh 327g , which is actually lighter than the original's 329g. But compared to the Sony WH-1000XM6 at 254g , they're noticeably heavier. That's the price you pay for metal and glass instead of plastic. If weight is a dealbreaker for you, Sony wins that round.

Controls are all physical — no touch panels here. There's a rocker paddle for track selection and a roller switch for volume. If you've ever accidentally skipped a song by brushing your ear against a touch-sensitive earcup, you'll appreciate the tactile approach.

The included hardshell case is... divisive. It wraps around the earcups and leaves the headband exposed, which one reviewer described as looking like "a handbag for your head". It's smaller and more portable than the original's case, but the aesthetics are up for debate.