Nothing Stuffs Three Drivers and an Audiophile Kill Switch Into Its Flagship Headphone (1) Pro

Nothing waited four years to build its first over-ear headphone, but decided that 14 months was plenty of time before deciding it needed a big brother. Last summer’s KEF-tuned Headphone (1) proved the London upstart could hang in the over-ear game at $299, and now the brand is coming for the Sony and Bose crowd directly. Enter the Headphone (1) Pro, a $399 flagship that trades one driver for three and hides a clever trick behind a tiny switch.

Three Drivers Walk Into an Earcup

The original headphones made do with a lone 40mm dynamic driver, but the Pro takes a different approach, splitting the workload three ways. There is still a 40mm unit to help anchor the bass, but it’s now been joined by a 13x8mm precision dynamic driver to handle vocals and, most interestingly, there’s even a solid-state xMEMS tweeter up top.

xMEMS drivers use a silicon diaphragm that Nothing claims is 95 times stiffer than plastic, and until now they’ve mostly lived in exotic in-ear monitors, and haven’t really been available in more mainstream cans.

The payoff is a frequency response stretching to 40kHz and Hi-Res certification both wired and wireless. Plug in over USB-C and you’ll unlock lossless playback at up to 24-bit/192kHz.

A Kill Switch for the Algorithm

For tuning, Nothing swapped KEF for Metropolis Studios, the legendary London facility behind decades of British records. The partnership yields five UK-genre EQ profiles and a spatial audio mode modeled on the studio’s own Studio B.

But the best bit is a physical switch on the earcup. Flick it and the Pro drops into Flat EQ, a neutral profile that kills every EQ curve and spatial effect in one motion.

Machined Metal and a Chunky Companion

The build also got the flagship treatment as well, with earcups carved from single blocks of aluminum, paired with titanium arms (Nothing reports they’re 45% lighter than the originals’), and scratch-resistant Panda Glass windows showing off the drivers beneath.

ANC also climbs to 46dB via 10 mics and a new silicone baffle wall, which is up from 42 on the standard model.

About That Case

Then there’s the hardshell case, which the internet has immediately clocked as an AirPods Max homage. The silhouette is unmistakable Apple design language, wrapping the earcups while leaving the headband exposed as a carry handle.

Where Apple went soft-shell, though, Nothing went a different direction choosing hard plastic for their charging case. At 383.5 grams, it’s nearly triple Apple’s 134.5-gram Smart Case and it’s even heavier than the headphones themselves. In fairness, all that plastic is guarding glass earcups, and strap loops let you wear it crossbody if your heart desires.

Spec Sheet

Pricing & Availability

The Nothing Headphone (1) Pro is available now in white or black for $399, undercutting the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra flagships it’s chasing. Head over to Nothing’s website to grab a pair, or find them at Amazon and Best Buy stores nationwide.