Nothing Headphones (a) Review: The Best Budget ANC Headphones at AED 599?

I have been reviewing consumer technology for nearly 20 years now, and in all that time, no single device has made me feel quite as aggressively old as the Nothing Headphone (a). A quick glance at the reviewer's guide explained everything: Nothing built these for a younger, fashion-conscious audience - which is really just a polite way of saying Gen-Z - and that goes a long way in explaining why my ageing, 39-year-old self struggled to connect with the bubblegum pink unit that landed on my desk.

That said, let's set aside my existential crisis and talk about what the Nothing Headphone (a) actually is. At AED 599, it sits well below the Nothing Headphone 1, which launched at AED 999, and was very much positioned as a serious challenger to the Sony XM series, Bose, and the Apple AirPods Max. The Headphone 1 punched hard for its price, offering refined tuning and a premium build that made you feel like you were getting something special. The Headphone (a) takes a completely different approach. Rather than chasing audiophiles on a budget, it goes after the everyday listener - someone who wants a solid pair of wireless headphones with thumping bass, reliable ANC, and a feature set that doesn't make too many compromises, all without spending a lot.

On paper, the spec sheet is impressive for the price. You get 40mm titanium-coated drivers, Bluetooth 5.4 with LDAC support, adaptive ANC, USB-C and 3.5mm wired listening, dual-device connectivity, and a battery that Nothing claims runs up to 135 hours with ANC off and 75 hours with it on.

Compared to the Headphone 1, you are not really losing features so much as you are trading some of the refinement - both in terms of build material and audio tuning - for a significantly lower price. While Headphone 1 felt carefully engineered for people who care about audio quality and aesthetics, Headphone (a) is tuned wider, louder, and more fun. Whether that is a compromise or just a different set of priorities depends entirely on what you are looking for.

Specifications

Design, Comfort, and Features

Nothing has always had a strong visual identity, and the Headphone (a) continues that tradition - just pointed in a slightly different direction. Whether the Headphone 1 leaned into a more industrial, almost mechanical aesthetic with its aluminium accents and transparent elements, the Headphone (a) softens those edges considerably. The squared-off ear cups are still very much there, but the overall look is rounder, friendlier, and available in four colourways: White, Black, Pink, and Yellow.

I received the Pink unit, and while I can appreciate what Nothing is going for - bold, expressive, and clearly aimed at someone younger and more fashion-forward than me - it is not exactly my taste. The standard Black and White versions look more understated and would probably appeal to a broader audience. 

The most immediate difference from the Headphones 1, however, is the material. The aluminium has been replaced with plastic throughout, and it shows. The headphones feel noticeably lighter in the hand, which is not entirely a bad thing, but the sense of quality you get picking up the Headphone 1 simply is not there.

The most telling moment is pulling down on the headband slider - it is rough and resistant rather than smooth and controlled, which gives the impression of something that was value-engineered rather than carefully considered. To be fair, the overall structure feels stable and sturdy enough, and nothing seems about to snap off. The ear cup hinges hold firm, and the chassis does not creak or flex in any worrying way. But it does not inspire the same confidence as its predecessor, and time will ultimately tell how well it holds up.

Comfort is a mixed experience. The clamping force is strong, which does provide a solid seal that benefits both ANC performance and bass response, but after around 30 minutes of continuous wear, it starts to make itself known. The ear cups themselves are relatively small and shallow, and the headband cushioning is thin, neither of which helps during long sessions.

The faux leather ear pads warm up reasonably quickly, though not to a point of real discomfort. Sitting through a couple of lengthy TV episodes was manageable, but you will likely find yourself adjusting the fit or taking a short break before long. For casual listening in shorter bursts, it is fine. This was the case with the Headphones 1 as well, so your mileage may vary (I have a weird set of ears, and they are finicky about what they accept).

Features and Controls: What You Get for AED 599

One area where Nothing hasn't cut any corners is the onboard controls, which are carried over directly from the Headphone 1 - and that is a good thing. The roller on the right ear cup handles volume with satisfying physical clicks and doubles as a play/pause button and an ANC toggle on a long press.

Below it, the paddle skips tracks forward and backwards, while the multifunction button on the face of the right cup can be customised through the Nothing X app to trigger your voice assistant, switch EQ profiles, activate a camera shutter, or hop between media apps. It is the same thoughtful, tactile control scheme as before, and it remains one of the best physical control layouts on any wireless headphones at this price.

The Nothing X app is equally good for the Headphone (a). The interface is clean and well laid out, with ANC levels, EQ settings, spatial audio modes, and device management all easy to find and adjust. You get an 8-band equaliser for those who want to tinker, along with a growing library of seemingly community-created EQ profiles - though the selection is still fairly limited at this stage.

Sound Quality: How Do the Nothing Headphone (a) Actually Sound?

Under the hood, the Nothing Headphone (a) is powered by 40mm titanium-coated drivers with a PEN+PU diaphragm, tuned by Nothing's own audio team. The frequency response ranges from 20Hz to 40,000Hz, and the headphones are Hi-Res Audio certified.

On the connectivity side, you get Bluetooth 5.4 with support for SBC, AAC, and LDAC for higher quality wireless streaming, alongside a USB-C port for both charging and wired digital audio, and a 3.5mm jack for traditional analog listening (although the device needs to be powered on for that to work). Dual-device connectivity is supported, meaning you can keep two devices paired simultaneously and switch between them without the usual headache of disconnecting and re-pairing. 

The sound tuning, however, tells you immediately who these headphones are made for. Nothing has gone for a decidedly consumer-facing signature here - bass-forward, energetic, and designed to feel impactful rather than precise.

Right out of the box on the default Balanced EQ, the low end comes in thick and prominent. It is punchy and satisfying in a way that will absolutely please listeners who like their music to hit hard, and for the most part, Nothing keeps it reasonably well-controlled - it does not completely collapse into the midrange and turn everything into a muddy mess. But make no mistake, the bass is the loudest voice in the room here, and it's not shy about reminding you.

The midrange is where things get slightly less flattering. It is not thin by any means, but it does feel like it has been pushed a little into the background to make room for all that low-end energy. Vocals and instruments are present and intelligible, but a lot of the finer detail that makes a recording feel alive and textured does not quite come forward the way you would hope.

The treble is similarly competent but unremarkable - sharp enough to avoid feeling dull, but lacking the sparkle and definition that would give the upper frequencies genuine character. 

The soundstage leans toward the narrower side, giving the listening experience a somewhat closed-in quality. The Nothing X app lets you select between two Spatial modes - Cinema and Concert, which widens the soundstage, but I honestly didn't care for them. If I had to choose, I would stick with Cinema for a wider audio presentation, but both modes stretch out the vocals in an unnatural way, and make music and movies sound off.

That said, the overall sound signature of the Nothing Headphone (a) is genuinely likeable. It is fun, inoffensive, and the kind of tuning that works well enough across a wide enough range of music that most people will not find much to complain about.

Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode

Moving to ANC, Nothing equips the Headphone (a) with an adaptive system powered by a dual feedforward and feedback microphone setup, with three selectable levels of noise cancellation available through either the Roller or the Nothing X app. Nothing claims up to 40db of noise attenuation, and the system is rated effective up to 2,000Hz, which covers the bulk of everyday ambient noise - traffic, air conditioning, office chatter, and the general hum of the world around you.

In practice, the ANC performs solidly for the price. It handles lower-frequency noise well and does a reasonable job of taking the edge off busier environments. However, higher-pitched sounds - sharper voices, certain types of machinery noise, the bustle of a crowded space - do find their way through more noticeably. It's pretty much comparable to the Nothing Ear (1) - solid and does the job, but won't hold a candle to more established ANC systems on the market. Notably, toggling ANC on or off has no discernible impact on sound quality, which is great.

Transparency Mode sits in a usable middle ground. It lets in enough of the world around you to hold a conversation without constantly having to take the headphones off. There is a slight processed quality to it - it does not sound completely natural the way the best transparency modes do - but it is nowhere near the hollow, robotic effect that some cheaper headphones produce. For the price, it does its job well enough that you will actually use it.

Microphone Quality and Call Performance

As for call quality, the headphones feature a four-microphone array with a three-microphone algorithm dedicated to call quality and environmental noise cancellation.

Nothing's AI-boosted Clear Voice Technology, trained on over 28 million real-world scenarios, is designed to isolate your voice and suppress background noise during calls.

In testing, the call quality comes across as decent and functional - voices are picked up clearly enough in quiet environments, though background noise in busier settings does find its way through.

Battery Life and Charging

Battery life is arguably the Nothing Headphone (a)’s single most compelling selling point, and Nothing has gone genuinely big here. The headphones pack a 1060mAh dual-cell lithium-ion battery - significantly larger than what you typically find in this price bracket, where most competitors sit somewhere between 400 and 700mAh.

Nothing claims up to 135 hours of playback with ANC off and up to 75 hours with ANC running, which would make it class-leading by a considerable margin. For context, Nothing says that the Headphone (a) lasts 46% longer than other headphones in a similar price range. Even on LDAC, which is more demanding on the battery, you are still looking at 90 hours without ANC and 62 hours with it on. Full charge takes around two hours over USB-C.

Fast charging is also on the table, with Nothing claiming that just five minutes plugged in will get you eight hours of playback with ANC off, or five hours with it on. That's pretty good if you forget to charge it overnight and want to get through a day.

In my own time with the Headphones (a), I have put it through several hours of music, two films, and three TV episodes (with ANC on), and the battery indicator is still sitting at a healthy 60%. It is not a scientific drain test, but it does paint a convincing picture - and from what I have seen so far, Nothing's claims do not feel like a stretch at all.

Should You Buy the Nothing Headphones (a)?

At AED 599, the Nothing Headphones (a) is an easy recommendation for the casual listener who wants a feature-packed pair of wireless headphones with a distinctive look, punchy sound, and a battery that will outlast just about anything else at this price.

The reservations come down to comfort during extended wear, a plastic build that feels a step below what Nothing has delivered before, and a sound tuning that, while fun and likeable, leaves some midrange detail and clarity on the table.

Compared with its closest competition, the Sennheiser Accentum Plus offers more neutral, detailed sound in a lighter package, but trails in features and battery life. The Anker Soundcore Space On Pro punches hard on value (frequently on sale for AED 499), but lacks the design identity and thoughtful control scheme that make the Headphone (a) feel like a more complete product.

The Headphone (a) is a smart alternative to the Headphone 1, aimed at a different, younger audience that prioritises personality, features, and value over audio refinement. On those terms, it largely delivers.

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