Core77

Design Criticism: The Nothing Headphone (1), a Bold Effort

By Rain Noe - July 8

in Object Culture

Kudos to upstart tech brand Nothing for trying something different with their Nothing Headphone (1). That said, the aesthetic may appeal to some, but I see it as a big miss.

To me, the design is trying to do too much. While that is probably the point—in today's oversaturated world, you need bold visuals in order to cut through the signal noise—I think the designers are too on-the-nose, referentially speaking, simply evoking other objects rather than finding an original form.

The outside of the earcups consists of two clunky elements. The outermost is meant to evoke an analog audio cassette, as if you're wearing a Walkman with a racetrack-shaped visibility window on each ear. The innermost body of the cup, an aluminum squircle—or rectangircle—evokes, presumably accidentally, an older MacBook Pro squashed into cutesy dimensions.

In my opinion, the displeasing effect of these two forms is less hi-tech/cyberpunk and more low-budget sci-fi show props department, desperately trying to create something futuristic-looking by mashing two things together. And attaching two geometric shapes to each other robs designers of the opportunity (or, uncharitably, allows them to sidestep) the artful business of dealing with transitions between elements, where I think great design can happen.

That said, I'm not the (young) target market, and the brand has collaborated with venerated British audio brand KEF on the guts, so we can assume the sound is high-quality.

On the features side, the headphones offer active noise canceling and a respectable 80 hours of playback time.

The Nothing Headphones (1) run $299, which is considerably less than similar offerings from Apple, Bose or Sony.

o
1

Favorite This
Q
4

Comment

Comments

Zach W

2 hours ago

Z

Z

Reply

Would be cool to see headphones that fit eyeglasses too......

!Report as spam
Michael DiTullo

7 hours ago

Z

Z

Reply

Totally agree... these headphones do "nothing" for me. 🤣 had to.... but seriously, showing so many images of them on people's heads only goes to show how try hard yet low budget these look.

!Report as spam
Garrett Benisch

8 hours ago

Z

Z

Reply

I think the black at least tones it down to focus on the raw forms.

For what it's worth on quality I've had their 'ear' model earbuds for over a year now and the sound quality is stellar aside from the mic having trouble managing wind during calls if I'm outside when noise cancellation is on.

Been through the wash once and have dropped the case plenty and still trucking, so they didn't lose focus on durability and quality for sake of cool factor.

!Report as spam
david copeland

10 hours ago

Z

Z

Reply

Trying too hard for sure.
Brand is not about looking the same, but rather, about feeling the same - values, interactions, experience created, etc.
In this case, they put a phone on each ear, I feel. Way too literal.

!Report as spam