Holler in the comments if I’m missing something: I can’t find a single pair of wireless over-ear headphones from a legit brand that boasts as much battery life as the new Headphone (a) from Nothing. This pair claims a whopping 135 hours – that’s a whole five days uninterrupted, and then some.
That’s not all the Headphone (a) has going for it. It’s the mid-range successor to the polarizing Headphone (1) that came out last year, and it brings a similarly striking minimalist design, albeit with a pop of color that sets it apart. For US$100 less than the flagship model, these headphones could be worth considering for people who want something with a high style quotient that won’t break the bank.
The transparent rectangular ear cups feature colored plastic caps and memory foam cushions, and are connected by a slim slim headband with liquid-silicone padding, steel arms, and injection molded hinges. As with the more metallic Headphone (1), these do a good job of communicating a distinctive retro-futuristic design language.
Fanatics, featuring Headphone (a)
What’s especially nice about the Headphone (a) is that it gets the same fantastic physical controls as the Headphone (1): a clickable roller for tuning volume and toggling playback, and a paddle for skipping tracks and scrubbing through audio. These offer much better feedback than capacitive and gesture-based controls that are all too common in this segment.
Nothing
Audio performance comes from 40-mm titanium-coated diaphragms, which Nothing says are engineered to “deliver expressive highs and deep bass” up to a loud 110 dB. I haven’t tried or compared these, but I imagine they’ll likely be a step down in finesse when they go up against the Headphone (1), which was tuned by British hi-fi audio brand KEF.
The feature set is unsurprising, but solid: you can connect via Bluetooth 5.4, USB-C, or a 3.5-mm jack; active noise cancelation (ANC) cuts up to a modest 40 dB across three levels; transparency mode lets you hear the world around you without taking your cans off. This pair supports Hi-Res and LDAC audio for improved fidelity when your streaming service or music files allow, at the cost of a few hours of playtime.
Nothing
Speaking of which, the 1,060-mAh battery is said to manage 135 hours without ANC, and that goes down to 75 hours with the feature turned on. It charges fully in two hours, and will get you a few hours of listening time after being plugged in for just five minutes. That’s a lot more than the Headphone (1)’s maximum of 80 hours, and even the budget Headphone Pro from Nothing’s subsidiary brand CMF which promises 100 hours.
This beats out OneOdio’s Studio Max 1 too, which our own Joe Salas liked a lot back in November 2025. That pair makes good use of its larger build to offer 120 hours.
The Headphone (a)’s 135 hours seems wholly unnecessary. But what you’ll find is that being able to pick up your device anytime and have juice in the tank to get some use out of it – even if you didn’t remember to charge it recently – is a simple and pure luxury.
Nothing
Beyond that, these 11-oz (310-g) headphones offer more controls in a companion mobile app, and dual-device connectivity for tuning into your phone and laptop without manually switching between them. At $199, it certainly packs all the functionality you’d expect at this price point. But it also beats out competition like Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 and the Soundcore Space One Pro with differentiated styling, and leaves them in the dust when it comes to claimed battery life.
Nothing
Find the Headphone (a) on Nothing’s site, where you can pre-order a pair in any of four colorways now, and expect it to ship March 13 onwards.
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