What It Is

Audio · Consumer Electronics · Benchmarking · Comparison BriefTratopedia · 19 Aug 2026

The three, side by side Where they actually differ. Every measured figure is from one publication running one test.

• 16 minbetween the two runtimes anyone has actually measured
• 42.9%between the two claims those measurements were made against
• +22.5%the flagship, over its own claim
• –13.7%the budget model, under its own
• 0published measurements of the 75-hour claim

Timeline

Eight months, three launches Every dated node. The measurements are dated by publication, not by what they measure.

1. 1 Jul 2025Nothing announces Headphone (1) at $299 / £299 / €299. Aluminium and plastic, 329 g, a 40 mm driver tuned with KEF, 42 dB ANC, a 1,040 mAh cell rated at 80 hours without noise cancelling and 35 with it.
2. 15 Jul 2025Headphone (1) ships.
3. Jul 2025The first reviews. SoundGuys scores it 8.1, measures 42 h 53 min with ANC on against the 35-hour claim and 85% average attenuation, and reports a dark default tuning that needs the equaliser. TechRadar heads its review so close to being the best headphones debut I’ve ever seen, but so far, and points buyers at Sony.
4. 29 Sep 2025CMF Headphone Pro announced at $99 / £79 / €99. 283 g, Bluetooth 5.4, IPX2, swappable cushions, an Energy Slider on the earcup, 40 dB ANC, and a claim of 100 hours without noise cancelling and 50 with it.
5. 13 Oct 2025CMF Headphone Pro on sale in Malaysia at RM429.
6. 31 Oct 2025SoundGuys publishes its CMF review, scoring it 7.7, measuring 43 h 09 min with ANC on against the 50-hour claim and about 81% average attenuation, and calling the headband uncomfortable after a couple of hours.
7. 5 Mar 2026Nothing announces Headphone (a) at $199 / £149 / €159 and opens pre-orders. All plastic, 310 g, a 40 mm titanium-coated driver with no KEF involvement, 40 dB ANC, IP52, a 1,060 mAh cell — and a claim of 135 hours without noise cancelling and 75 with it.
8. 12 or 13 Mar 2026Headphone (a) goes on open sale in black, white and pink. The sources disagree on the day by one; both are recorded here rather than one being chosen.
9. Mar 2026The Headphone (a) reviews. TechRadar gives it 4.5 of 5 and describes an open, wide soundstage against the original’s narrow one. SoundGuys gives it 8.1 — the same score it gave the flagship — measures 83% attenuation, and states plainly that the battery test is unfinished.
10. 6 Apr 2026The limited yellow Headphone (a) arrives.

The Argument

The cheaper one reviews better — at one publication The argument this comparison turns on, and the evidence on both sides of it.

What Others Add

The measurements, and what they do to the comparison All five from one publication, one method. That is the whole point of comparing them.

• Runtime

  Sixteen minutes, where the box promises fifteen hours

  this article’s arithmetic

  • 42 h 53 min is 2,573 minutes. 43 h 09 min is 2,589. The difference is 16 minutes, or 0.62%.
  • The claims they were measured against are 35 and 50 hours — 42.9% apart.
  • A buyer choosing between these two on runtime is choosing on a difference of a quarter of an hour, in headphones that both last two working days.

• Calibration

  One brand under-promises, the other over-promises

  two data points, one lab

  • The flagship beat its own claim by 22.5%. The budget model missed its own by 13.7%.
  • Same publication, same test, same year. So the gap is not a difference of method — it is a difference in how conservatively each rates itself, and CMF is Nothing’s own sub-brand.
  • Two points are a pattern worth naming, not a law — and not a charge of dishonesty. A rating is made under conditions the maker picks. One picked pessimistically and one optimistically, which is what two different pickers produce.

• Noise cancelling

  The specification that does separate them is the one nobody argues about

  measured, same lab

  • Rated: 42 dB, 40 dB, 40 dB. Two of the three are the same number.
  • Measured: 85%, 83%, 81% average attenuation — all three separated, two points each, in price order.
  • Four points across a threefold price range is a small difference, honestly reported. It is still more separation than the specification everyone quotes.

Conclusion

So what What follows for a reader choosing, and what this page refuses to claim.

• Headphone (1) — $299

  If you want the most silence and the most object

  measured 85% and 42 h 53 min

  • The best measured noise cancelling of the three — 85% average attenuation, and the only 42 dB rating in the range.
  • The only aluminium one, and the only KEF-tuned one. It is also the heaviest at 329 g.
  • It beat its own battery claim by 22.5% — the longest runtime anybody has actually measured in this comparison.
  • Budget an evening with the equaliser. Its default tuning is dark, and both publications say so.

• Headphone (a) — $199

  If you want the balance, and can ignore one unmeasured number

  4.5/5 and 8.1, from two publications

  • The best-reviewed of the three — 4.5 of 5 at TechRadar, and level with the flagship at SoundGuys on 8.1.
  • An open, wide soundstage where the original’s is narrow — and no equaliser rescue needed.
  • 83% measured attenuation — two points below the flagship, at two thirds of the price, and 19 g lighter.
  • Do not buy it for the 75 hours. That figure is the one number here with no independent measurement behind it.

• CMF Headphone Pro — $99

  If you want the least money and the least weight

  measured 43 h 09 min and 81%

  • Sixteen minutes longer than the $299 model on the same battery test — 43 h 09 min with cancelling on.
  • The lightest of the three at 283 g, 46 g below the flagship — 16.3% less on your head all day.
  • Swappable cushions and an Energy Slider on the earcup — controls neither Nothing model offers.
  • The trade-offs are real: 81% attenuation, IPX2 rather than IP52, a headband SoundGuys called uncomfortable after a couple of hours, and a battery claim it missed by 13.7%.

• A battery hour is a claim until somebody measures it. Two of these three have been measured and both landed somewhere other than their number, in opposite directions. Treat the third the same way until it is tested.
• Where two of them last two working days, runtime is not the deciding specification. Sixteen minutes will not decide anything for anyone. Weight will: 329 g against 283 g is 46 g, or 16.3%, and it sits on your head for those two days.
• The price ladder is not the same ladder in every currency. The flagship is 3.02× the budget model in dollars and in euros — but 3.78× in pounds, where it is £299 against the mid-tier’s £149. A recommendation written against the dollar ladder does not transfer.