Nothing just shipped its most expensive headphones ever, and the internet decided to talk about the box they come in. Fair enough. The Nothing Headphone (1) Pro case is a white plastic pill that clamps over the ear cups and leaves the whole headband flapping out the top like a purse handle, and the shell has no cutout for a charging cable, so you unclip it every time the battery runs low.
MKBHD tore into it, then pitched his Magic Mouse theory, the idea that one dumb, obvious flaw can do a product a favor by eating all the bad press. He even framed it as a personal choice about whether “we choose to allow it to ruin it for us.” I kind of agree with him. Where I part ways is on who the theory helps.
Apple never let you charge the Magic Mouse and use it at the same time. With the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro, you can sidestep the problem by leaving the case at home (early owners say the Pro even fits the older Headphone (1) case). Nothing’s own launch copy sells the shell on its loop for keychains and charms, which tells you how much of the design budget went to protecting anything.
So the joke is cheap. Cheap jokes spread.
And it drags the best feature down with it. A physical Flat switch on the left cup kills the EQ and processing, with a neutral tune made alongside Metropolis Studios, so a bass-forward commuting pair turns into something you could edit a video on, mid-song if you like. Nothing’s brand chief promises “studio-level sound wherever they are.” I doubt a $399 Bluetooth pair gets all the way there, but that switch is the boldest idea in premium headphones this year, and it gets a sliver of the airtime the lunchbox does.
The Flat switch is the bit that got my attention. I can see the appeal when you’re editing audio or video from a laptop somewhere away from home. As an iPhone user, I tend to look at the AirPods Max when the price hits $399, and Apple’s headphones don’t give me that same control. I’d still skip these if pure sound is the only thing I care about.
The theory holds. Nothing is the one cashing in on it, though, so picture the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro with a perfect case and ask whether you’d still pay $399. I’m undecided. Worth it if you’ll lean on the Flat switch every week, and skippable if the best sound for the money is your whole brief, at least until somebody puts that bass driver through a proper test, me included.