Nothing's $399 Headphone 1 Pro puts a switch on the ear cup that bypasses its own app EQ

The Verge's reviewer flipped the switch and heard the default Balanced tuning, forward in the mids and highs, settle into line with the bass, at the cost of some airiness ^[7]. For regular listening, the reviewer then opened the Nothing X app and used its parametric EQ to take the edge off the highs ^[8].

Here is what the pitch assumes users do. Per The Verge, the switch exists so studio professionals can hear their mixes without coloration from the headphones ^[2]. Here is what one reviewer actually did: used the flat curve as a reference, then went back to the app. Gizmodo's reviewer, writing before trying the headphones, expected the studio features to appeal mostly to people who make music as a hobby or a profession ^[4].

Listening research backs the reviewer. The Verge cites work by Dr. Sean Olive and colleagues at Harman showing that most people prefer elevated bass, relatively neutral mids and slightly boosted highs, the target called the Harman Curve ^[14]. The reviewer wrote that "a flat EQ for most people will sound off and wrong" ^[15]. The review also notes an argument that flat headphones are unnecessary even in studios, because most studio monitors are tuned to the Harman Curve too ^[16].

The Verge sets the switch against an industry habit of adding EQ controls, noting that Apple finally gave AirPods a 3-band equalizer in iOS 27 ^[11]. Nothing kept that habit. According to 9to5Google, the Pro ships with the most advanced custom EQ in Nothing's lineup, letting owners adjust the main drivers and a third "precision driver" separately ^[12]. The same Metropolis partnership produced a "Studio B" spatial mode and genre presets for jazz, British rock, UK rap, grime and electronica, Gizmodo reported ^[5]. 9to5Google's reviewer wrote: "The sheer number of options around tuning the sound quality borders on overwhelming" ^[13].

The switch itself is built for occasional use. It is small and sits on an inside corner of the left ear cup, far from the other controls, and The Verge's reviewer saw no risk of flipping it by accident ^[9].

Gizmodo lists Sony's WH-1000XM6 and Bose's second-generation QuietComfort Ultra at $450 each, so the Pro undercuts both by $51 ^[18][19]. The Verge found its noise cancelling a step behind Sony, Bose and Apple's AirPods Max 2, though the best Nothing has made ^[23].

A team buying these can sort the likely wearers on two axes: whether they check mixes against a reference, and whether they will open an app to tune. Mix checkers who won't tune get the most from the Pro, because the switch gives them a reference with no app setup ^[2]. Those who check mixes and also tune get both halves of what Nothing built. For listeners who tune but never check a mix, the purchase is the per-driver EQ ^[12], to be weighed against the $450 rivals on noise cancelling ^[18]. Anyone doing neither gets the default Balanced tuning, forward in the mids and highs by The Verge's account ^[7].