The NW M1 Headphones: A Unique Approach to Sound and Design

The NW M1 headphones are an interesting example of innovative design and technology. At first glance, they may appear strange due to their minimalist aesthetic and lack of branding on the earpieces. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the design is intentional, with a focus on creating a sleek and streamlined appearance that prioritizes sound quality over flashy features.

One of the most distinctive aspects of the NW M1 headphones is their open design, which allows for excellent ventilation and airflow around the ear. This means that the headphones can be worn in warm or hot environments without feeling oppressive or sweaty. The lack of padding on top of the headband may be a drawback for some users, but it also contributes to the overall minimalist feel of the headphones.

In terms of sound quality, the NW M1 headphones are surprisingly good, considering their open design and relatively low price point. Each earpiece is equipped with a 35mm driver and a 12mm tweeter, which work together to produce clear and full-bodied sound. The headphones lack deep bass, but they make up for it with their clarity and soundstage. The NW M1s are not as good as high-end noise-cancelling headphones, but they offer a unique alternative for those who prioritize sound quality over noise cancellation.

Another notable feature of the NW M1 headphones is their active phase cancellation technology, which reduces sound leakage and allows them to be worn in noisy environments without disturbing others. The headphones also have a surprisingly good volume level, making them suitable for everyday use as well as more demanding applications like gaming or video editing.

The NW M1 headphones come with several features that set them apart from other earbuds and headphones. They support Bluetooth 5.3, multipoint pairing, and USB-C audio, which allows for easy connectivity to devices with USB-C ports. The headphones also have a battery life of up to 20 hours at moderate volume levels, making them suitable for long listening sessions.

One of the most interesting aspects of the NW M1 headphones is their companion app, which offers features like an equalizer and firmware updates. However, the app itself feels somewhat rudimentary compared to more advanced apps found on other devices.

Overall, the NW M1 headphones are a unique and innovative example of sound technology and design. While they may not be for everyone, they offer a compelling alternative to traditional headphones for those who prioritize sound quality over flashy features or noise cancellation. The price point of $300 may seem steep, but considering the sound quality and performance, it's a fair investment for those who want high-quality audio without breaking the bank.

Using the NW M1 Headphones: A Hands-On Experience

I had the opportunity to try out the NW M1 headphones and see how they perform in real-world use. I was pleasantly surprised by their comfort and sound quality, which exceeded my expectations. The headphones felt surprisingly lightweight at 185g, making them easy to wear for extended periods.

The open design of the headphones was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it allowed for excellent ventilation and airflow around the ear, making the headphones feel cool and comfortable in warm environments. However, I did find the lack of padding on top of the headband to be slightly irritating at times, particularly during extended wear.

The silicone ring that sits on your face was also a novelty at first, but it soon became comfortable with use. The earpieces themselves were fixed, which may be a drawback for some users who prefer adjustable earbuds. However, the sound quality of the headphones more than made up for this limitation.

One of the biggest surprises I had when using the NW M1 headphones was their ability to pick up my voice clearly in noisy environments. The active phase cancellation technology did an excellent job of reducing background noise and allowing me to communicate with others without issue.

In terms of sound quality, the NW M1 headphones exceeded my expectations. The clear and full-bodied soundstage was impressive, and I found myself appreciating the nuances of different music genres. The lack of bass was not a major concern for me, as I prioritize clarity and soundstage over deep bass.

The NW M1 headphones are also surprisingly good at picking up subtle details in sound, such as the high-frequency range. This made them ideal for listening to podcasts or audiobooks, where clear and detailed sound is essential.

Overall, my experience with the NW M1 headphones was overwhelmingly positive. They offered a unique blend of sound quality, comfort, and design that set them apart from other earbuds and headphones on the market.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey there folks I review a lot of headphones and these just might be the most unique and interesting ones that have come across my desk this year they're called the NW M1 Wireless and they're open ere headphones I'm going to tell you what's good about them and what's not so good about them let's go do this now you've probably never heard of nwm I hadn't until recently but it's a relatively new brand developed by NTT sonority the audio engineering arm of Japan's largest telecommunications company aside from the fact that there are no ear cups just a ring pad to hold the drivers in place around your ears what's a little strange is that there's no branding on the headphones themselves no logo nothing these don't even come with a caring case that could be branded with a logo and you can barely see the r on the headphones that lets you know left from right which is slightly irritating but if you're into streamlined minimalist Tech products the design has its appeal and the headphones are certainly lightweight at 185 G and also seem pretty durable they do have a bit of metal in their construction they are comfortable once you get them on your head in the right position my only two complaints are that while the driver swivel the earpieces don't they're fixed and I could do with a touch more padding on the top of the headband I should also note that the silicone ring that sits on your face takes a little getting used to it's got some give to it and is generally comfortable but I'm just so used to Plush padded memory foam ear pads that the ring felt a little weird at times the obvious benefit to having a completely open ear over your headphone is that you do get really nice ventilation there's a bit of a breeze here it's about 75° I usually don't like wearing over ear headphones on super hot days but these feel really nice with my ears or air condition no nothing steaming up the downside is like you know there's sirens in the background there's people around and I can hear all that um I have the the volume on pretty low there was a horn beep there but I can talk to my camera woman here um without taking my headphones off which is also a good thing there were three things I was surprised about first the price these list for $300 which seems like an awful lot I was sort of expecting them to be more like $150 but to their credit they sound surprisingly good for open headphones each earpiece is equipped with a 35mm driver along with a 12mm Tweeter and they sound quite respectable some people have said they don't get quite loud enough that may be an Android thing but I use them with iPhone 14 pro and I didn't have an issue with the volume they don't produce a ton of bass but they sound Fuller than I thought they would and also offer decent Clarity and not surprisingly they sound quite open with a wide Sound Stage soundwise they just can't quite compete with a good set of $300 noise cancelling headphones but they did exceed my expectations for this type of headphone the other thing that's surprising is that they leak very little sound apparently they're equipped with active phase cancellation to reduce sound leakage something I've started to see in open earbuds people had to stand quite close to me to hear anything coming out of them I have it about 30% volume so I can I can talk to you and hear you I can barely hear them to be honest I could kind of hear the music but not too much I'll go I'll go to 60% yeah okay I can I can hear the voices of the song that meant about 70% I can sort of hear something yes I could definitely hear it there's a surprising amount of Base from from you can't even until where anything is kept this sound quality actually sounds good I thought maybe it would sound like raspy or something like that it's not as noise cancelling as you think it is but it sounds pretty cool I think these are kind of nice I like them a lot I also thought these were good for voice calling people said they could hear my voice well even in Fairly noisy environments and said they heard very little background noise I could also hear them well though it did become a little harder to hear them when I had a lot of noise around me because these are open headphones after all as far as other specs go these are equipped with Bluetooth 5.3 there's multipoint Bluetooth pairing and USBC audio for Wired listening on computers and smartphones and tablets with USBC ports battery life is rated at 20 hours at moderate volume levels they support the AAC SBC and lc3 audio codec as well as the new orac cast feature that lets you hear Bluetooth audio broadcasts in public spaces like gyms and finally there's a companion app for IOS and Android it's pretty rudimentary but has an equalizer and allows you to do firmware upgrades all in all I got to say I thought the NW M1 was a pretty cool headphone it's too expensive and feels a bit beta or experimental but it's pretty well designed and did exceed my expectations for sound quality and overall performance is it the future of overear headphones I'm not so sure about that but I do think we could see more open overear headphones going forward at the right price they'd be worth having in your headphone Arsenal particularly for those hot days when wearing over your head head phones just isn't fun but let me know what you think does the design of these headphones appeal to you or are they just too weird I'm David carfor cnet.com thanks for watchinghey there folks I review a lot of headphones and these just might be the most unique and interesting ones that have come across my desk this year they're called the NW M1 Wireless and they're open ere headphones I'm going to tell you what's good about them and what's not so good about them let's go do this now you've probably never heard of nwm I hadn't until recently but it's a relatively new brand developed by NTT sonority the audio engineering arm of Japan's largest telecommunications company aside from the fact that there are no ear cups just a ring pad to hold the drivers in place around your ears what's a little strange is that there's no branding on the headphones themselves no logo nothing these don't even come with a caring case that could be branded with a logo and you can barely see the r on the headphones that lets you know left from right which is slightly irritating but if you're into streamlined minimalist Tech products the design has its appeal and the headphones are certainly lightweight at 185 G and also seem pretty durable they do have a bit of metal in their construction they are comfortable once you get them on your head in the right position my only two complaints are that while the driver swivel the earpieces don't they're fixed and I could do with a touch more padding on the top of the headband I should also note that the silicone ring that sits on your face takes a little getting used to it's got some give to it and is generally comfortable but I'm just so used to Plush padded memory foam ear pads that the ring felt a little weird at times the obvious benefit to having a completely open ear over your headphone is that you do get really nice ventilation there's a bit of a breeze here it's about 75° I usually don't like wearing over ear headphones on super hot days but these feel really nice with my ears or air condition no nothing steaming up the downside is like you know there's sirens in the background there's people around and I can hear all that um I have the the volume on pretty low there was a horn beep there but I can talk to my camera woman here um without taking my headphones off which is also a good thing there were three things I was surprised about first the price these list for $300 which seems like an awful lot I was sort of expecting them to be more like $150 but to their credit they sound surprisingly good for open headphones each earpiece is equipped with a 35mm driver along with a 12mm Tweeter and they sound quite respectable some people have said they don't get quite loud enough that may be an Android thing but I use them with iPhone 14 pro and I didn't have an issue with the volume they don't produce a ton of bass but they sound Fuller than I thought they would and also offer decent Clarity and not surprisingly they sound quite open with a wide Sound Stage soundwise they just can't quite compete with a good set of $300 noise cancelling headphones but they did exceed my expectations for this type of headphone the other thing that's surprising is that they leak very little sound apparently they're equipped with active phase cancellation to reduce sound leakage something I've started to see in open earbuds people had to stand quite close to me to hear anything coming out of them I have it about 30% volume so I can I can talk to you and hear you I can barely hear them to be honest I could kind of hear the music but not too much I'll go I'll go to 60% yeah okay I can I can hear the voices of the song that meant about 70% I can sort of hear something yes I could definitely hear it there's a surprising amount of Base from from you can't even until where anything is kept this sound quality actually sounds good I thought maybe it would sound like raspy or something like that it's not as noise cancelling as you think it is but it sounds pretty cool I think these are kind of nice I like them a lot I also thought these were good for voice calling people said they could hear my voice well even in Fairly noisy environments and said they heard very little background noise I could also hear them well though it did become a little harder to hear them when I had a lot of noise around me because these are open headphones after all as far as other specs go these are equipped with Bluetooth 5.3 there's multipoint Bluetooth pairing and USBC audio for Wired listening on computers and smartphones and tablets with USBC ports battery life is rated at 20 hours at moderate volume levels they support the AAC SBC and lc3 audio codec as well as the new orac cast feature that lets you hear Bluetooth audio broadcasts in public spaces like gyms and finally there's a companion app for IOS and Android it's pretty rudimentary but has an equalizer and allows you to do firmware upgrades all in all I got to say I thought the NW M1 was a pretty cool headphone it's too expensive and feels a bit beta or experimental but it's pretty well designed and did exceed my expectations for sound quality and overall performance is it the future of overear headphones I'm not so sure about that but I do think we could see more open overear headphones going forward at the right price they'd be worth having in your headphone Arsenal particularly for those hot days when wearing over your head head phones just isn't fun but let me know what you think does the design of these headphones appeal to you or are they just too weird I'm David carfor cnet.com thanks for watching\n"