Headphones have remained mainly the same for the last ten years, and even though brands have different looks and sound profiles, they are all very similar. Lately, there has been quite a boom foropen-ear headphones, which allow you to stay aware of your surroundings while listening to your favorite content. Most of these headphones use an earbud-esque design to accomplish this, with bone-conduction earbuds like Shokz or air-conduction headphones like the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds.
Well, that is not the case with these new headphones from nwm. The nwm ONE blends a traditionalover-ear headphone form factorwith an open-ear design, resulting in an incredibly cool-looking pair of headphones. A couple of months ago, when they were announced at Tokyo HiFi, I was very excited about the possibility of these headphones coming to the North American market, and now that they are, I was lucky enough to test them out and see if all this new tech is worth the hype.
I know this style of headphones is not for everyone, but without giving too much away, since I received these headphones a couple of weeks ago, they have lived on my head all day long. While they might seem gimmicky, these headphones are incredibly fun to use.
nwm One
Unmute the world and embrace life’s vibrant sounds alongside your favorite music. Enjoy a new era of experiencing both music and the world around you. The nwm One takes open-ear headphones to a whole new level with incredible sound quality and a design that lets you stay fully aware of your surroundings but not let anyone around you hear what you are listening to.
What’s In The Box?
Even though other premium headphones at this price point come with a lot more, only being packaged with the headphones themselves and a USB cable is not really a bummer for the nwm One. These headphones have a minimalist style, especially in a light-grey colorway, so the minimalist accessories make sense. It is not entirely necessary to download the nwm app to get up and running with these headphones, and really, unless you want to mess with the EQ settings, it is not needed at all.
This is dependent on the headphones you receive, but our headphones arrived with 60% battery life. I was able to turn them on and begin listening to music within a couple of minutes of turning them on. That original charge got us through the first few days of testing with relatively long listening sessions.
Design & Comfort
Because most of what makes up traditional over-ear headphones has been cut away from the nwm One, these headphones are incredibly light, making them very comfortable to wear all day long. Even as a glasses wearer, the earcups didn’t press on my glasses arms too much or dig into the side of my head. Although, because they don’t have a ton of clamping force, these headphones are not great for heavy exercising; that is still where open-ear headphones, like those from Shokz, have the advantage.
Because it happened a few times to us while testing, I find it worth mentioning that these headphones will get you some strange looks in the grocery store or when you are out and about. While they don’t look super cyberpunk, they do look like you are wearing some future tech, or at least what Star Trek thought future tech would look like. This is not necessarily a drawback, but if you want headphones that will not attract attention, these might not be the headphones for you.
Connectivity
The nwm One is, first and foremost, a Bluetooth daily driver headphone, which is the primary way most people will be using them. You can use these headphones wired with USB audio, which is super nice if they need to charge or if you need a wired option for desktop use, but the Bluetooth is the real star of the show.
With these headphones being $299, they are definitely on the more premium side of the price range, so it makes sense their Bluetooth connectivity and setup process feel premium. However, you would be surprised how many premium headphones struggle to stay connected to the device when you are not right next to it. The nwm One kept a solid connection across my whole apartment, even when walls and doors were in the way, making it super simple to jam out with these headphones all day long, even when my phone needed to charge.
It is worth mentioning that if you connect the One to a Windows PC, it will automatically connect as a headset instead of headphones, which will limit the sound quality to a fair amount. Still, you can easily change that by going into the sound settings in Windows. This is more a fault on Windows than it is on the nwm One.
Sound Quality
Besides the overall look, the sound quality is the biggest feature that blew me away with the nwm One. Most other open-ear headphones struggle to deliver sound quality that lives up to the same standard as traditional headphones, but that is not the case with the nwm One.
Now, snobby audiophile listeners can still find things to complain about with the One, especially when comparing it to HiFi headphones, but when you take a step back from the specs sheet and compare the listening experience to the listening experience, the One offers something that is not really possible with any other headphones right now.
The combination of the high-quality driver and completely open-ear driver makes for a magical listening experience. After going for one walk with these headphones, all the other open-ear headphones seemed very lackluster. These headphones allowed me to enjoy music without feeling like I was missing some of the mix or the sparkle in the high-end frequencies and still fully hear my surroundings. Hearing music completely isolated from everything else is sometimes good, but having music mix with your surroundings makes it feel like a soundtrack at times, creating a more emotional listening experience.
Multiple times during our testing period, I felt these headphones allowed me to get more out of the music than when I listened to the same albums with ANC headphones.
Overall Performance
Because the nwm One is entirely open with two regular headphone drivers, you might be thinking that everyone can hear everything you are listening to. However, this is once again where the nwm One blew us away. Along the side of the 35mm drivers that provide the audio for you, there are 12mm drivers that use phase canceling to create a wave that significantly reduces the amount your music or podcast leaks out of these headphones. These are not the first headphones to use a second driver or a smaller tweeter for noise cancelation, but they are typically used in the case of ANC, not to suppress noise leakage.
When I first read about this feature, I was pretty skeptical of its effectiveness, but now, after testing it out, I no longer have any skepticism. It does an incredible job of neutralizing sound leakage, even at high volumes. At those high volumes, it can get painful to listen to; most of the time, I used it at 50% volume and below, and the sound was still plenty powerful.
Is The nwm One Right For You?
An open-ear headphone experience like this is not something everyone is looking for, but if you want to be able to experience your music without any comprises and still be fully aware of your surroundings, it is hard to find a better option than the nwm One right now. Whether you are an audiophile or just a casual listener looking for a new listening experience, the nwm One offers something that can’t be found anywhere else right now.
Very few headphones come in for review and are exciting to talk about with my friends and family, but these headphones are instantly a conversation starter and are super fun to have people try out. Even to people who don’t use a lot of different headphones, the listening experience on the nwm One is instantly recognizable as unique.
FAQ
Q: Are open-ear headphones good?
While open-ear headphones produce as much raw power as traditional headphones, they are great options for exercise, commuting, and multi-tasking while listening to music and staying aware of your surroundings.
Q: Are open-ear headphones better than bone-conduction headphones?
Since open-ear headphones do not have to go through your bones to transmit sound, they can comparatively deliver a much richer and full sound. Bone conduction headphones still have advantages, especially for athletes needing extra water and dust resistance that other headphones can’t provide.
