Nothing Headphone (1) Makes a Case for Headphones as Design Objects | Vol. 31

The Nothing Headphone (1) is aimed at a very modern sort of audio fussbudget: somebody who wants wireless convenience, but refuses to pretend that every device, cable and file format has agreed to co-operate. Fair enough. A laptop, phone, games console and mystery drawer of adapters can turn “put some music on” into a small administrative task.

This White version is a wireless over-ear headphone, and Nothing has supplied rather more routes into it than most people will need on a Tuesday. There is LDAC for wireless listening, USB-C audio, and a 3.5 mm wired connection. That is an unusually sensible spread, especially when a device with a dying battery or a stubborn older socket decides it wants to be the main character.

The underlying hardware is equally specific: custom-made 40 mm speakers use a high-linearity suspension system and PU surround, while the supplied specification cites Hi-Res Wireless certification and 24-bit/96 kHz precision. We cannot tell you how it sounds in your particular playlist of pub-rock classics and aggressively mastered podcasts, but the ingredients are substantially more serious than a pair of headphones built solely for taking calls beside a kettle.

Nothing also lists hybrid active noise cancellation, spatial sound, six microphones, fast charging and up to 80 hours of playtime. That collection makes Headphone (1) the broadest recommendation in this set: it covers the straightforward daily job, but leaves room for the person who still owns a 3.5 mm cable on purpose. A rare little victory for flexibility over ecosystem nonsense.

British summer has a particular talent for making a garden look idyllic right up until everyone is sitting perfectly still, clutching a lukewarm drink and pretending the heat is “actually rather nice”. The Shark FlexBreeze Pro Mist FA300WHUK is designed for that extremely narrow but deeply familiar emergency: moving air around a patio or indoor room without dragging a cable through a half-open door.

We think its useful trick is not simply that it is cordless. The fan can stand on its pedestal or work as a table fan, while the portable tank adds three outdoor mist modes for the point at which a normal breeze has clearly submitted its resignation. Shark states up to 20 metres of airflow reach, so this is aimed at a proper seating area rather than one overheated ankle.

The battery figures deserve the usual grown-up reading. Up to 24 hours is at speed 1 with neither oscillation nor mist; the stated figures fall to up to six hours at speed 3 and up to two hours at speed 5 under those same conditions. That is still a useful spread for an evening outside, a stuffy home office, or the sort of kitchen that becomes a sauna when someone announces they are “just doing a roast”.

There is, naturally, some faff. At 7 kg and 93.4 cm high, this is not a little fan you casually relocate with one finger while holding a plate of sausages in the other. Misting is outdoor-only, the remote is not rain resistant, and charging takes around five to six hours. Yet as a more capable, movable alternative to a basic pedestal fan, it makes a surprisingly sensible case for itself.

The Shark SilkiPro HT401UKPK exists because morning hair routines have become an absurd little production line: wash, dry, straighten, discover that time has passed in a manner both rude and legally suspicious. This appliance combines a hair straightener and dryer in one wet-to-dry format, which is a sensible answer to the problem of a bathroom drawer full of single-purpose electrical optimism.

We think its real appeal is not a grand promise of reinvention. It is the prospect of cutting down the hand-off between appliances when the clock is already making accusations. The UK listing also includes a storage case, a modest but welcome acknowledgement that grooming tools otherwise breed in cupboards like cables.

The model has distinct Wet and Dry Modes rather than treating damp and dry hair as the same job with different levels of panic. Wet Mode runs from 100°C to 120°C across three settings, while Dry Mode reaches 160°C, 190°C and 220°C. Those figures make the SilkiPro easier to assess than a device offering only vague claims and a button labelled with a sun symbol.

There is a small dose of grown-up fine print: every listed setting carries a tolerance of ±10°C. That does not make the product less interesting; it simply means buyers who care closely about exact heat settings should read the numbers rather than becoming hypnotised by the rather tempting idea of escaping the hairdryer-straightener relay.

Air purifiers are the sort of household object people buy after one too many mornings involving stale air, mysterious smells, or an allergy season that has taken a personal interest in them. Then comes the second irritation: finding somewhere to put a bulky plastic tower without making the living room resemble a small server room.

The Dyson HushJet™ Purifier Compact HJ10 earns our attention because its stated coverage reaches up to 100 m² while the body is 230 mm across and 470 mm high. That does not make it invisible, sadly; no appliance has yet mastered paying rent. It does make it a more plausible proposition for a room where floor space is already occupied by chairs, laundry baskets and the general debris of being alive.

The useful headline is not a cloud of vague “freshness” language. It captures 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns through a 360° electrostatic filter, and that filter is engineered to maintain performance for up to five years. Meanwhile, the supplied activated-carbon filter is specifically for gases and odours. The two-filter arrangement is reassuringly purposeful, though it also means the five-year line should not be read as a lifetime exemption from filter-related chores.

Dyson lists 42 dBA at maximum and 24 dBA in quiet mode, plus 90-degree oscillation. We think that makes the HJ10 a strong practical addition for buyers whose purifier brief is unusually grown-up: decent specified room coverage, restrained stated noise figures and less frequent electrostatic-filter replacement, rather than another gadget demanding its own ceremonial corner.

Window cleaning is one of those household jobs that looks simple until the sunlight arrives at precisely the angle needed to reveal every streak, fingerprint and ancient splash mark. Then comes the usual choice: postpone it, summon a ladder, or perform the slightly tragic indoor wipe that merely redistributes the evidence. The ECOVACS WINBOT W3 Omni enters this scene with the swagger of a robot window cleaner and a station for washing its pad.

We think its appeal is obvious to anyone with substantial glazing and limited enthusiasm for hanging about near it. The W3 Omni combines stated 8,000Pa suction with a triple-nozzle water sprayer, while its multi-functional station handles auto pad washing. This is not a modest gadget; it is a specialised domestic machine for people whose windows have become a recurring administrative problem.

The catch is that glass is not all interchangeable shiny wall. ECOVACS’ EU manual excludes glass under 3 mm, mirrors under 4 mm, greasy windows and exterior use in rainy weather. It is designed for temperatures from 0°C to 40°C, and high humidity can affect cleaning performance. In other words, the robot may be futuristic, but the window still needs to pass a small tribunal first.