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These unique headphones from Japan are finally available in North America

The nwm ONE headphones stand out amongst the crowd of boring headphone designs.
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Published onAugust 9, 2024

nwm ONE headphones bending to display the drivers.
Chase Bernath / SoundGuys
TL;DR
  • The nwm ONE wireless headphones feature a unique open-ear design with proprietary PSZ technology to limit sound leakage.
  • At only 184g, the open design is extremely lightweight and comfortable and ensures you are always aware of your surroundings.
  • Previously available in Japan, you can now find them in North America starting today for $299 USD.

If you like to stay aware of your surroundings, you’ll want to take notice of these unique new headphones. While open back headphones are nothing new, the nwm ONE take that concept to a whole new extreme. As you can see, these headphones don’t have any back at all, leaving your ears completely exposed to the outside world. It’s like strapping two speakers to your ears. As well, unlike most open back headphones, these support Bluetooth for wireless listening.

A man wearing the nwm ONE headphones.
Chase Bernath / SoundGuys
You’ll certainly turn a few heads while wearing the nwm ONE.

A dual-driver system pairs a 35mm driver with a smaller 12mm driver to focus on the highs. Moreover, the headphones have a few unique features developed by NTT. The first is PSZ (Personalized Sound Zone) which aims to minimize sound leakage from the open design. The second is Magic Focus Voice, which combines beamforming with spectral filtering for clear call quality.

I was skeptical when I first saw these headphones, but on first impression, I am impressed. Stay tuned to see how these hold up to our testing lab, but so far, the sound quality is better than I was expecting from such a strange design. I am also amazed just how lightweight and comfortable these headphones are, they are about half the weight of the Apple AirPods Max. You can even swivel the speaker units on each side, which ensures the sound point directly down your ears, no matter what shape they are.

The nwm ONE are available to purchase from Amazon in North America starting today, for $299 at Amazon.

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