I am currently putting the Nothing Headphone (1) through their paces, and one thing has stood out to me. The physical controls. The audio cues that play when changing volume or activating features could be a bit less... piercing, but using them with my fingers is so much more satisfying than the swiping touch panels of the competition.
I've never made it a secret that I don't like touch controls on the best headphones, nor how much I far prefer actual, clicking buttons. But I've never gone into any kind of real detail about my preferences, and why they might matter to you, too.
Touch shenanigans
But first, why don't I like touch controls? It's all about ease of use, or the lack thereof, when it comes to touch panels on headphones. I don't like remembering three different sets of taps and swipes for different commands, or having to tap different parts of a panel to activate different features.
It doesn't feel intuitive, nice under the finger, and often leads to miss-taps that leave me listening to something completely different than when I went to change the volume.
Even the best touch panels on headphones can be terribly inaccurate as well, and sometimes aren't sensitive enough to read anything but a hefty jab of your finger. That's to say nothing about when it's raining — then they become all but completely useless.
Yeah, buttons please.
Pleasingly tactile
Tactility is important. It's the whole reason we all use physical keyboards when we do any real typing, as opposed to tapping out a quick text on your phone screen. Why the buttons on your TV remote exist, and why you can't stop playing with those fidget toys that are covered with buttons and switches.
Headphones, in my mind, are no different. When I reach up to my ear (which I can't see, given that my eyes are on the front of my head), physical controls are immediately easier to find than a nebulous touch panel.
The 'satisfaction' factor is hard to overcome as well. There will always remain something far better about a clicking button than swiping your finger over a touch pad — it's human nature.
When it gets cold
When there's a chill in the air, I like to don some gloves to help keep my fingers lovely and toasty warm. I also like to listen to my tunes, my headphones snug under my woolly hat. But — oh no! A track I don't like plays in my artist radio, and now I need to skip it.
My engloved fingers desire to remain warm, and because my woolly gloves don't have those ever-unreliable touch-sensitive tips that seem to rub off after three weeks of use, I have to take them off to operate my phone. Not happening — I can see my breath, I don't want frostbite.
But the same problem arises with touch controls on headphones. The moment I raise my wool-wrapped fingers to my ears, I realize they're not going to cooperate with the headphones. Gloves off, music changed, and frostbite is setting in. So long, left index finger, you've been so good to me.
Que an alternate day, when the same thing happens while I'm wearing enbuttoned headphones. Oh! I don't have to take my gloves off — the buttons work with my wool-covered fingers. Warm hands, no frostbite, my digits live to click headphones buttons for another day.
A touch of premium
One thing I've noticed (that I really like) is that the higher up the price scale you go with headphones, the more likely they are to forgo annoying touches and swipes in exchange for physical buttons.
The AirPods Max, for example, pack in that wonderful volume dial and ANC key. The Dali IO-8 have their metal button roundel on the earcup. The Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S3 have the switches and buttons that lie on the outside of the right ear.
They all feel more satisfying and they're much easier to use than the touchy-feely alternatives that you'll find on the likes of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones or the Sony WH-1000XM5.
