Nothing has just announced that it's partnering with British hi-fi institution KEF on new audio products that are "the next step in expanding Nothing’s audio journey," according to Andrew Freshwater, Head of Smart Products Marketing at Nothing. The new products are due "later this year."

This kind of partnership between electronics manufacturers and hi-fi firms has a long history, and is littered with plenty of disappointments as well as successes.

I was never sure we got that much from LG and Meridian Audio working together, and Belkin's collaboration with Devialet (arguably not really a hi-fi company, but still) never produced anything I liked. But TCL's work with Onkyo on TV speakers was successful (and the company is now partnering with Bang & Olufsen), while the tie-in between Philips TVs and Bowers & Wilkins produced some stunning results.

(Panasonic's long history of delivering sound tuned by Technics in its products doesn't count; it's cheating if you own the hi-fi company in question.)

I'm optimistic about this collaboration, though, because Nothing has shown itself to be a lot more serious about good audio quality in the last year or so, and KEF has a history of making headphones that sound very fine, but couldn't compete on smart features.

We were blown away by how good the sound in the Nothing Ear (a) is for the price, and we still rate them as being among the best earbuds around today, with a five-star score.

And the slightly more expensive Nothing Ear are crammed with smart features that work well, and are a strong value. If Nothing is thinking of going higher-end with new earbuds – or perhaps competing with the best over-ear headphones – KEF's a good partner to help ensure the sound is up to standard, while Nothing provides the features.

Not that KEF has a terrible record in smart features – the wireless KEF LSX II LT speakers got a cool five stars in our review.

Vamos nos inspirar! Não seria surpresa se uma marca como a Nothing entrasse no mercado de alto padrão de caixas de som Bluetooth, o que poderia ser um grande sucesso se mantiver seu design elegante e transparente — e com a vasta experiência da KEF em tecnologia de alto-falantes, seria uma parceria perfeita. Embora lançar um produto assim no final do ano possa parecer improvável, já que a maioria das empresas costuma lançar caixas de som Bluetooth speakers na primavera ou verão do hemisfério norte, ainda há um potencial empolgante.

Minha colaboração ideal seria uma caixa de som sem fio acessível, com o driver inovador Uni-Q da KEF. Esse design posiciona um tweeter diretamente no centro de um woofer maior, alinhando seus sons para uma experiência sonora unificada, dinâmica e com áudio rico e de faixa completa. Além disso, esse design sofisticado ficaria ótimo em qualquer espaço, combinando desempenho com um estilo minimalista.

I strongly suspect that either KEF would like to keep Uni-Q to itself, or that it would be too expensive to implement – or both.

My money is on KEF doing sound tuning and design advice for Nothing's own designs – but that could be enough to make a big impact. The Nothing Ear (a) already kicked Sony off its perch as the king of value earbuds for us.

Is there something coming for Sony's more premium headphones next, or JBL's portable speakers? Or both – Nothing's statement says that there are "several acoustically co-developed products already in progress".