Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Bose SoundSport Free, True Wireless Earbuds, (Sweatproof Bluetooth Headphones for Workouts and Sports), Black

Perfect Choice, Best Investment for Quality Ear Buds

Paully

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2020

So i was extremely worried when i purchased these. I read alot of reviews, Most not good reviews. I purchased them, because of the 10 hr play time. You get 10 FULL hrs of Listening time. The charges you get from the rechargeable case do give 30 hrs. You actually get a little more then 10 hrs listening time, and a little more than 30 hrs total, Which in the reviews that i read alot of people didnt receive that. As far as the review i seen the most of, was the left bud cutting out. Ive had the buds for 3 days and if you got more than 35 feet it will start to cut out but it connects back up in less than a second. But anything you walk away from to far its going to disconnect. The one issue i have seen from the day i received the buds are of the charging lights of the case. The last light always stays in the blinking state instead of when its fully charged turning solid. But if you take the buds from the case or use the app They are fully charged 100%. The other reviews ive seen where about if you look on the back of the box, they said they ae only made for iphone, ipod, etc. That is not true. They work beautiful with most all devices, including Amazon Alexa. Now the only other issue is that they do not come with a wall charger. I do believe having to use a wall charger of your own is whats causing the charging light to not turn solid. Alot of reviews mentioned Delays when watching YouTube, movies etc. now that is partly true if you have the video quality to high. and the distance between what device you are using. Now i didnt have any issues with any delay. But when i was trying to get the delay, that is what i found.

They come with 3 sets of changeable ear fits, Small, Medium, Large. which are very comfortable.
Comes with a charging cord.
Of course the Ear Buds
Charging Case.

As far as the sound, Bass, Treble, Mids, highs etc,
The sound is perfectly balanced, You can adjust these with the Connect App or your device.
They have amazing Bass, no crackling, no distortion, PERFECT SOUND that you can adjust if you like.
I am very picky when it comes to sound being right.
I have NO complaints about the amazing sound these Buds put out.
They are very comfortable while in. When you put them in you need to rotate then a tiny bit to get them so sit in, they will not just fall out, it takes some force to make them fall out. Yesterday night i wanted to sleep with them in because my female cat is in heat and i did not want to listen to her calling all night. So i slept with them in both ears, i woke up to them still playing and still in my ears, and i toss and turn all night i always have, When i woke i was amazed to find out they still didnt fall out and they werent uncomfortable, at least for me. Now others will have a different opinion. but the main focus is that they stayed in and were still playing 9 hrs later.
As for the operation buttons [ volume. play, pause, excepting phone calls. I have fat fingers and had no issues operating them while still in my ears, it did not cause issues of them falling out.]
As for sweat and water resistant is true. They arent waterproof.
Taking a Phone call and having your call hear you, You do not have to raise your voice or yell, you can talk like you normally would. They work excellent during a call.
All in All I am very very happy with the over all performance and the amazing sound quality of these ear buds..
I should only do 4 stars, only because they should come with the wall charger to fix the false showing of not being fully charged.
I would suggest purchasing these ear buds, if you want a good sounding, quality, long lasting Ear buds.

8 people found this helpful

Excellent balance of comfort, sound quality and build for indoor/outdoor use

HBGuy

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2017

Update - 4 Jan 18: I've watched several YouTube videos and haven't experienced any audio lag of the sort reported by many reviewers. As below, I've applied the firmware update 1.3.2 and it seems to have resolved several of the problems. One issue I have noticed is that when connected to a device, e.g., an iPhone, the buds won't connect to a different device, e.g., my MacBook, unless I manually break the connection. This is annoying and shouldn't happen.

I ordered and received these as soon as they were available, so my review reflects ~ 2 months of use. I did not receive a promotional pair or discount from Bose for this review. I also own Bose QC35 noise cancelling headphones that are used on long flights to create a serene environment. These are not, nor did I expect them to be, noise cancelling. Some reviewers have comments that these buds didn't offer noise cancellation, but Bose never claimed that they did or would.

My first advice to anyone buying the SoundSport Free buds is to upgrade the firmware to the latest version - 1.3.2 at the time of this review. If possible, do it on a Mac or PC (after downloading the Bose Connect app for Mac/PC) with the buds in their charging case. The firmware update will take ~ 10 minutes to complete, vs. about 2.5 hours using the iOS app. The update fixes some of the time lag issues reported with FaceBook, etc., though don't know if the YouTube delay is fixed (I don't use them for that purpose).

The buds are very comfortable for extended use periods, and stay in place far better than Apple or other buds I tried. My use case is typically to use them while working in my home office at my computer, not for watching videos. The sound quality surprised me somewhat, as the base is deeper and more pronounced than on my QC35s or other Bose products I've owned. This isn't a complaint - just an observation. Overall, whether I'm listening to classical, jazz or oldies, the sound reproduction is excellent. They are certainly not heavy and compared to wireless bluetooth headsets, don't seem to me to be "too big", as some reviewers have claimed. In fact, they feel "just right".

The buds are also great for my daily walks or physiotherapy sessions (I recently had back surgery). They provide a good seal between the ear and most ambient noise, but not to such an extent that you can't hear on oncoming jogger or your PT coach suggesting that you change positions during an exercise routine. I also appreciate the fact that the amount of external noise is balanced, as I like to walk along the beach and frequently have to share the sidewalk with skateboarders, and I can hear them approaching while still enjoying my music playlist. So, for indoor or outdoor use, I give these a 5+.

Build quality is excellent - exactly what I'd expect from Bose. The charging case is well designed and durable, although I keep mine in a leather carrying case with its micro-USB cable and a small charger I can use if needed. I've used the buds for up to 4.5 hours with ~ 20% power remaining, as indicated by the iOS app, so Bose estimate of 5 hours use is probably accurate. I can't comment on the additional power provided by the case but assuming the battery life estimate for the buds is accurate, Bose estimate of 10 hours for the case is reasonable.

Finally, a comment about the price. Many reviewers have criticized the price, but anyone who's used Bose products for any length of time knows that they are seldom inexpensive. Given the quality, features and sound reproduction of these buds, the price is fair, at least to me. Apple's EarPods aren't inexpensive, either, and don't stay in place as well as these, nor are they as comfortable.

Overall, I am very, very pleased with the SoundSport Free buds, and strongly recommend them on all levels: sound quality, comfort, build and ease of use. I'm very happy with my purchase.

342 people found this helpful

Apple) and these are excellent. Perfect for those that are athletically active with ...

Patrick Adam

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2018

I've read the reviews and felt compelled to write one myself since I'm a recent owner of the Bose SoundSport Free headset. Many of the reviews have been one side or the other - not conducting a 'full' test or providing a comparison (specifically when pointing out faults), with little insight as to what the 'user' is looking for from an experience standpoint. With that said, here's my high-level review...

I'm running Firmware version 1.4.5

Audio:
Superb. I own several headsets (Sony, Beats, Sennheiser, Bose, Apple) and these are excellent. Perfect for those that are athletically active with sound that's delivered crisp and clear, pleasing bass fans such as myself. Comfort level is outstanding and controls are relatively easy to use (some effort pushing the buttons and there is a slight delay on the actual volume control adjustment time, though not a big deal). These are not noise cancelling, but if you're someone for example who jogs where cars are, etc., these block out enough sound, but let in enough noise to keep you cognizant of your surroundings. 5 stars here for the use their intended for (they are named "SoundSport").

Video Audio:
Yes, there is a delay - but here is where it resides. If you're using your Phone or Tablet to watch video on a site like YouTube, you most likely will notice the delay in voice to mouth (on either an LTE or WiFi network connection). It's aggravating. However, when I run the same video on a laptop or desktop - there's no delay (same WiFi network). If you have a video that is downloaded, you will not notice a delay at all, no matter the device. With that said, if you're an avid YouTube watcher who uses a phone or tablet for those videos - I'd recommend against purchasing these. 4 stars here - and less if you're someone who streams video to one of the device types I mentioned.

Case/Quality/Battery/Comfort/Conectivity:
Typical Bose quality - very good to excellent. In ear the buds are extremely comfortable and the battery meets the Bose listed duration time. The case is great (though it will never beat the Apple AirPod case - but again nothing will), charges quickly, and easy to pack away and not worry about charging for the day. Connecting to devices is simple, and the Bose app will update the firmware of the buds over bluetooth - convenient for even the non-technical person. I haven't personally experienced any drops, which have been reported by others, but I wouldn't doubt those issues usually due to interference - something that simply can't be avoided (though some may be worse than others). 4.5 stars here because it's not the Apple AirPod case.

Overall:
I'm giving these a 4 star rating because they're not perfect for all intended use. While it covers most of what I personally intend to use these for, it's disappointing to witness issues right out of the box regarding video audio delay on portable devices. This issue can be remediated via a software update, but I'd recommend that Bose properly test out 'all' device streaming before releasing future updates. If you're someone who plans to just use these specifically for the audio experience of music, then I'd highly recommend them. You won't experience the drag of wires, uncomfortable ear hooks, or the concern that they may fall out. To summarize, great for those athletically active or music-holics looking for a smaller footprint to carry around, and bad for those looking for a great 'streaming' video experience on 'portable devices.'

2,575 people found this helpful

You get what you pay for...

pnolan20

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2020

I have owned and used these almost daily for over a year. I can honestly say they are the best headphones I have ever owned. I have probably purchased 10 different Bluetooth headphones over the past 2-3 years and all had major flaws. Price ranged from $20 to $150. I have not purchased or used Apple product so cannot compare.

Some insights:

Sound quality is great..Most products have no base and all treble. so the louder you move up the volume, the sound got worse and worse. These are the first Bluetooth headphones i have had that sound just as good on low volume as they do on max volume. I would compare these against any other earbud headphones on the market when it comes to sound. It just sounds great. But this is expected from Bose and this price point.

The ability to change Bluetooth from my phone to my iwatch is seamless. This has been a major issue with all other Bluetooth product i have had in the past. With these Bose products, you simply click the button on the left ear and it disconnects from one item and will connect to something else it has connected to in the past which is in close range. Sometimes it does not find the other product and when it does this I open Bluetooth on my phone or iwatch or computer and click these and it disconnects ad reconnects to the new product. Again, this has ALWAYS been an issue with all other Bluetooth headphones i have owned in the past. This is a game changer for me who runs in the morning with my iwatch and then mediates with an app afterwards on my iPhone.

Storage box is great to keep these safe and charged up while not using. It also has a simple battery button on the side to quickly understand if you need to recharge the box. Charging is quick with a full charge in 1 hour or less.

Negative Reviews on disconnection of one ear bud: I have used these almost daily for over a year and have never had disconnection issue or a drop of one ear. I did have one time were I did not connect the left earbud correctly to the charging storage container so when i tried to use int eh morning, it was dead so did not connect. that was a personal error and nothing to do with Bose and their product. When it comes to disconnection, this has always been an issue running with other products. Even with name brand products, this has always been an issue. These Bose products have been great in that regard.

I will be the first to say the price point is kind of ridiculous but when i compare these to the pile of crap I have sitting on my desk of many other earbuds, you get what you pay for...

2 people found this helpful

Awesome Sounding Wireless Earbuds (when they work), but unstable Audio Connection with MP3 player or Surface 4 Pro

Matticus Caesar

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2018

I bought the SoundSport Free (SSF) earbuds to use at the gym with a SanDisk SDMX28 Clip Sport Plus bluetooth MP3 player. I will say this - the packaging these come in is beautiful - it's a very handsome, sturdy, folding-flap box with molded compartments. The medium ear molds fit me nicely (they also come with small and large) and the earbuds themselves are pretty lightweight. The SSFs themselves sound amazing. The bass is good without being overbearing, and I am, thankfully, not experiencing the left-right connection issues that many others seem to be talking about in other reviews.

Although my workouts generally last only around an hour, I love the portable recharging case - "just in case".

What I AM struggling with is maintaining a consistent audio connection to the Clip Sport Plus. The bluetooth wireless pairs between the aforementioned devices just fine, but half the time I cannot get any audio to play. I can see the song running on the player, but there is no sound heard in the SSFs. It works SOMETIMES, but it's not 100% reliable, and that's just annoying. I'm going to have to try some connection experiments with other devices, but for now I cannot tell is this is a transmit problem from the Clip Sport or a receive problem with the SSFs. I will update this review after some experimentation over the next couple of days.

6/7 Update:
I discovered the SSFs came with version 1.2.0 of the software on them, so I ran the updater and upgraded to version 1.4.5 to make sure this was not a software issue, but that did not help. I ran some connectivity tests with my Microsoft Surface 4 Pro. I can get the SSFs to connect to the Bluetooth wireless without any hassle at all, but again, there is simply no audio being played in the SSF earbuds.

I also have a set of on-ear Bose Soundlink headphones. Those work fine with both my Surface Pro and the SanDisk MP3 Player, so now I know the issue is not with the MP3 player at all.

If I go through a maddening, time-consuming ritual of putting the buds back in the case, clearing the source device bluetooth list, then reconnecting, it MAY work, but I can't get it to work consistently, and even then the next time I put them back in the case, they stop working again. I'm not going to go through all of that every time I want to use them with maybe a 50% chance of success. They need to simply connect and work with any device I have paired them to like my other bluetooth speakers and headphones. Anything less is of no value to me, especially for the price point of these things.

I'm dropping my rating on these to two stars... if I can't get them to work properly in the next couple of days, they will be going back for a refund.

6/9 update:
Called Bose Support, explained all the troubleshooting steps I have taken. They are sending a shipping label and I am to return the defective unit then will receive another one about a week after they receive mine.
Seems like it would just be easier/faster to ship these back to Amazon and get a replacement, but whatever. We'll see if things change. I will report back once that whole switcheroo is complete.

6/21 update:
Almost 2 weeks have elapsed, but the new set finally arrived. I took them out and the first thing I did was update the firmware (they shipped with 1.3.2 on them, so I updated them to 1.4.5). Initial test with my Clip Sport Plus appears to work: Bluetooth connected right away and the audio from the songs sounds great. Next test is to put them back in the case then try to connect and listen again. I do this and they SSFs connect right away. I hit play and the music plays for about 5 seconds, then I hear what sounds like a disconnect tone and it all goes quiet. I can still hear the device's female voice say things like "Clip Sport Plus Connected", and I can also hear the tone when I raise or lower the volume, but there is no longer any sound when playing songs.
So I test with my Microsoft Surface 4 Pro. Again, it makes a seamless connection to the bluetooth wireless, and I pull up some music and I can hear it fine. I test the re-connection by putting the SSFs back in the case for a couple of minutes, then I pull them out to reconnect to the Surface. Once again, the audio fails. The bluetooth connection is fine and I can hear the voice in the SSFs say so, but I get no music audio in the SSFs. If they can't fix this remotely, I'm sending them back for a refund. As far as I can tell, these devices are garbage. I cannot even begin to describe my disappointment and frustration with the SSFs and Bose at this point. I am dropping my rating to 1 star, and I will try support one more time.

If there's some special procedure to use these effectively and I'm not doing it correctly, I'd love to be enlightened. I have no problems with any other bluetooth headsets or speakers (all Bose!) with these audio sources, so it cannot possibly be my source devices.

6/26 Update: Today I requested my refund and put the SSFs back in the box. As I was packing everything back up, I noticed on the rear of the product box that it explicitly says "made for iPod/iPhone/iPad" and Android. Of course, neither of the devices I was using these with was either of those two things. There is NOWHERE in this ad page that calls that out, and there is no picture of the box either (I attached a picture of the rear of the box) - I'll be suggesting the page be updated to reflect such. I figured Bluetooth was Bluetooth, but the SSFs may not be engineered as such. I don't know if that means there is no guarantee they will work or if there would just be reduced functionality without an iX device or an Android, but after 2 pairs it is clear they don't work stably with what I have.

I really, truly wanted to keep this product. They briefly sounded amazing and they were comfortable, but at the $200 price point the no-source-audio-after-reconnecting issue is simply neither normal Bose quality nor acceptable. I may give them another try someday if they explicitly state FULL SUPPORT for generic MP3 devices or Win 10, but sadly until then these are a disappointing no-go.

370 people found this helpful

They are better than I expected.

Arath

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2018

Backstory:

I have been wanting to buy a pair of truly wireless for a long time now but was hesitant due to the terrible reviews all of them get except Apple Tamponpods I consider myself an intermmediate audiophile and I like nothing abt the apple earpods; neither the
fit nor the sound quality nor the price tag for what I get.

I have 11 different headphones and in-ear earphones none of which are Bose so this is my first go at Bose. I though about giving it a try because I recently bought a galaxy s9+ and the wired earphones are succeptable to breaking when working out because of how huge my phone is! I was 50% sure I am gonna face all the issues reported here and may have to send it back. So here goes my '6 hrs later' review.

1. Sound quality.
I honestly did not expect such high quality from a wireless earphone! The sound signature is comparable to the One plus triple driver that costs 100 dollars on amazon but is slightly wider than the One plus. Has deep tight bass and crisp highs, soundstage is slightly lacking but I cannot really complain here.Its a sports earbud afterall.

2. I prefer the snug fit of deep in ears anyday! I do not like the kind of fit these earpods have. But I was surprised that there was minimal loss of sound and Bass even with a semi open fit. Although the fit does make you scared that they may fall off, I went running and then did crossfit with them.They did not move at all! My ear hurts a little after 2 hrs of keeping them on.

3. noise isolation. When music is turned off, you can pretty much hear everything around you. When the music is on, you cant hear distant noise like the music playing in the gym or the next guy being annoying loud. But you can hear if a car honks behind you or there is a loud sound... At 90% volume, I couldnt hear the shitty soundtrack played at the gym but I could hear the dropping of weights around me.

4. Connectivity. This is what truly surprised me! I read sooo much about connection dropping on the left bud. In the last six hours, I played music at my desk, I went running with them and then went for a crossfit session. NOT A SINGLE DROP YET!

To test the limits, I left my cellphone on the bed, closed the bedroom door, walked out of the main door, closed the main door and went to the mailbox, NO ISSUES WITH DROP IN VOLUME. The quality drops a bit as if you were listing to a very old and badly compressed sound (hissing and crackling)

5. Video lags. None at all! I watched an episode of Man in the High Castle on my S9+ and no issues whatsover!

In the end, unless something goes wrong in the next 30 days, I am keeping this! I only wish the fit was more snug.. I dont like the ear tips.

If you tried in the past and didnt like it, maybe try it again? Looks like Bose did its part and fixed most of the issues! Good job Bose!

24 people found this helpful

great sound, but a bit complicated to use

Lionel P.

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2018

These are my first Bose headphones. I have tried some before but never did the plunge to purchase. Finally, I did it and...
1- sound quality (when it works): 4.5/5; These are definitely Bose! Freaking amazing sound.
2- connection: 3/5. (I use it on an iPhone 6S). It requires a connection app. It is talkative when connects and disconnects. The left side times out easily, you need to press the button to re-connect. It does not shut down when you are done, so it drains the batteries overnight. Overall, you take them out of the charging case, if you are lucky, they connect automatically, if not, you open the app, fiddle a bit with it, they press start to listen your music. If you listen with lots of long interruptions, the full process is quickly annoying. But on a good note, the Bose app works well, and you only do the pairing process once, when you unbox it.
3- comfort: people say it fits securely, it is very comfortable… I tried all sizes of the ear “fins” and the smallest one is the most comfortable, the bigger ones give me a headache after an hour of wearing them. But it is not secure. The first day I had them, I dropped one of the buds in the street, in the car, in the restrooms... Not by shaking my head, it holds well, and they are definitely “locked”, but by brushing anything on them, even very lightly, they will stick out of the ear socket and roll down the floor. Given the price tag, I became a bit paranoid. Maybe it is because they stick out far from the ear and things can get on their way. Also, aesthetically, it looks a bit weird to have these buds sticking out of your ears. I tried to persuade myself that it looks cool, but I see the 2-step look from people. Step1: acting surprised “what’s in your ears?”, step2: (they read the Bose brand on it) “oh, they must have a good sound”.
4-battery: The charging case works well (for me). It is a bit bulky in the jeans pocket and I do not want to leave it on my desk at work when I don’t use them. (with the Bose sign on them, they may not be there when I come back). The buds do not turn off. I think it is to keep the localization feature active at all time. If you use them a bit in the evening and the battery goes from 100% to 90%, you have to plug them back in the charging case before bed, or they will be at 20% when you wake up the next morning.
Now, this said, if the battery is full and you are going with them for 4 to 6 hours, without touching anything, they work GREAT.
So, in conclusion, great sound, but a bit complicated to use, compare to all cheap Bluetooth earphones I have own. I like the kind where you push a button to turn them on, you wait 1-2sec to hear the connection, you enjoy the music, press the button again briefly to pause if there is an interruption, again to resume play and hold the same button to turn off when you are done. I do not really need a dashboard from an app to control it.

Edit of my initial review (a few weeks later):
The connection is not that bad, it actually connects automatically after taking the buds out of the charging cradle or by pushing the button on the left bud to wake both sides up. Also, if the phone is not playing for a while, or if the phone is away from the earphones, they go to sleep to save battery.
Changing the volume using the earphone buttons is a bit hard, but it is possible. I prefer to change the volume from the phone. Finally, the fitting to the ears: I changed the size back to medium and they are secure to the ears and do not fall off. The feeling of having something screwed to your ear is not extremely comfortable but you get used to it after a while. Although this is not recommended, you can also take a shower with these and this is… beyond cool.

6 people found this helpful

Comparison with other Bluetooth and wired buds and cans

GreenDream

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2017

I have had the soundsport free for about 2 weeks. I wanted to comment from my perspective on the issues being raised and what is important to me. I also own Jaybird X3's for working out; Apple AirPods; Bose Quietcomfort 20 wired noise cancelling for plane flights and office; and QC-25 wired over the ear noise cancelling for plane flights (used before I purchased the QC 20's).

Left ear sound cutout--this happens when there is electronic interference; walls/floors with certain materials in between you and the bluetooth source; too much distance between you and the bluetooth source; or sometimes outside when there is not sufficient reflecting surfaces to bounce the bluetooth signal back to the earbuds. I tested the SSF against the AirPods and X3's in identical and varied conditions. The SSF perform the same as the AirPods. The X3's are worse. ALL bluetooth earbuds will cutout under certain conditions. The SSF's are no worse than the others. I am OK with this cutout issue given my use cases and am used to it from the other

Video Syncing--This is only an issue for me viewing Youtube on an iPhone 7+ or iPhone X. Other video sources do not have a syncing issue.
AirPods are better with the syncing. This is not an issue for me.

Noise Cancelling--As far as I am aware there are NO noise cancelling bluetooth earbuds. To do proper noise cancelling you need a signal processing module that in the QC20's is in the external controller and in the QC 25's is in the ear cans. There are bluetooth noise cancelling cans but I haven't found any that both have good noise cancelling and excellent music quality. For example, the Bose bluetooth QC35 music quality is inferior to the wired QC25's and the Sennheiser Momentum's have good music quality but inferior noise cancelling.

Size, Fit, Comfort and Look --- much better and secure fit for me than the AirPods which fall out from my ears and are worthless for working out. My QC20's are slightly more comfortable for extended use. X3's and AirPods are also more comfortable for extended use but only slightly. As to the size and look this is not that important to me. I think they look cool and better than AirPods but this is a very subjective point.

Phone call quality and phone only through right earbud--I find the call quality, both microphone and listening to be better than the AirPods and I use the SSF's for an hour or so of calls per day. As to not having calls out of both buds, I normally just use 1 AirPod at a time when on calls as I find this to be better for mental processing. Same with the SSF's but you are limited to right as opposed to right or left. I like to switch between ears so this is a slight negative.

Music Quality--Far superior to any other bluetooth earbuds, rival my wired QC20 wired buds and are better than my QC25 cans. I listen exclusively via Spotify with songs that have been downloaded to my phone at the extreme highest bitrates. This why I use earphones and I just cannot tolerate poor music quality for an extended period of time. The SSF's are great for this reason and why they get 4 stars. Nothing else compares in a wireless bud form.

11/14 Updated to 2 stars:--the bluetooth connectivity issue (i.e. frequent cutting out in left earbud) has become more bothersome. Called Bose product support. they said that their engineers are working on a fix for this and the video sync issue (which I can live with). However, they were unable to extend my 30 day free return period until the fix is delivered. Therefore am returning buds to Amazon today. I would recommend that new purchasers wait until this fix is out since we don't know if the fix will be able to be applied to the first generation hardware which is now being sold, or if a hardware modification is required.

3,649 people found this helpful

Mahmoud

My ears literally hurt

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2019

Update: 7-4-19
I've been wearing these headphones for a few months now, and I'm dropping the rating from 4 to 2 stars.

The gist is that these headphones are NOT comfortable. I've been suffering the pain if prolonged wearing during every day use. No matter what flap I use, it still really hurts my ears after a few hours. A fatal flaw on Bose's end.

Sounds still rocks, but never will I recommend this. When if you have millions to burn.

Note: a tl;dr is at the bottom.

I will preface this review by stating an obvious fact: These ear buds are ugly. There's no real way of watering it down. Compared to the Sonys, Jabras, and even the Samsungs out there...these buds are ugly. It looks like you have a black (or orange) mushroom growing out of your ear, or makes you look like one of those 50's Martian cartoons with antennas coming out of their ears.

The second real quick gripe I have is that these buds tend to hurt after a while. Now, it could be just me and my ears are shaped funny, but if I wear these for more than 2 or 3 hours, my ears start getting a bit sore. This is something that also happened to me with other completely wireless ear buds out there, so it is not just Bose. I've had the SkullCandy Method Wireless around-the-neck bluetooth set, and MY GOD was that thing comfortable. I could go all day wearing them and not...feel...a...thing.

With all that said, let's get to the real crux of the review: The sound quality, which can be summed in two words: Holy Cow!

I've tried and used other wireless devices. Initially I got the Sony WF-SP700N/B wireless buds, because I like Sony and I really wanted to try out the noise cancelling feature and extra bass. The noise cancelling feature was fine, but I found myself totally ignoring it and just keeping that feature off more often than not. The bass was...welll...bassy, but I didn't feel like it was all that special.

I decided then to get and try the Bose. It was my first time ever buying a Bose, and at 200 bucks...it was a huge investment. I've researched, looked at, read, and studied the features of tons of ear buds, and the consensus is that the Bose was always at the top 3 if not #1...and I concur. Aside from the comfort factor and the Shitake Mushroom growing out of my ear, the sound is just phenomenal! I found myself very satisfied with the crispiness of the audio quality, and the bass is very very good. It is not club-level boom-boom bass, but it is just the right amount to enjoy it without blowing out your ear drums or distorting the sound.

Podcasts, movies, music, videos...all of them have a very even feel and sound to them. The earbuds also do a sufficient enough job of isolating outside noise, but don't expect QC III-level of noise cancelling. The end result is you will enjoy listening to whatever is on your device quite nicely...which brings me to the pairing.

The nice feature of this--and, quite frankly, probably all wireless ear buds--is how fast the bud pairs with your phone the second you take it out of the case. it gives a quick battery percentage indication, and tells you the name of the device it is paired with (mine would actually tell me it is connected to my device, called "Megatron"). It MUST be noted, however, that Bose uses a Master-Slave system, where the set will only work if the right ear bud (the master) first connects to the device. Afterwards, the left ear bud (the slave) can or cannot be used at your discretion.

The case quite big. There are other designs out there that are smaller, but it is what it is. I can't put it in my pocket and not feel like someone is gonna say to me, "is that X in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?". Other than that, the case is great. it has light indicators on the outside to show you how much battery life the case still has when pressing the release button, and the release button wont really release the lock on the case unless you press all the way down. It's great for keeping your buds nice and secure, and it is good to keep you on top of how much battery you have left.

As for Calls: It only makes calls from the right (master) ear bud. It becomes a bit off-putting when you get a call and the left ear is totally silent. That is kind of a bummer. Also, you have to talk a bit in the loud range. Since this is an ear bud and doesn't have any advance jaw-bone sensors to transfer sounds to the caller, you have to take into consideration that it is far from your mouth and you will need to raise your voice a bit in high-noise areas.

Finally, the comfort. Like I said before, if it stays on too long, it will start to make your ears sore. With that said, I do go to the gym with them and I do cardio work out in them. Sean T makes me jump and burpee and squat and hop and look like a leaf-hopping Amazonian tree Frog , but these buds keep their place and they stay on! While they are not water proof, they are water and sweat resistant, so there is no issue with sweat. Some say that you do notice their weight in heavy exercise: I'm not so sure I do in the middle of the workout, but I can probably imagine others feeling this way.

Conclusion: These are Bose: They are expensive. I'm not an audiophile and I can't give you the MHz analysis or what a treble even really means. What I can say is that the sound in these 200 dollar ear buds is fantastic. There are not crazy bells and whistles with these guys (even the app is pretty straight forward and simple), so if James-bond level of gadgetry is your thing, this isn't it. I only advise people who are very comfortable in spending 200 dollars to get these guys, as 200 dollars is 200 dollars and that is a big number that 200 dollars. There are very good and decent quality options out there. If budget is an issue, get those. if you are totally comfortable dropping 200 dollars on ear buds and not mind a Japanese chef trying to cut them out of your ear with his knife, I highly recommend these guys.

tl;dr:
Cons:
- Big and Ugly: Looks like you got mushrooms coming out of your ears
- Hurt ears after long usage
- Big and Bulky charge case
- No advanced sound options or equalizer configuration
- Calls only on right ear bud

Pros:
- Amazing sound quality for all types of audio sources (music, video, podcast, etc...) ****** This is the most significant and most important part of all of this
- Pairing is super easy and super fast
- Full ear bud and case charge can keep you well set all day long
- Ear bud fins keep the set nice and secure in your ear, even in high intensity activities like cardio workouts
- Plenty of methods to check and confirm battery level from both buds and charge case
- Has a "sonar" option for your phone to ping detect where your headset is should you misplace them under your clothes
- Very good range, well over 10 meters (~30 feet)

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