Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Bose QuietComfort 35 II Wireless Bluetooth Headphones, Noise-Cancelling, with Alexa Voice Control

Top positive review

Masterpieces: A comparison between Sony WH1000MX3 and Bose QuietComfort 35 II

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2020

Around the holidays, I decided to treat myself to a pair of high quality headphones. I live in the central area of a major US city, and to be frank the noise pollution was driving me a little crazy. I was interested in a pair of headphones that would give me some peace and quiet, so I spent a lot of time looking at ANC (active noise-Cancelling) options and the Sony WH1000MX3 and Bose QuietComfort 35 II were easily the top picks among reviews.

However, there were a lot of different opinions about which was better. The split was about 50/50 between the Sony and Bose, so I was pretty torn. Even though they were heavily discounted for the holidays ($280 each), that's a lot of money considering I generally never spend more than $50 for headphones. So I bought them both as an experiment, with the plan to return one after I made a decision.

Let me get this out of the way now, because I'm going to get pretty detailed below. Ultimately, I understand why there's such a debate about whether the Sony or Bose is better. They are both fantastic headphones. I loved them so much that I made the probably financially irresponsible decision to keep them both! They were both so good, but better than the other in completely unique ways. For that reason, there was no dealbreaker for me that makes one superior than the other -- It really comes down completely to personal preference and that's why there is so much debate.

The TL;DR of this review is that you should buy the Sony if you value sound quality most, and don't plan to wear them for long periods of time (i.e. over 5-6 hours per session). You should buy the Bose if you value comfort the most, and if you're planning to use them for phone calls.

If you're interested in a bit more detail, I'll give my opinions on these aspects: ANC, Sound, Comfort, Versatility

ANC

The noise-cancelling on both of these is phenomenal. I had assumed Bose would do better at this since it's what they're known for, but I'm surprised to say the Sony's ANC is slightly better. It does a bit better blocking out non-drone sounds (i.e. people talking, sharp noises, etc) compared to the Bose. With that said, they both are practically equal and I don't think the Sony ANC is so much better than the Bose that it would justify buying them on that factor alone. When wearing either pair, I sometimes feel like a spaceman walking around my apartment because everything is so quiet.

SOUND

This is a clear winner for Sony. No questions asked, the sound is clearer, crisper, and deeper. This is especially noticeable when watching movies/TV shows or playing video games. With the Sony, I feel like I can hear each individual sound clearly, whereas with the Bose everything is a little more muddled together. With that being said, the Bose sound is perfectly acceptable and even 'good'. It's just that for a $300 pair of headphones I'd expect a more premium quality where I am amazed at how clear the sound is. The Sony does that; the Bose are a tier below.

COMFORT

Hands down, the Bose are better. I can literally wear them for 14 hours and they don't bother me except for needing to give my ears a little air every once in a while. I have never, ever worn a pair of headphones this comfortable before. I'm especially grateful for this comfort now that I'm working from home all day because of COVID-19. The Sony headphones are a bit heavier and clamp on your head a little bit more tightly. They also press down on your ears, whereas the Bose are deep enough that my ears don't even touch the inside of the cans. The Sony are still definitely comfortable, but a tier below the Bose. I can still wear them for about 6 hours before they bother me, so if you don't wear headphones that long it might not be a problem for you.

VERSATILITY

This is just a catch-all for all the other aspects of the headphones. Nothing here I would consider a selling point strong enough for most people to make a final decision, but if you have specific needs then this might be helpful.
1. I like the physical buttons on the Bose more than the touch buttons on the Sony. They just work better, and I make mistakes with them less often.
2. Sony has better technology. They use USB-C so the headphones charge faster than the Bose mini-hdmi. They also have better bluetooth connection technology, which lets a higher bitrate of audio transfer wirelessly. Without getting too technical, I think this is a major reason why the sound quality on the Sony is better.
3. Bose is better if you want to connect to multiple devices. Bose can connect to two devices simultaneously, but Sony can connect to only 1 device at a time. For example, if I am listening to music on my computer and I get a phone call, if I'm wearing the Bose, I can answer and talk on the call through my headset, and when I hang up music will resume. With the Sony, I'd either have to disconnect from my computer, then reconnect to my phone before the call ended, or take off the headphones completely and answer the phone separately.
4. Sony looks a little more stylish and futuristic. The Bose look like an ordinary pair of headphones. Build quality is identical though

CONCLUSION

5 months after buying these, do I regret keeping them both? NO! They are absolutely worth the money if you have it. Generally, I find that I wear the Bose throughout the day as I'm working from home. They're really comfortable to wear all day long, if I get a call from a co-worker I don't need to take them off, and I'm just listening to music as background noise while I work so sound quality isn't important. After dinner, it's always the Sony. When I'm focusing on a new album, watching a movie, or playing a video game, I really value how good the sound is. And generally I only wear them for 3-4 hours at this point so discomfort is never an issue.

If you twist my arm about it and made me pick only one pair to own the rest of my life? I'd probably take the Bose just because I wear them so much while working from home. But that's not a fair metric, and each individual will have a different primary purpose for these and that should be your guiding principal when making the choice.

Good luck! (longest review over)

104 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Jason Brannock

Bose is Riding Their Reputation

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2021

I left a lengthy review comparing the Jabra Evolve2 85 (E285) vs Bose Quiet Comfort 35 II (QC35II) vs Bose Noise Cancelling 700 (B700) vs Sony WH-1000XM4 (SX4) (in order of when I received them) for the E285. This is a shorter version of that review, mostly focusing on QC35II and E285. This was almost entirely written up during the week I had all four headsets for direct comparisons.

Microphone and Playback
QC35II recordings were consistently louder than the E285. But the E285 did a far better job of removing background noise, as evidenced by my recordings while drumming. Muting can be done with the QC35II but it was much more difficult than just raising/lowering the boom arm of the E285.

Audio Output - DISCLAIMER - I'm not an audiophile
E285 and SX4 audio sound better than the QC35II but primarily because I can use an equalizer and increase bass (obviously this is the most important factor). Even if the QC35II had better hardware, it’s not as accessible and therefore is a moot point. Win for SX4. Runner up is E285.

Brand
Bose: wanted my location and would ask for it every time I open the app (and wouldn’t allow usage without accepting beyond the standard Bluetooth connection process). These are headphones. You don’t need my location.

Jabra: doesn’t require my location. Instead, it lets me know if I desire to give it my location, it will use it to locate my headphones. No, but thank you for giving me an actual choice! Win for Jabra. Runner up is Sony.

ANC
When standing in front of running water, QC35II had slightly better cancellation, but not a noticeable difference without actively concentrating. When playing on a drumpad, the E285 did a noticeably better job than the other headsets. It sounds like the pad is being muffled (which is what I’m looking for), whereas the others don’t quite succeed. During testing of the QC35II, whether ANC was on/off, there was a ceaseless light static (with no audio playing). I thought it quite odd and luckily, it didn’t happen again, but I suppose it could. With the QC35II, when the drum pad was hit, there was a tang sound, like the residual sound from tapping on a pan, as opposed to the muffled thumping the E285 gives. Perhaps with a constant noise the QC35II does a slightly better job filtering, but the E285 does a better job with impact noises (or maybe it’s just higher frequencies).

In addition, the hear-through function of the E285 is awesome. With the QC35II ANC off, it sounds like the microphone is picking up sound and then replaying it in the speakers. In contrast, the E285 hear-through, which has adjustable levels, almost makes it sound like you’re not wearing them (tested at maximum hear-through). Win for E285. Runner up is SX4.

Connectivity
The E285 and SX4 have longer ranges than the QC35II. The E285, most of the time, reconnects automatically when coming back into range. QC35II, SX4, and E285 have a 3.5 mm jack. Why doesn’t the B700? Because it sucks.

Double-connection to my PC (independent of range): E285 is easier because it’s just plug-and-play, no downloads or “connecting”. The QC35II and SX4 are only Bluetooth, so you have to do the standard “add device”, etc. An added feature of the Jabra is Jabra Direct, a software you can download to better manage your Jabra. It gives you a few more options and is worth using, in this writer’s humble opinion.

Response time: the QC35II and B700 have a slightly faster response time when pausing media than the E285. The SX4 is the fastest, though we’re talking minute (not 60 seconds) differences. The E285 is on the cusp of being slow enough to be annoying, but not quite. The E285 and SX4 also have the cool feature of pausing media when the headphones are removed from your skull. Again, the E285 feel lack-luster in comparison because they take approximately 4 M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-I seconds to pause, whereas the SX4 is half that time. For the E285, I’ve noticed the ear detection only works properly when playing music from your phone and not the PC. When using it with the PC, if I remove the headphones, the music will pause as it should. But it doesn’t resume when I put them back on. If I pause the music with the button, then remove the headset, it resumes. Again, cool feature, but needs work, especially when using it with the PC.

App connectivity: some issues with E285. Some issues with SX4. Some issues with QC35II (Bose Connect). LOTS of issues with B700 (Bose Music). Unfortunately, apps are prone to some bugs every now and then. I can’t say which of the two (Sony/Jabra) had more, so neither bothered me much. Win for SX4 (better media response time). Runner up is E285.

Voice Assistant
Couldn’t even get B700 to work. First off, I have to change the “action” button from ANC control to activate voice assistant (so you can’t have both functionalities at the same time). However, once button mapping was adjusted accordingly, I click the button and it says “open your Google Assistant settings”, with no further instructions. I open the Home app, and once again, no further instructions, so I didn’t get it working. I didn’t spend anymore time on it because in contrast, the E285 and SX4 worked exactly as expected. No setup or anything, I just pushed the button and my assistant came up. The caveat for the E285 is you have to pull down the boom arm to use the feature (you can still press the action button with the boom arm up and have the assistant prompt, but because the arm is up, the microphone is off so it’s pointless). Perhaps Bose has better functionality when used with Alexa, but I use Google so I’m not bothering with testing that. Tie between E285 and SX4.

I know this is extremely nit-picky, but the Bose assistant’s voice is far more annoying than Jabra or Sony. She sounds like an actual robot as opposed to someone I wouldn't mind meeting.

Controls
The QC35II and E285 have essentially the exact same button layout and functionality. The key difference is the action button on QC35II. It can be EITHER for voice assistant or cycling through ANC. On the other hand, you can access both functionalities on the E285, with the caveat of lowering the boom arm first for the voice assistant. The other difference is placement of the power button. On the QC35II, it’s a lateral switch on the side of the right ear cuff. On the E285, it’s a vertical switch on the bottom of the left ear. I literally don’t have a preference between the two. However, I do have a preference for the other buttons. While in the same place (the action button on the QC35II is in the same place as the ANC cycling button on the E285), the QC35II has a much more noticeable difference between the volume buttons and the play/pause, which I like better. All the buttons are bigger and more defined, plus the volume buttons are slightly raised, making it even easier to know what you’re pressing. On the E285, the buttons take up less surface area and are rather flat.

Muting is definitely easier with the E285 because you simply raise or lower the boom mic. Though it also takes a little longer. The QC35II is more annoying because you have to press two buttons at the same time (the volume buttons). Win for SX4 (touchless controls are better). Runner up is E285.

Comfort and Style
I prefer the QC35II. Though I’ve been wearing the E285 for a little over an hour and was so comfortable, I had to look to my left to see which headset I wasn’t wearing. So both are very comfortable, but for comparison’s sake, it’s a win for QC35II. Runner up is E285/SX4 (just as comfortable).

Extra
The E285 has the hear-through feature, which I really like because I use ANC only when there are sounds I actively don’t want to listen to, like from mine or my roommate’s drumming, running water, laundry, phone call, or pooping with the fan on. Other than those times, I want some awareness of my surroundings because there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get the attention of someone with headphones on (especially at work). In addition, the E285 and SX4 have ear detection (discussed previously). The E285 has a great way of handling multiple calls with its huge button on the right cuff. You can switch between two phone calls by putting one on hold and accept/end/reject calls using it. This is RARELY used, but it's cool.

Issues
My biggest issue was trying to connect QC35II with my Google Assistant. Besides that, functionality of the QC35II was pretty much flawless. Speaking of Google Assistant, there’s some variability with functionality with the E285. At the very least, the action button on the arm activates the assistant. But sometimes the input for said assistant is on the phone rather than the arm. Most of the time it works as expected. I think the additional connection to the PC adds complexity that needs to be vetted out for seamless functionality for the E285.

Final verdict, best to worst: E285, SX4 (killer - no mute function, worse hear-through), QC35II (killers - older BT connection, worse audio, poor ANC). Literally wouldn't buy B700.

UPDATE: It's been several weeks since I returned all but the Jabra Evolve2 85 (I use it 3-10 hours every single day) and my final rating is four stars while the QC35II I gave two. When the E285 works, it's great. But it doesn't work all the time, unfortunately. Even so, the E285 is better in just about every way. Stronger connection, more functionality, better app, better audio, better background noise removal (though the QC35II you could maybe argue is better at ANC, but not during a call). As far as functionally using the QC35II, I would give it three stars. But I give it two because the Bose app REQUIRES your location and that is absolutely ludicrous. It's a pair of headphones. You don't need my location. Note - if muting yourself directly from your headset isn't important to you and you're not typically in a noisy environment during calls, then I would honestly recommend the Sony WH-1000XM4.

60 people found this helpful

68,062 total ratings, 17,809 with reviews

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From the United States

Dr. Fishopolis

Masterpieces: A comparison between Sony WH1000MX3 and Bose QuietComfort 35 II

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2020

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

104 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Solid purchase

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2018

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

Disclaimer: I'm no audio technician, just a guy who likes watching movies and listening to music, so take my description of the sound however you'd like.

Comfort: These are way more comfortable than I anticipated them being. I have very narrow ear canals, so even the smallest in-ear headphones make my ears hurt after about 45 minutes. I travel a lot, so I need more than 45 minutes of comfort. So far, the longest I've worn these is just shy of 8 hours, and my ears felt fine once I took them off. I have fairly large ears, and the pads don't sit on my ears at all, and even the spots that make contact during wear don't get irritated. The band does leave an impression on the top of my head (I keep my head shaved/close to shaved), but that must be inevitable because I don't notice the weight of these on my head. All-in-all, these are SUPER comfortable, and I'd be surprised if you weren't pleased with how they feel after extended listening.

Features: The app isn't buggy like I expected, since Bose isn't an app company. It worked fine for setup purposes, but I haven't used it since. The action button on the left side is nice, especially because it actually works. I don't use it for Google assistant, but I do use it to adjust the level of ANC, and it works just fine. I personally like the button layout on the right side - very intuitive, easy to find/feel, easy to use. My wife wore these for a bit and disagreed, saying there isn't enough distinction between the buttons and she seemed to hit the wrong ones. I can't tell Bose enough how much I appreciate having clear and concise VOICE PROMPTS for setup/connection/etc. It's so nice being able to keep these on my head while switching between devices, and nice having these tell me I have an incoming phone call. I have them paired with both my iPhone and my Surfacebook 2, and they give me ZERO issues being connected to both devices at all times. When I turn them on, they tell me that they're connected to both devices; when I have a call coming in, it pauses the music on my computer to announce it, and if I ignore the call it starts the music back up. I can't get enough o that considering the fact that my last headphones were very buggy when connected to two active devices. The ANC is phenomenal; even on high, I can hear just enough environmental noise to keep me aware of where people are around me, but it absolutely doesn't interfere with the audio. I keep it on high at all times, so I can't vouch for the efficiency of the low/med settings. The battery life is nice - I've used them for about 12 hours spread over 3 days and the lowest battery level was 60% (which it announces when you turn them on; seriously, can't get enough of audible prompts).

Sound: I listen to all sorts of music, with the exception of 80s hairband rock, and everything I've listened to sounds great so far. Enough bass to keep me happy when listening to hip hop/rap, but the vocals shine brightly when listening to everything else (r&b/reggae/country). I've only watched about 10 minutes worth of a movie with them on, so I won't vouch for how they fare in that arena, but I'll update my review after I get more movie time with them under my belt.

Accessories: I haven't used the cable because it's 2018 and I'm not a caveman. I'm also no sound expert, and these sound quite nice via Bluetooth, so I don't foresee myself ever using it. The case is nice - it's hard enough that I don't fear for their safety when in my bag, and not big enough that I have to adjust how I pack stuff in my bag.

All-in-all, I would consider these perfect for everyone except people who use words like "lows" and "mids" in headphone reviews. For schmucks like me, the sound is perfect, the comfort is perfect, and they're nice enough to make me forget I paid $350 for headphones.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Orangeman

Tough Choice Between The Bose QC 35 and the Sony 1000XM2

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2018

Color: SilverVerified Purchase

After doing a lot of research, it ultimately came down to the Bose QC 35 and Sony 1000XM2. I tried them both for several days but in the end, the Bose QC 35 was my choice, which wasn't an easy one to make. You can't go wrong with either pair as they are both very nice headphones. The final decision for me was whether I wanted a little better quality (Sony) or better fit/comfort (Bose). I chose comfort and the Bose 1000XM2. Here are some other things I noticed...

SOUND QUALITY:
No question at all, the Sony 1000Xm2 are better sounding headphones. Don't get me wrong, the Bose are still very good. However, I really liked and preferred the bass response of the Sony over the Bose. Bose are the brighter sounding headphones but the biggest difference was how they sound with bass, which Sony does better.

FIT / COMFORT:
The Bose gets the edge on fit/comfort. They are VERY comfortable and light! The Sony 1000xm2 are fine but they fit a bit more snug than Bose. At first, I actually preferred the Sony fit. However, after having them on for an hour or longer, that's where I noticed the biggest difference... ear fatigue. Much less ear fatigue with the Bose. That all being said, what is more comfortable to me might be less comfortable to you. You just have to try them on, ideally for extended periods of time. I bought these particularly when I fly where I plan to wear them for hours at a time. Even though I prefer the sound quality of the Sony, I just couldn't get over the incredibly comfortable fit of the Bose.

BLUETOOTH CONNECTIVITY:
Both do a fine job here but the Bose were the more reliable in establishing a connection without having to fiddle around with settings. When comparing the Sony and the Bose, I often went back and forth trying when trying out the headphones. Every time that I went back to the Bose, it was fast and easy. With the Sony pair, I had to go into my Bluetooth settings a few times in order to get a connection. It really wasn't a big deal but the Bose gets the edge here because it is painless and works more reliably.

DURABILITY:
I won't give either pair the edge here because I only had them for a week BUT do keep in mind that the Sony 1000xm1 had issues with the headband cracking. Because Sony hasn't clearly stated whether they resolved the issue with the xm2's, it's anyone's guess. This alone probably wouldn't keep me from going with the XM2's but it is something to consider.

CONTROLS:
I like them both and consider this a toss up. With the Sony pair, you just swipe the headphones to control the music and volume while the Bose has hard buttons. At first, I definitely preferred the hard buttons that are on the Bose. However, after getting used to swiping on the Sony's, I found it easy enough to do. Which do I prefer? Probably the hard buttons because they are a bit more reliable than the swiping. This is very subjective though and I could see some preferring the swiping while others preferring the hard buttons. It just depends on what you like. For me, I found both to work fine. The Sony does have a feature where you can put you hand over the right headphone and it will allow you to hear outside noise without having to take them off. Cool feature? Maybe for some but for me, I didn't see any use for it. If someone approaches me while wearing big headphones like these, I'm going to take them off my head rather than keeping them on with my hand cupping the right headphone. It just seems a bit rude not to do so.

FEATURES:
They both have their pluses and minuses here. It really depends on what is most important to you. I really like how the Sony 1000XM2 allows you to customize the sound (including equalizer). It also has the ability to modify you settings depending on where you are listening to them by simply pressing a button. I don't really no what impact that has though because I only tried this a couple of times. The fact of the matter is that Sony provides a bit more customization which I like! The Bose has google assistant which I found to be a cool feature. I could live without this but it is a nice feature. The feature that I found VERY useful on the Bose is the ability to play text messages through the headphones. I was on a flight recently where we were waiting for our turn to take off. While listening to my music, I was notified that I had a text message. Instead of having to reach for my phone (Sony) the Bose pair allowed me to just push the action button to hear the text. I found this awesome. Sony does not have this feature. What headphones gets the edge? For me, it's another toss up. I really like the customization of the Sony but the Bose are very cool with being able to read my text messages (and google assistant).

LOOKS:
They both look great! I had the gold/beige Sony's and the silver Bose. I might give a slight edge to Bose as I like the silver look and the Bose logo on each headphone. However, this is very subjective.

SUMMARY:
This is one of those times where you just can't go wrong with either pair. They both have their pros and cons but in the end, for me, I prefer the Bose QC 35 by a very small margin.

103 people found this helpful

Helpful

Serene Flow

Google assistant is fantastic!

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2017

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

Update. I increased my review of these headphones. Bearing in mind any product has room for improvements listed below - I have decided to update my feedback. I am quite impressed with these after in depth testing.

.The noise cancelling is a bit offputting if you only have on one ear, but if you only cover half of both ears, you can comfortably bypass this flaw. The app is too much to fuss with after setup and I wish you could adjust this without the app or through google assistant. Why have one or the other??? I bought these so I didnt have to pick up my phone as much. Google assistant is flawless with the exception that google assistant has room for growth in and of itself.

The auto-connect feature is awesome. I can easily throw these on and they prioritize over my Bluetooth connection so I dont have to fiddle with my phone when Im running out the door in the morning except that google has some beef with Pandora and fails to lunch program from the get-go. If Pandora already up, you can hit the play button to resume from pause otherwise they will continue playing your song from your other bluetooth recever if its already playing - Makes for a very smooth transition / no hassle.

Sound is spectacular. Im not an audiophile by any means but am quite passionate about music. Namely ultralow bass music. I have 3 x 12 inch subs for my home stereo and easily can rattle things off the walls and piss off my neighbor's if need be. I found these headphones capabable of mimicking most of these frequencies. Its not gonna rattle your bones and provide your muscles with that delighful bass massage like a woofer can, but they will provide an exceptionally good experience. I used these headphones to help tune my system and found that i can hear more of my music with these than I can my home system mainly in the high to mid range sections. (Can hear down to 20hz on a bass test!!! - boom!) The cupped over-ear pads make sure you hear more of your music and maximises the acoustics that are lost in home audio systems due to furniture.

Drop a dollar and buy these headphones. You will be more than satified with your investment! I even use these as ear muffs to keep my ears warm in Wisconsin on the cold days. The music keeps your blood pumping and the heaphones keep your ears warm.
I find it hard to take these things off! Too much fun....!

Old review
Received item today! Out of the box.. there was minimal setup. However minimal issues with getting google assistant to synch. Could have better instructions for that part. There was none for this part! Took a few attempts but all is good and well now.

They feel sturdy even though they are plastic. Not a fan of how they fold in the case. I might buy a bigger case to avoid the extra wear and tear.

The earcups are super soft. Very comfortable! I have a massive head and these fit great! Not too much pressure. Wore at work for 5 hours and not issues.

Noise cancelling could be better. For all the ranting and raving, i expected more out of them. Without music, these cancel less noise than a standard earplug with noise cancel on high. With music, they are much better. You can hear yourself talk when on a phone call which is slightly annoying. You can hear other ambient noises too. I put on my jacket and could hear my arm sliding through my sleeve through the headset. For tuning out office noise with music on i would rate the item at 8 out of 10. I dont have any other experience to noise cancelling other than these. It does create a negative pressure on your ears when putting on/taking off similar to ears popping when changing elevations. Very uncomfortable to one ear it with this feature - its all or nothing or wear it partiality over ears.

Music-sound is decent. Must have headphones on and music turned up for best experience. Bass is minimal at low volume which is slighly annoying. Turn it up and you'll hear the boom. Can really jam out in these if you dont mind loud music. It is nice to be able to use these hardwired without noise cancelling but music quality does suffer.

Must buy a special cord if you want one for work/home since imput to headphones is not 3.5mm standard plugin

Google Assistant !! YEAH!! the primary reason i bought these! Pretty hefty price to pay but I've been dreaming about this for months! The integration is fantastic! Reads messages, and full google assistant control just like on phone. It is fantastic! If it didnt have this feature Id be impressed but not for this dollar amount. Ill stick to listening to music on my stereo, but these are great for when Im out and about!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

ScottyLogic

My Favorite Purchase Of 2020 Still Going Strong In 2022

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2022

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

I bought these back in Nov 2020 and have been wearing them to bed almost every night drifting off to sleep watching/listening to youtube on a mounted tablet. I honestly have little or nothing negative to say about them.

10/10 Durability-
I'm generally pretty careful with my stuff, but I roll around in bed a lot and can't count how many times I've woken up with these things wrapped around my neck in all sorts of orientations. I've woken up sleeping on top of them. Not any sign whatsoever of them breaking down or the material wearing out.

9/10 Comfort-
It's the namesake of the product and it's no lie if you know how to use 'em. These are the most comfortable pair of headphones I have owned. At first it was painful because the cans, while comfortable, are rather large and press into your head when you're sleeping on your side. The trick is to tighten the headband all the way and turn them upside down so the headband is resting on your chin. This stops them from pressing into your skull when you're sleeping on your side. If I have one nitpick, it's that it SHOULD be possible to shape the cans so that that's not necessary. Very small gripe, though.

10/10 Quality of life-
Until I put these on, I didn't realize how much ambient noise was in my apartment just from my AC/Heater/appliances etc. I also didn't realize how sensitive to noise I was and how much of a game-changer good noise cancelling is. They charge pretty quickly (as most headsets/headphones do) and the battery life is acceptable. They do charge via Micro USB which makes them feel kind of old because nearly everything I have charges via USB Type C. As a result, you have plug them in just right and that can be somewhat difficult to do in the dark. If I could change anything about these headphones it would probably be that.

9/10 Bluetooth Quality- I don't venture far from my connected devices so range hasn't been a problem. These don't get any interference from any other bluetooth devices and I don't think they have ever randomly disconnected or 'skipped' during playback. Any complaint I have would be about the format and not the product itself.

Affordability 7/10- These are expensive, but in my experience you get what you pay for. I live alone so I can happily wear these all day and they were worth every penny if just for the noise cancelling. I would absolutely buy a second set and rotate them out when charging, but the price is a little steep for that.

?/10 sound quality- I'm not an audiophile so I'm underqualified to go into depth about this. Sound quality is sufficient. I don't currently own any headphones that I would say are better on this front. No complaints here.

Overall it's a great product that I would absolutely recommend for daily and nighttime use. I'm surprised they've held up this long with me sleeping/rolling all over them and I would purchase another set in a heartbeat if they did break. I would recommend them for anyone who lives alone. I wish I could wear them all day just for the noise cancelling. It's so much more peaceful!

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

BatteryKing

All around really good

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2018

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

I am updating after a couple of years of use as things have changed with firmware updates to warrant adding the last star to make it 5/5, but then having issues with lack of AptX support and limited control over being connected to two devices. Something up front I think I should say about noise cancelling as there does seem to be a bit of a debate over it, is it does not block out all sounds and it does not muffle sounds equally, but for practical purposes it does do a very good job at noise cancelling striking a good balance of things and being most effective where it is needed the most to make an enjoyable listening experience. At least this is my experience using this on a daily basis in many different environments. I have noticed on airplanes I need to fine tune how the headset rests on my head for best results, but once finding the proper adjustment it is almost like I am in an isolation room. Fantastic.

Overall I am seeing this as well worth the money, a big step up over a much older generation of this product line I had been using, and definitely a huge step up over what came with my phone. I bought this right after upgrading my phone, so in the past week have found some issues were not the head phone's fault, but instead default sound settings I have since adjusted. Also been getting more adjusted to the noise cancellation, which is really a great feature of this headset.

For some things I really like about this headset:
1. I have a huge head and this fits nicely on it; even covers my large ears comfortably. Almost no over the ear headphones do this and I have looked far and wide. My head is just too big for pretty much all except this particular line of headphones / headsets. In the ear headsets irritate my ears after a while, causing my ear canals to swell up. So having something tolerable let alone comfortable to the point that I almost forget they are on is a huge plus. They also fit on my wife's normal sized head just fine, so it covers a wide range of head sizes pretty well.

2. The sound quality and frequency range is great. While I would like frequency sliders in their app, the hard coded balance across the range is pretty darn good. Some reviews say there is a different headset that sounds better, but especially after this latest update, I am having trouble finding room for improvement; it sounds excellent across the range, even deep bass. The main limit I hit is a streaming service I use defaulted back to low quality when I upgraded my phone, so deep bass was crushed a bit and overall was not sounding as good as my home computer which has been the same machine for a while now (where I got the quality options set right a while back), but resetting the values and clearing the cache has fixed this issue. Really with noise cancelling mixed in I am hearing a lot more detail that would normally get washed out from background noise and my desire to keep volume levels down in order to preserve my hearing. Have the best of both worlds now.

3. In call sound quality is reported to be good across a number of calls now, even from the datacenter floor. Especially considering this does not have a boom mic, that is pretty good. I remember in the past getting a call on the datacenter floor with a lesser headset and nobody could hear anybody. Then again they have been moving servers to the cloud and the remaining servers are running cooler with the reduced heat load on the CRACs and thus their fans have slowed a bit, bit it is still really loud in there, so both parties hearing loud and clear is pretty amazing.

4. The battery really does go the distance and I would venture to say the 20 hour rating would be for harsh use cases where my main use case is mellow office building use. I am thinking more like 25 hours in an office. I just love how my newer devices can just go and go on batteries, at least initially where in the past battery life started off too short an then quickly became frustratingly way too short. Starting off with plenty of time I have some room to do some battery life extension tricks like limiting the charge window manually. Now if this was something built into the product like what you can do with a Tesla car, that would be really nice as changing out batteries every two years or so, especially with how devices are built these days is a bit of a PITA and too often goes badly.

5. For sound cancellation, I have to say there is something to be said for pretty much all of the ambient noise just going away and it just being dead silent. Seems to weird some people out, but I think it is great. Can still hear people talk and other loud sounds, but I seems to be rather muffled. Also it seems to be good at figuring out what is white noise and clearing that out completely where some other frequencies that are more useful get through better. Also love being able to walk down a busy street and hear my music, especially without having to sacrifice my eardrums in the process, especially as a lot of really loud noise around freeways and such are really muffled down. Found in a noisy data center that if I were to go to the barber, they would work better, but still work quite well with the hair I have, just little bit of bleed through sound from the excess hair around my ears. Pressing the headphones down causes things to get a lot quieter. Plenty good for easy on the ear drum music listening while in the data center. Have used for other things like muffling noisy power tools and having my wife watch her TV next to me and not be distracted by anything at all. Beginning to think this could be the beginnings of a great relationship... Oh wait a sec.

My complaints so far are:
1. My #1 complaint is removed as it seems to have been fixed with the latest firmware update as I thought would be possible. Star added back. Thanks Bose!

2. I have noticed doors around the office that automatically slam shut while this headset muffles the higher frequencies, the lowest frequencies seem amplified and so it is like my head is getting hit with a sound pressure wave. Been thinking about this more and I have been moving in the direction of what this does muffle, it does so well that what it does not effectively muffle seems quite loud as the ears adjust to the greatly reduced sound levels hitting them overall.

3. The radio antenna seems to be on the right side only. Being a lefty I like putting my phone on the left side, but that just does not go well. Have to use the right side when going for a walk. People call me a 'giant', so there is a lot of body for the signal to go through, so most people will probably never notice this issue.

4. No AptX support. When connected to TV bluetooth, lips are out of sync. The delay is maybe 170ms, so the delay is in the realm of something I can accept. For those who can't stand this kind of issue, then the Sony option is for you.

5. Not much control over which source plays when connected to two devices at the same time. If two devices are playing at the same time it will just pick one it seems. Doing things like connected to phone and TV at the same time, well TV will just cut out with the slightest sound from the phone. Would be nice if the headset would mix the two sources or if I could set it to say prefer the TV and only switch to the phone when the TV stops. Also use this with my laptop and see the same deal. It is nice at least I have have a few different devices to connect to. It is just if I really want to get serious with my laptop or desktop computer, I have to use the audio cable for the previous version of this headset for a combination of dedicated sound, low latency sound, and mic support, especially in COVID-19 days where I am on video conferences all the time and the webcam mic is not nearly as good as the mic on this headset at least in terms of eliminating various room scale artifacts that annoy the hell out of people in video conferences. Would be nice if I could do this all from bluetooth, but sadly bluetooth is mainly for system sounds and music, which is still really handy when I am not on a conference call.

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Ladbuyer1912

The best headphones I have ever owned

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2019

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

I always wanted a pair of Bose QC headphones; I just never had the opportunity to have a pair until now. I had a pair of the Beats Studio Wireless 2.0, but they fell apart after 3 years. Because of that, I ordered a pair of these, and I eagerly waited as the headphones were delivered. I was able to try them the next day, and I was not disappointed. I know there are a lot of reviews about how these deliver while traveling, listening to all sorts of music, etc. I would like to share a few pros and cons that I have noticed, as well as a few observations that I have noticed that aren't necessary pros or cons.

Pros:

1. Sound Quality: There is always a fine line for creating sound that is balanced. These are the best headphones I have used for balanced sound. The highs are crisp, not tinny. I can hear the mids quite clearly, and the bass is full without blowing out your eardrums. At first, I thought the bass was not loud at all, but then I figured it was because of the Beast that I owned for years. If I want my eardrums rocked, I would go to the club. There are sounds and details that I haven't heard before on songs that I have known for years, and the Bose headphones bring them out, making the experience feel like new. When I listen to orchestral music, the playback is so lifelike. I feel like I'm in the room with the orchestra.

2. Comfort:
An issue that I have had with headphones is that I immediately start to sweat under the earcups, and this is an issue that I've had for years (since high school, in fact). However, I keep going back to headphones because, naturally, they sound the best compared to earbuds. Earbuds also aren't comfortable after an hour, especially the Passive Noise Cancellation ones that go in your ear. When I put Bose on, I feel like a cloud is enveloping my ears. My ears still get warm, but the temperature is much more manageable because the headphones aren't weighing down on my ears. The quality of materials is superb (much better than Beats), and because of that, I can wear these for hours.

3. ANC
Bose's Active Noise Cancellation is the best in the market. Hands down. For reference, I would wear these commuting to and from work on the public bus, and during work. My other experiences with ANC have resulted in white noise from the headphones while blocking out 50-75% of sound. The other headphones barely cut out the bus's engine noise and noisy passengers. These Bose have 3 modes of ANC: High, Low, and Off. The High mode cut out 90% of noise. The bus's engine noise is reduced to a vibration, and all I could hear from passengers is a loud laugh, and this is without music going. When the music is playing, I'm in my own world, and I literally have to restrain myself from bopping along. :)

Cons:

1. Range:
I was surprised about the range of these. I have a water cooler at work that is about 15-20 feet away from my desk, and with my other headphones, I could walk to it and to the bathroom without my phone and I wouldn't get any cutoff or delays. I was barely 15 feet away when these started to cut off. I was puzzled. In the end, it's not that big of a deal because I can just take my phone with me.

2. Third Party Voice Control
I have noticed that these headphones were optimized for iPhone users, since the play button can be used to talk to Siri. However, in order to use the Google assistant, I would have to use the action button? I find that odd. Do people with Androids have to do the same thing? It just seems that Bose doesn't want to make a version of these headphones optimized for Android users, since there are a lot of them. But what do I know? This is just a first world problem, so again, no big deal. I have figured out that the action button can be changed to control the ANC modes, which is better for me.

Those are the only cons I have for now. I may update if needed.

In my opinion, these are the best headphones money can buy. I wouldn't spend more than $350 for headphones though. If you need to spend more than that, you can get a speaker system that would sound MUCH better than headphones.

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John Wright

Best tool to get rid of someone!

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2018

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

I got this as a gift for my ex, but now I have to attend her funeral. I gave it to her and she immediately put it on so she wouldn't have to hear me. Anyways, I left the house. I guess she forgot she was cooking and was too busy ignoring me, but a fire started and she didn't hear the alarms or people screaming at her. 10/10 would buy for an ex again.

On a more serious note: I got these because I have really sensitive ears and my brain occasionally switches to "let's hear everything" mode. I'll be sitting at my desk working with earbuds in, listening to a podcast or some music and simultaneously 3 conversations around me. It's not very fun, to be completely honest, and I feel terrible eavesdropping.

The complaint that people state of the "cabin" is somewhat accurate, as is the point that they don't eliminate all noises. There are certain noises that will go through, some voices will be heard somewhat clear, whereas others will be completely nullified. Distance, angle, and more factors, certainly.

Anyways, I'll start with the "bad":
Cabin-like. Imagine you're placed in a glass box. That's how it sounds. If that's hard to imagine, basically everything around you is heard through a wall. If that's hard to imagine, think about Darksight from DnD. You have a 60 foot "hear radius". These headphones halve that. You now have a 30 foot "hear radius". Ok, I think I'm done beating this horse. The cabin seems to be most noticeable when the ANC is off, at least in my opinion. It also makes me extremely thirsty, which is good because I always forget to hydrate. So this ends up being a plus in my book. (I had to pee 6 times today. That's 5 more than I normally do.)
Noise elimination. The first thing I did when I put them on was to click my nails against my desk. I couldn't hear a thing, so I did it harder and harder until it hurt my fingers. I couldn't hear a thing. Tapping my nails on my keyboard, however, made a noticeable sound immediately. It's hard to tell how "quiet" or "loud" it was, since I didn't really hear anything else (no music) and, again, my ears are very sensitive to sound.

The app used to connect the headphones is very straightforward. I can't speak about the android one because my android is currently just an alarm clock because it lags from having notifications. Right away, when you connect it, your phone will start downloading a firmware update. Don't worry, the update won't turn off your headphones, yet. When the download finishes (it takes about an hour of your phone being on the app, I'm not sure if it needs to be the active app, but I left it as such with the screen on because it was going slowly until I did so), then you can update and your headphones will be "offline" for about a minute. Yeah, sucks, but whatever. The update gave it audio-share capabilities, which is cool but I don't have friends, so.. I guess it's cool?
The app tells you the ANC level, let's you turn off Text to Speech (you hear beeps instead, similar to an Alexa), and controls a few other controls. I didn't use the Google Assistant because I try to be aware of how much noise I make and talking to myself is something I reserve for when I'm in the car. I tried to use the music player, but it currently only connects to two systems, Apple Music and some weird podcast thing. It does integrate into your music player (to access the basic playback functionality), but it doesn't give you fine controls. Not a big deal because swapping apps isn't hard, and swapping tracks is made easy with the headset. There's probably something else the app does but I can't check because the headphones are in my bag and turned off.

The only complaint that I have is that the headphones are nice and tight which is great when they're on, but if I put them around my neck they're trying to strangle me. I guess I don't have to worry about them falling off if I do a backflip, but I'm not flexible enough for a backflip and I like to breath... maybe I can use it for erotic asphyxiation?

I guess I can complain about how much noise I make because I can't really hear how much noise I make so I'm super paranoid, and I also think I start whispering because I know it's easy to talk loudly or yell when you can't hear yourself. Nobody has complained thus far, but it's only one day in. Actually, that's not true, today there were lots of complaints about the office being quiet. I swear it's not my fault. I just didn't want to butt into everyone's conversations.

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