Bose QuietComfort® Earbuds Noise Cancelling Headphones
Bose QuietComfort® Earbuds Noise Cancelling Headphones – Fully Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds with Voice Control, High Performance Noise Cancelling and Charging Case, Black
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
These sleek wireless earbuds are designed with breakthrough acoustic innovations and Bose Acoustic Noise Cancelling technology. Together, they produce crisp, clear audio and rich, deep bass over a bed of virtual silence — so you can hear all kinds of details that typically get lost.
QuietComfort Earbuds
Rule the Quiet.
Better sound begins with better silence. That’s why Bose engineered QuietComfort Earbuds with world-class noise cancelling and high-fidelity audio, plus StayHear Max tips for extra comfort. Because when you eliminate distractions, music goes up and so does passion.
Noise Cancelling
True quiet.
It starts with soft, silicone eartips that passively block some noise. But Bose Acoustic Noise Cancelling technology provides the true quiet. Hidden microphones monitor the sounds around you and project the opposite signal to cancel unwanted noise.
Aware mode
Full transparency. Greater awareness.
It’s not just turning off noise cancelling—it’s more. Microphones pick up sounds around you, then play them naturally through the earbuds. It sounds—and feels—like you aren’t wearing earbuds at all. So you can hear your music and more of your surroundings at the same time.
Secure & comfortable fit
Comfort that stays with you.
Every surface that touches your ear is made from soft silicone—not hard plastic. StayHear Max eartips are designed with an umbrella-shaped nozzle and extended fin to provide extra comfort and stability, for as long as you wear them. Three sizes of eartips are included to help you find your ideal fit.
Touch controls
Tap, swipe, press.
Say goodbye to buttons. These wireless earbuds feature an intuitive touch interface accessed by the simple tap, swipe or press of a finger. Choose your noise cancelling level, control the music, summon your voice assistant and more—all at your fingertips
Sweat & weather resistant
Sweat, rain or shine.
IPX4-rated, QC Earbuds can withstand splashes, workouts and rainy days. Acoustic mesh in the ports keeps out moisture and debris, enhancing the earbuds’ overall durability.
Charging case
Play, store, charge—repeat.
The rugged charging case is designed to travel with you all day long and provides 2 additional full charges. Its magnetised interior keeps the wireless earbuds securely in place when you’re not using them. The instant you open the case lid, the earbuds begin pairing with your device.
High-fidelity audio.
Bose acoustic architecture and Volumeoptimised Active EQ keep audio clear and balanced at any volume
Crystal-clear calls.
Mics work together to reject noises around you, keeping your voice sounding clear for every call.
Long battery life.
Listen for up to 6 hours on a single charge. The charging case adds up to 12 more.
Up to 9 m range.
With Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity, you can cook, code or exercise without missing a moment (or a call)
Easy setup.
Discover voice prompts for guided setup, get tips and personalise your settings in the app.
Passive noise blockingThe umbrella-shaped nozzle moulds gently to the contours of your ears, creating a tight but comfortable seal that minimises outside noise—even as it enhances your music’s low, deep notes.
” data-position=”triggerHorizontal” />Right earbud controlsDouble-tap to pause and play your content or answer and end calls. Swipe for volume control.
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Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
Bose Sport Earbuds
Bose Headphones 700
Bose QuietComfort 20
| Weight: | 9 g |
| Size: | 3.4 cm*5.05 cm*8.7 cm |
| Dimensions: | 5.05 x 8.69 x 3.4 cm; 9 Grams |
| Model: | 831262-0010 |
| Colour: | Black |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Dimensions: | 5.05 x 8.69 x 3.4 cm; 9 Grams |
| Size: | 3.4 cm*5.05 cm*8.7 cm |
Very good noise cancelling function. For the first time I have been able to sleep in a plane and train. Comfortable and don’t fall out even when doing tough mountain biking trails. Excellent battery life. Sound quality excellent. Software a little tricky at first but OK in the end.
Got them for my grandson he said they are brillia
Noise cancellation isn’t quite as good as headphones but sound quality is so good it doesn’t matter. Love them
Ordered these on Amazon as they were considerably cheaper than direct with Bose. Fit is great with the fittings provided and no need to use the spares provided. Great sound quality and noise cancelling as always wit Bose even with the much smaller buds. Touch controls all good too although volume adjustment takes a bit to master accurately.
I really like these headphones great sound good bass good noise cancelling
When I first opened them I was nearly put off by the size looked quite big but after trying them I think they look OK and are a very good fit I wear them for the gym and they never move unlike my samsung earbuds which tend to loosen during a workout
These are now my favorite headphones
I’ve only had these few days but def better than the ones I bought before them and returned. EXCELLENT noise cancelling- as soon as you put them in you can hear the difference .
And the way they are designed to be fitted is genius – they will never fall ou
Bose always impressed,.I have iPod pro an fall out all the time. The sound is on point as always,so comfy. Bose are just the best . Bit expensive. But you get what you pay for in Bose.
5 stars
I have tried various ear buds, Apple, Sony, Jabra in search of that one thing I like most, natural bass , Jabra are good, Sony overdriven, Apple not quite there, Bose on the other hand are superb the whole sound spectrum from treble to bass is balanced well and produced without comprimise. Not the cheapest but certainly worth it. If your committed to your music give your ears the workout they deserve, get some Bose!
After owning the AirPods Pro for a while, I got tired of them not fitting in my ears and constantly falling out, which led me to find another truly wireless set of earbuds to replace them. The Bose QC earbuds sound great and the noise cancellation is scarily good. These stay put in my ears and don’t budge one bit, but it did take me a tiny bit of time to get use to them in my ears at first due to the comfortability of AirPods being unmatched. I would 100% purchase these over the AirPods if you’re worried about them not fitting.
I previously had the older sport version of the Bose earbuds and the QC earbuds are a clear upgrade. The noise cancelling is fantastic. And with the sound quality already at a really good level, the noise cancelling just makes sound all the more clear. A really nice fit too. I’ve yet to run in them, but they fit in my ears better than the sports version and comfortably.
Good sound but not the best on noise cancelling to be honest. I have the Bose wired ones and there amazing when noise cancelling is on.
Pros: Excellent noise cancelling of white noise and very good for suppressing voices/TV too.
Very comfortable to wear for extended periods.
The case can be charged via USB-C or wireless which is useful feature.
The aware mode is very useful rather than taking the ear buds out.
Sound quality is very good, but I am no audiophile.
The Cons are all minor: The options for controlling music using the left ear bud is limited to either skip forward or backward not both as I’ve had on other ear buds.
Volume control using the right ear is not exact and the gradations of volume change are too much; I use my phone to make fine changes to the volume level (you need to update the firmware to access this option).
Been after theses for a while. Not disappointed. Can’t go wrong with bose
Great earphones, v easy to set up and look very slick.
For all things Audio these headphones are excellent. I love them. Noice cancelling is exceptional and audio quality is great. Battery life is very good too.
Only issue is that I get lots of complaints about background noise when on calls. The audio noise cancelling means I am less aware of background noise which the microphone does not cancel out.
Great for music. Great for the user. Not so good for those you’re talking to if you intend to use these on calls.
Over all a great quality ear pod, a bit heavy though.
Nice fitting but i couldn’t use for a long time due to its weight.
My first earbuds! I wish I bought them long ago – what a nice gift for myself! I love noise cancelation mode! Sound is fab as well!
Starting with sound quality; this are one of the best earbuds I’ve ever bought, 100% customisable to a perfect balance (tribble / bass) I’ve disabled EQ on my spotify since the bose app takes my earbuds to the next level
Super comfortable in my ears, very light almost unnoticeable, however the touch control for volume is not the most intuitive, at the beginning it was a bit annoying but now I’m in full control of it
Battery life very good since the case keep them charged every time I put then in, overall a very good earbuds, totally recommended
The bose app has some really cool features and it allows saving some preferences regarding noise cancelling
I love them
I wanted an updated earbuds, but did not want to get into 200+ range. So decided on these, I have a pair of over ear Bose that are quality. First thing, the buds come with 3 different sizes of buds so you can get a good fit for your lug holes. However I was a little confused, as the info stated that the buds came with size 2 attached, but the two packaged extra sizes were labelled 2 and 0. So far the sound quality is excellent, but I have yet to try out all the limited options on the app. Fit is good and sound superb, however I do think you can get reasonable sound at cheaper prices, porbably professional audiophiles would tell the difference. Highly recommended.
Best earphones I’ve had, also purchased on Black Friday for a good price.
I thought about paying significantly more for the QC 2 but went I. The end for economy and wasn’t disappointed. They’re comfortable with a decent amount of noise cancelling and the sound quality is well up to Bose standards of excellence.
Best earbuds wouldn’t wear anything else. Perfect fit and perfect sound.
Amazing quality sound , comfort and control. These may have been superseded now but we’ll worth the money
There is a reason why Bose is able to charge that much more than other brands. These earbuds are of extremely good quality. The sound much better than other “pro” options of other manufacturers, and noise cancellation is truly great. Voice pickup in calls is amazing, even in central city streets and even if wearing only the right earbud and using only its microphones.
Super clear sound, and plenty of bass..very comfortable fit, highly recommended …
Really good noise cancelling earphones. The odd time there is disruption in the bluetooth feed, but restart of both devices resolves this issue.
Never realised how good sound quality could be until I bought these.sometimes I forget I’m wearing them
Really great earphones
Good noise cancellation and comfort. And very good sound
The noise cancelling is superb, works like an absolute dream. Sound quality fit music is good – not amazing but clear and acceptable. Phone calls are dreadful, really bad distortion for the other caller (sounds ok at my end) – for that reason I would say don’t buy BUT the noise cancelling is so awesome it overrides everything else. Worth the money for that alone. Absolute bliss on the tube / bus / noisy stree
Instructions are extremely basic on the paper leaflet supplied but the app walks you through it all comprehensively and painlessly. There is also an excellent full manual available to download from Bose with expanded information about everything you need to know. You just download the .PDF file.
The basic flat (almost ‘reference’) sound is quite acceptable and of a very high quality but you can use the app to customise EQ settings for Bass, Mid Range, and Treble quite adequately according to preference. Audiophiles might expect more flexibility, but it is not necessary for most users. I am a pretty demanding Jazz musician and quite happy with the whole auditory experience.
The buds are very good looking despite their size which actually improves the entire technology without needing to compromise due to insufficient housing space just to make them smaller. They are actually pretty cool to look at. I think so anyway. The fit sensation is of secure, worry free in-ear retention, yet hardly noticeable, even after long periods of use spanning several hours at a time. They sit on top of the ear canal, not in it, and the bud itself is very soft and flexible, just covering the canal almost sensation free. The attached retention ‘hooks’ made out of some kind of soft rubber-like substance (Neoprene I believe) are also soft and keep the buds firmly in place, quite securely for most active purposes.
I like how the controls functionality is limited to just what is normally needed without over-complexity, simply creating more possible points of failure. Controls are quite adequate for managing music and phone requirements. I like the custom control which I have allocated to indicate battery level. If one control could have been usefully added, for me anyway, it would have been one track back and forward. But the custom control can be set to provide one of them. To be fair, one can always use one’s phone app for that anyway, as I do. It’s easy enough.
Telephone calls are crystal clear both for the Bose owner and the listener being called. I checked that quickly, and the whole quality is better than anything I’ve yet experienced by a country mile. One person I called remarked that his experience of hearing me was as if I was in the same room.
The very simple Quiet Mode and Aware Mode options, for me, are ample and as effective as I can imagine ever needing them to be, actually quite impressively. Quiet is extremely quiet.
Well, there is a lot more that I could say about these banging Bose QC ear buds but my review would take forever and I need to crack on. These are the basics though, and I hope they are useful for you. These buds are very high-end and a sound investment in auditory happiness, with extremely high fidelity and richness of experience. That just about sais it for me. The price was great, too, in the BF sale. I am a happy chappy.
So I took a punt on these after reading reviews and knowing I have 2 months to return with Prime as I’ve never had a pair of comfortable earbuds.
Honestly absolutely LOVE these! The only earbuds that stay in and/or don’t hurt after 5 mins. Wore them for hours both days. Worn them in the gym this morning and stayed secure. The noise cancelling is superior to my QC 35 II especially for bass (can’t hear thumping bass in gym with these – entirely forget other music is playing). Don’t know why people have had issues with the touch controls, have worked perfectly for me and they paired straight away. 100% worth the money and if I lost them or something I’d replace them in a heartbeat. I got them in the Black Friday deal but would pay full price for them. Setting up is pretty easy and you can always access product tips and controls through the Bose Music app if you ever forget what touch actions do what. Love that when you remove one bud it automatically pauses (you can turn this off), going to be perfect for work. Seen some people saying you can’t charge the case wireless, but you can. Sound quality is what you’d expect from Bose.
Only thing I’d improve if I could would be to have controls for Skip Foward AND Skip Back at the same time, instead of just one or the other. Who knows, maybe Bose could change this in an update??
Will update this review in a few months…
My last pair of headphones was the 450 Beoplay H9 I got as a bonus with another purchase from 2 years back which wasn’t too shabby. A bit quiet for my liking but did the job. Baring in mind those were supposed to be top of the range over ear headphones, these tiny Bose in ear headphones blow them clear out of the water. They’re louder, the sound quality is far more rich and crisp and the noise cancellation is beautifully executed.
Major plus is the double tap to switch from noise cancelling to transparent. The transparent mode sounds like they’re not even in. You completely forgot you have a pair of in ear headphones in, let alone with top notch sound cancellation.
I’d recommend these to anyone. Thinking of buying another pair as a wedding gift to my brother.
Liked the ability to adjust the level of ANC using app. Once the app had updated firmware this disappeared and more presets are available. With a little time spent whatever presets you choose they can be altered to customise the level of ANC .
EQ well what can anyone say about it Low Mid High ranges adjustable only but hey Ho the noise reduction is the king for these earbuds.
As they are new only used for 49mins so far. Will review this after a couple of weeks.
Update. Would be brilliant if Bose could add a swipe function to the left earbud similar to the one now available on the right earbud to raise or lower volume only to switch song forward repeat or switch song back.
Got these during prime day at a great price. Haven’t seen them at the same price since on any site. Easy to setup and have a great sound once youve updated firmware and tweaked the settings per connected device. I use these daily for teams and zoom calls and are perfect for drowning out a noisey office. A simple double tap on the left ear changes your noise reduction setting which can be configured using the app. Also has controls for pausing and changing music tracks.
Removing one ear during music or video will pause, which is a great feature.
The battery lasts me all week with mid-high usage for work calls and music during gym workouts.
Overall a great purchase. Best set of earphones to date!
If really nit-picking, they’re a smidge big/ bulky, and I would really like some additional controls/ functions directly from the buds.
Overall quite happy to recommend.
There are good and bad points on both sets so depends what you are after.
For taking calls these are better than the Sony. Much better, more reliable connection and better sound both ways.
Volume control on the ear bud again much better on the BOSE.
For exercise the Sony’s are good but the BOSE are more secure in the ear.
Noise cancellation is superior on the Sony. FAR superior when you take into account the noise
isolation from the ear seal as well. I am regularly warned about excessive volume now which never happened with the Sony’s. And I never feel as isolated now even with the increase in volume.
Sony is a much neater package the BOSE case is huge!
Sound quality; really not much in it at all. Listening in a quiet environment they’re both outstanding.
Overall. I preferred the Sony. But the BOSE are still really good and both are better than the AirPod Pro.
Amazing variable noise cancellation and really comfortable. I use different size silicone bits for each ear. Was slightly concerned that they were a bit larger than alternatives befor purchasing but once in you don’t know you’re wearing the they’re so stable and light in my ears. First pair has fault and Bose customer service was first rate in swapping them.
Fits very well. I use it for running. Was surprised that it remained in the ear through out the run. Had to replace the original one I received. But Bose replaced it without any problem.
I did have the Bose QC20 in-ear noise cancelling headphones which were fantastic but wired and now needing an adapter to work with iPhones. What I liked about them though (aside from the excellent Bose noise-cancelling) was the ear tips, which are shallow and work more by blocking a broader area of your ear then using ‘wings’ to hold in place: no uncomfortable/loose plug you have to shove in your ear canal.
I then recently bought the Sony WF-1000XM4 to get true wireless but could never get a secure, comfortable fit. They always ended up coming a bit loose (spoiling the noise cancelling and audio) or falling out completely once I started walking around.
I was excited to realise Bose had released true wireless equivalents of the QC20s, using the same ear tip design, and haven’t been disappointed. The fit is secure and very comfortable, with the sound quality very good.
The Bose are bigger and heavier than the Sony earphones, but for me that’s negated completely by the more comfortable, secure fit.
The charging case is much bigger than the Sony case though, so much less (but still) pocketable. The clip/button release to open the Bose case is also quite awkward and I really wish they’d just used a magnet like Sony.
Any of these small issues though are completely outweighed for me though, in that they actually fit and stay in my ears, where I could never get it right with the Sonys.
I had no problem with setting up the buds, using the app, the connection, or alternating between two devices. Everything has worked perfectly and I have no idea what has been causing others the problems they state. I assume it’s user error. Devices tested are a Google Pixel 6 Pro and MacBook Pro. I’ve also never had a problem setting up other Bose products through the app with other devices.
Sound quality is everything you’d expect from Bose. Same with the product quality.
Only niggle for me are the touch controls. Will get the hang of it though.
Sound quality is great for me but I’m not an audiophile or anything.
They fit very well, I’ve never had them fall out in the month I’ve owned them (wearing every day).
My battery is better than advertised. I can get more than 6 hours out of one charge. The charging case is about right though for advertising. Two charges and then it needs charging.
The only issue is comfort. For the first week these *really* hurt my ears. I’m not sure if I got tolerant to it or just started putting them in properly but I wouldn’t be surprised if those with sensitive skin in that area couldn’t tolerate these at all.
Unfortunately, i dropped the charging box and the catch broke. It seems that replacement charging boxes are not available – a poor situation from Bose. I love the sound and they fit in my ears well.
My only issue is in the controls;
Volume control – great, easy. No problems.
Play/pause, answer/end/reject call – fine.
Skip forward/backward – you can only have one of these active via the special feature. So if you’re listening to music then you need to have your phone/device readily available.
Apart from that, fantastic.
Otherwise they are good when you want to shut out noise and very comfortable, often I cannot wear things in my ears due to irritation but these can wear for hours. the charging is excellent. Just need to be built to last.
Update. Now on third pair. No sound in right earbud after 6 months use. Tried everything online to fix. Amazon gave full refund. Hopefully 3rd time lucky.
The headphones are awesome just bulky, but they do pack a punch, but they are a bit quieter than I was expecting but I do like really loud music so I find most headphones lacking in volume.
But these provide solid sound, the app is pretty nifty (and provides extra functionality as ear phone “functionality taps” on the left ear bud are taken up by noise cancelling settings – which makes sense I guess)
The Bose Music App allows you to create 4 different Noise cancelling profiles, which you can cycle through by tapping your left ear phone, it allows you to select which device you want to pair with, it has a basic Equaliser (it only has Bass, Mid and Treble), the left ear bud tap functions (excluding the double tap to cycle through the 4 Noise Cancelling pre-sets) are limited to one of hearing the battery level, skip forward, skip back or to connect to Spotify, which is REALLY nifty IF you use Spotify a lot.
The Right ear bud is used to play/pause, to control volume by either sliding up or down on the ear bud, phone functions (accept or end a call and also decline a phone call) and to access voice control (i.e Google Assistant or Siri).
The phone case is pretty big, and only has LEDs to indicate battery charge level, but it does have a Bluetooth button to make pairing possible while the ear buds are still in the case and its a wireless charging case or via a USB C cable.
Over all the earbuds are the best wireless buds I’ve had, but they also are the most expensive so you would expect them to be quality.
While I’m very impressed with the earbuds I’m not sure I could justify them as the usual RRP.
But if you like your music (or podcasts/audio books etc) and hang out in noisy environments then they might be worth the full price, as the earbuds cut out a lot of the ambient noise without even activating the noise cancelling feature.
My only real gripe (apart from the usual RRP) is that double tapping on the left ear bud (which cycles through your 4 noise cancelling pre-sets often results in the music starting to play again – I usually pause the music before cycle through the noise cancelling pre-sets so i can listen to which setting is best suited for the environment I am in. But maybe that’s just me not double tapping fast enough)
I do find they get a little uncomfortable if worn for a long time, but not too bad. The case is a bit bulkier than I’d like. And the initial firmware was awful – if you accidentally registered a tap on the right earphone while trying to slide, it made a painfully loud Google Assistant noise that you couldn’t turn down! Luckily they’ve updated the firmware and this can be disabled. The sliding to turn the volume up and down is still a bit finicky and I sometimes resort to doing this on my phone instead. These are relatively minor cons though, they generally work very well and I’m very happy with them.
Rich sounds and quality performance. Battery life full days use of calls standby and a few hrs of YouTube.
Can I also point out that the case is not the cheap plastic the nb suggest. It’s solid. Made from a rubber and the click is sweet. You also can’t accidentally open them which is a bonus as the button requires competency. And I don’t care that it’s a larger case, only a numpty would complain of something so minor. It about the earphones!!
Now, my dad wears hearing aids and cannot hear me properly on the phone. It’s even worse using three other types of earphones I have in my van – including the over ear sennheiser hd which are pretty good for calls.
But these Bose anc – another class.. and he could hear me alright and no van noise.
So I’d say – according to the YouTube reviews the Sony opponents might be that next level for techno music phobes but for the rest of us these are the dogs. And anc best there is for 200.
Btw those Sony were awful for calls on those reviews.
Hope this helps! Boom.
They have equally magical ANC, too, to be fair; both were able to totally mask loud conversation and TV in the same room, with the aid of some quiet music. While the Jabra 85T’s had negligible noise cancelling and fitted too loose (so went back to Amazon immediately.
These Bose ear-buds have an ear-tip system which is comfortable for up to an hour, for me. Verses only ~20 minutes for the Sony’s. The Bose securely nestle in my fussy little ears, using the small size tips. Even though their prong doesn’t extend into the fold at the back of my outer-ear, like the less comfortable mediums, they still don’t shake loose.
They’re quick and pleasant to quickly pop in and out, with a little twist. While the Sony’s need a cumbersome process of compressing the foam tips, inserting them into the ear canal and holding them in place for 10 seconds or so until they fully expand to seal and hold secure. The pressure of which just gets too uncomfortable for me. Even with softer (expensive!) tips by “Comply”.
The issues with these Bose buds:
(1) They are bigger than the Sony’s, with a case about double to size! Even bigger than it need be to accommodate the much bigger tips.
(2) Bluetooth connection is high latency, even with a 5.0 dongle, it’s ~200ms on PC, making decisive FPS game sounds disorientingly desynchronised – delayed like an echo. Same for lip sync with any video source without manual AV sync adjustments. So really these are limited to music and calls, in my opinion. While the Sony’s sound to have a <50ms latency (making all games playable), even to a desktop PC using an old 4.0 dongle. Which contradicts RTing's >200ms review measurement, and I don’t even understand how it’s possible…
(3) There’s a Bluetooth connect button in the Bose case, which you might think could help increase connectivity support… But these buds sometimes wouldn’t connect at all to my old Android 7.0 phone. (Fine now with my new Android 11 OnePlus 8T.) And PC with iffy. While the Sony’s *just worked* straight off in all cases, with no case button.
(4) The user interface of the Bose buds is unnecessarily limited and awkward compared to the Sony’s (and the Jabra’s even more so). Either skip track forwards *or* backward can only be optionally enabled for long touch on the left bud (weirdly counter-intuitive). That is, taking up the “Shortcut” button input. I think this is because the right bud has swipe up/down for volume – gesture input, not slider. It’s imprecise and easy to go way too far. I’ve used it a little, in practice, but in principle volume control is more easily done from the side buttons on any phone.
(5) A separate additional app is required from the one used for my Bose QC35ii headphones, for some reason. It’s vaguely functional and it updated the UI options, just after I bought them, to move the 3 “favourite” ANC settings (1 to 10 level) towards a more sane: On/Transparent toggle (with optional off setting).
(6) The case lid catch is very hard to release with the button. I think this part design, part quality control issue. Bad feel to getting them out each time there, sadly, for a premium product. Flustering if the button doesn’t work a couple times with trying to get them out to take a call, quickly.
(7) None of the buds were any good at cancelling the low pitched noises that penetrate through my loft conversion walls and windows. That is, compared with my 3 year old QC35ii headphones. Although, conversely, these headphones are near useless at suppressing any mid to high frequency sounds within the same room, by comparison.
(8) Neither buds were suitable for wearing in bed while trying to lay on my side. Obviously they all stick out slightly too much, although the Sony’s got closer to being viable. (Maybe with a fatter, softer pillow.) Ironically, despite being much bigger, my over-ear headphones work best, here. (By using a pillow either side of my head with a crack in the middle for the cups and band.) While the buds are too prone to making in-ear noises when moving, and pressing into my ears and knocking loose.
(9) No wind noise suppression on the Bose – I was quite impressed with how this mode, exclusively on the Sony’s, was able to cut out the air movement rustling noise from a desk fan pointed at my face. I.e. to simulate walking outside in weather.
(10) Sound was good (for my indie/rock music) and 3 band EQ in the app let me tweak it very slightly to my preference.
Conclusion:
So anyway, I’m sadly selling the Sony’s and persevering with these Bose. I mean, they’re alright for 180 on Black Friday sale. Although I won’t get as much use out of them as I hoped. They’re easier enough to carry about in a big pocket, where I wouldn’t take my headphones. And I’ve used them a couple of times for mobile phone calls just fine.
The case is a bit bigger then others, but they are working great for 6 hour without recharging it, and charging case can triple it, or you can put a case in the bag.
They are switching of automatically, when you put them in a case, they start recharging straight away.
Original Ear tips medium size, start hearting after 2 hours, but I put the smaller ones and they are perfect now. I am sure they will last. Compare to Sony tips, which will get thin and broken with the time. Plus they are fixed in you ear, so they wont get lost.
The battery life is plenty!
The noise cancelation is amazing, when you are in the underground or bus, someone is shouting, put the mode quiet, and nothing is bothering you anymore.
Sound was a bit wear at the beginning, but there is an option to change the bass etc up to your liking, great! Sorted!
Expensive, yes! But I think the quality worth it.
Phone calls clear. Tick
One I’ve got to use them they are great!
I love them! Well done Bose!
Update them first. Out of the box they are above average at best in terms of sound quality. Get the Bose Music app and download the first firmware update as this gives you the ability to equalise your sound to your taste. Without the Equaliser they sound very flat.
Make sure you have the right ear tips for the best fit as this will affect overall performance of these ear buds. I tried the 3 provided over several weeks before settling on one I use now.
The touch controls to adjust volume etc need some time to get used to, it can be hit or miss until you get the precise control right. Not a deal breaker.
As a frequent traveller I chose these mainly for the noice cancellation and they are simply fantastic at that. I usually have them on with no music playing and marvel how much noise they manage to block. Don’t know how Bose do it but they know their stuff when it comes to Noise Cancelling. These are probably the best noise cancelling ear buds on the market right now.
PS – the first set that came, the right ear bud stopped charging in the case after a couple days. No idea why, when raised with Amazon they just sent me a replacement set. So heads up you may get a dud set but raise it with Amazon quickly and they will replace no questions asked.
Great purchase.
The sound reproduction is excellent. It’s on a par with my expensive headphones, which is quite amazing given the size of these things. The sound stage they create is highly immersive and they are a great pleasure to listen through.
The Active Noise Cancellation is incredible. They put you in your own little world away from train, aircraft and screaming baby noises. It’s far better than the WF-1000XM3 I got these to replace. The only thing I found strange about it was that they come with a pass through on speech enabled. This means that if you or anyone close to you starts speaking or you should try singing along to the music (always a mistake when *I* try that), the nose cancelling turns off and the volume of the music drops. I suppose some people will like this, but I use ANC products to cancel out banalities around me.
Luckily you can turn this feature of easily enough in the free smartphone app for controlling them. It provides a few functions and is easy to use.
The capacitive sides make for easy control, including volume (so no being forced to reach for your device) and call answering/declining. Summoning a smart assistant is very simple.
The battery life is long enough for a trip to the airport and a reasonably long flight. You can always to the charge up in the case, this holds plenty of juice and can be charged wirelessly, which is a good touch.
I’m dead chuffed with my purchase, they provide excellent sound from my iPhone and the nose cancelling is superb. Battery life is long enough, especially if you keep the case topped up – a simple procedure. I would recommend them to anyone in the market for premium earbuds.
The fit is very good and they don’t move at all, even in heavy movement like at the gym. the reason for 4 stars though is to do with the fit. The wing tips are great and these are in-ear phones, you get 3 different wingtip/bud sizes. small, medium and large what would make this a 5 star product would be separate wing tip sizes to the buds. What I mean is the wind tip sizes should be separate from the buds to achieve perfect fit instead of the bud and wings being one thing.
– OK, there is no off switch, but the earbuds turn off automatically after 20 minutes or when you put them in the charging case and close the lid so it really is not an issue.
– Comfort? Everyone is different but with 3 sizes of ear tips you’ll most likely find a good fit. i find them very comfortable, even for extended periods, and they are so light as to be almost unnoticeable.
– You can’t buy a replacement charging case. True. The case is bluetooth paired to the earbuds. If you lose it, you have to buy a whole new set. That’s not perfect, but it’s not a huge issue really. The product is 3 pieces and you need all 3 for it to work. Lose the case or an earbud and effectively you’ve lost the whole thing. So don’t lose it.
The good points:
The noise-cancelling is the best in the business. The sound quality is excellent. Pairing is frustration-free and you can pair to 7 devices. I previously used the Bose wired earphones until they broke. I didn’t want to switch to wireless. fearing they would be bulky and awkward and would make battery life an issue. I’m glad I switched. They are not bulky, battery life is plenty long enough for most activities (at 6 hours) and being free of wires means I’m suddenly wearing them in situations I wouldn’t wear the wired versions. They stay in place really well when working out or on a rowing machine.
The touch controls take a little while to get used to and at first you get it wrong eg single press when you meant swipe, but you soon learn to touch your thumb and fingers to your head around your ear before using your index finger to make the control gesture and then you get it right.
You can change volume, skip track, and pause/play all from the touch control. One annoying part of the touch control is that a long press on the right earbud activates your phone’s voice assistant. This may be something you never use but there’s no way to turn it off. Worse, on Samsung the default Bixby voice app gets called. This is annoying. While you can’t disable the touch gesture, you can change the default voice assistant app to Google assistant, which is a little better. It’s not easy to do this though. Here’s how:
Install Google Assistant. In phone settings, choose “apps’ then Bixby Voice. Click ‘set as default’ then ‘clear defaults’. Now put on your earbuds and let them connect to the phone. Long press the right earbud to activate the voice assistant. Your phone should show an option to choose which voice assistant you want to respond to the command. Tap Google Assistant to select it and be sure to click “Always” to make sure it will be the default for voice commands from now on.
I’ve found Bose peerless in terms of comfort. I use them largely with apple devices and have had no issues with the app or connectivity at all. With a PC they didn’t work as well, there was interference, so I’d add a note of caution there. I’ve found generally that you’re much better with wired headphones on PCs anyway.
There have been some criticism of the size of the case. It is a good deal bigger than Apple’s proprietary pods. But It fits in the pocket of your jeans, charges well and is easy to connect using the blue tooth button on the case.
Since my original review I’ve since used these on a some 12 hour night flights and it only further served to further my love for these. I used them to take a break from over ear headphones and the noise cancellation and comfort were undiminished. I’ve now had them two years and they’ve been used doing everything and have never failed.
Overall, if you’re pairing them with apple they unbeatable.
ORIGINAL:
Okay so I read up reviews and reviews and then some more before buying these and have to say my expectations weren’t really met. However it’s not simply a case of the headphones not being good as they are. The problem is that I use Amazon music HD which when used with Echo buds and the available EQ sound deeper than these. As there is no EQ in the Bose app or the Amazon app when using the Bose I cannot adjust sound to my preference. My sound preference is stuck in the 80’s with slightly elevated lows and highs. Switch to using Apple Music or Spotify and then you have EQ settings and they come alive for me. But I pay for Amazon music for the HD on other devices and don’t see why I should pay for two music services. I wouldn’t give up HD music over other providers using home system, the difference is substantial.
Audio is very personal as we all have different ears and hearing but for me these just aren’t the finished product. They aren’t comfortable to wear in my ears at all no matter which size tip I use. Neither are echo buds, however swap out the Amazon tips with some sennheiser tips (10) and perfect! Sound much better and fit perfectly, big result. With the Bose you can’t just change the tips as unique design.
Then you add in noise cancellation which is why I bought both, there is no comparison here, Bose wins hands down, but the echo aren’t rubbish, the Bose are just outstanding. Then the Bose def have more soundstage but is it a wow, er no! Echo buds are more functional and have more available options for touch commands. But let’s be honest echo’s aren’t the best looking buds.
My advice would be if you need noise cancelling for train or other then the Bose are definitely the one to have even with their shortfalls. However if you don’t have that need there are much cheaper and way more comfortable options, for a compromise of still good but not great noise cancelling but with better functionality, only slightly lower quality sound and half the price then echo buds with alternative tips is a winner.
If high bass is your top priority, Amazon music with these is not the way to go. Amazon music with echo buds let’s you adjust bass in the echo’s through Alexa app to blow the Bose away. I would say the bass with Bose is comparable to my QC35, maybe bit better, again no EQ adjust with Amazon music or Bose app.
So it’s not all about the headphones, the music provider you use is also key to getting the best out of what your looking for, the way you want it. Balancing the two should be simple for us consumers but it simply isn’t.
– The sound is unrivalled
– They are comfy to wear, almost unnoticeable.
– Noise cancelling is very good
– Touch Controls are very handy
– Battery life is perfect (as is the charging case)
BAD BITS:
– They are a bit of a faff if you are switching between devices regularly, you have to go the settings on each devices when you want to switch.
– You have to carry the box with you to actually turn them off
– They seem to get VERY warm if you charge them wirelessly
– Once connected to a device there seems to be a weird delay between the left and right ear for the first 10 seconds
– The bluetooth button on my case broke after 2 months which I wouldn’t expect from the build quality of a product that costs 250! (They have replaced without question though, so thumbs up on service).
OVERALL:
A great product that is just a few software updates away from being perfect!
I was certainly very happy with how these things started off but then things went downhill quite quickly….
Then went out for a walk and within 5 minutes I noticed that the ANC had stopped. I used the Bose app to restart it but again, a few minutes later it went off by itself again….rinse repeat. I reset them in the case as per Bose instructions but to no avail. I’d be standing in the house waiting to go outside with the earbuds in, with the Bose app open and the bar that shows the level of noise cancelling would just move down to zero by itself!
I’m actually rather disappointed as I’ve started a return and they need to go back however they were very a very good fit, the sound was really good and the ANC, when it initially worked for a short time, was really rather good…much better than my AirPods Pro, for example (as was the sound quality).
If you get a pair without the ANC fault you will probably really like them.
Updated – 3 days later!
I reset them again & repaired them to my iPhone 12 Pro Max and the NC has worked very well since. There has also been a software update which allows you to change the volume by swiping up and down on the right earbud.
This works very well.
The ANC is very good, much better than on the Sennheiser Momentum 2 which I also had but sold as they kept falling out of my ears.
I will definitely be keeping these now as they meet all my needs, the sound is great, they stay in my ears and are very comfortable to wear, the noise cancelling is very good and it is easy to use the controls.
To be honest I want expecting that I would like them as much as my Bose over ear headphones that I bought 4 years ago.
Some reviewers complain that you can’t control the volume or the song order from the earphones themselves.
I feel this slight inconvenience is overshadowed by their brilliant noise cancellation ability ( I travel on the London tube to work).
They are also very comfortable and so snug fitting that no amount of head movement can dislodge them, this is because of the clever twisting action where you “screw” the earphone into your ear canal with a a 45 degree gentle anti-clockwise motion.
Next the sound, rich and bassy.
They also don’t feel heavy when worn.
My only slight gripe is the short battery life in practice , but carrying its case with you will recharge it for an hour or so’s use in 15 minutes.
Despite the shorter than ideal battery life and lack of control on the earphones I rate these earphones as exceptional, provided you think 249.95 as reasonable for earphones.
I’ve just looked on Amazon today(22/11/20) and found them with a 25 discount, so now more affordable.
So the cons: the setup software is lame. Very lame! I got there in the end but it took several attempts to get past some of the steps. Then there are the controls. The only options are a double tap or long tap on each side. Right is Siri and pause/play respectively and left is noise cancellation level (selected from three “favourites”) and a customisable control. However the only custom options are skip track forward or hear the battery level. No volume control, no skip back, and given that I don’t use Siri the double tap on the right is a waste. This is major deficit given the technology used and the possibilities available. Each bud could have at least three options and the software should allow them all to be configurable.
Yes, the case is chunky and has a press button catch instead of a magnetic one but that doesn’t change the quality of the product.
So as far as the listening experience goes it’s definitely five stars but the software/firmware is a big disappointment (as is common with most Bose products these days).