Pros:
• Beautifully designed. It looks like it’s made from one sheet of stainless steel and feels pretty dam solid. No visible screws, no joints, very sleek.
• There is a soft touch plastic on the device. It’s a nice feel and I have to believe they went this way to reduce weight.
• Adjusting the speakers is purely simple. You just slide the ear cups up or down to your choosing.
• The touch panel on the speaker is very quick. It didn’t take long to know how to use it because Bose provides a simple layout on using the touch features.
• One highlight of these headphones is the voice speaking system. Inside this machine, you’re getting 8 individual microphones. 6 are for the noise canceling and the last two are for your voice. I sat in my busy office (an open floor layout) and began to make calls using this. This function is excellent. The noise canceling blocks out 80-90% of my surroundings while anyone I talk to, using this headphone, had no idea that I was in the center of my office space during our rush hour. Very clean in speaking with it, and my colleagues on the phone notice it as well (doesn’t really go both ways because they don’t have the 700, but you can’t win them all).
• What’s really cool about the noise canceling feature is that you have levels on how much you want to block the outside world. This is a great treat to have because there were times that I needed to forget the world when I was on my break, and there were times that I was waiting for someone to call me. The layout is a high, medium, to full transparency. I always stick to medium when I’m not at home, and go to the high levels when I know I wouldn’t be needed. My advice is to use the full transparency when walking because this headphone’s noise canceling system is so good that it can be dangerous if you don’t know your surroundings.
• With the noise canceling feature, I’m also not getting any distortion from playing music.
• I will only use the highest noise canceling settings either at home or on a plane. You can’t hear anything going on when this feature is active.
• Overall the system is built to never leave your head.
• You can use all the AIs if you want (Google, Alexa, Siri). I have each one of them on a different product, and all were able to hear me clearly after I turned an external speaker extremely high in order to see how the headphones will take with a large amount of external sound coming at it.
• I’m getting around 4 days of use (that’s around 4 hours a day). Battery life is respectable.
• Bluetooth is fast and I’m happy to also note that that having the Bluetooth feature on all the time doesn’t drain the battery. I know some headphones and phones have this issue. But not this one.
• The case it comes with allows the headphones to fold flat and has a small pocket for the cable. Very premium
• You do have a wire mode if the battery does die. Surprisingly now the issue is finding a phone with a headphone jack.
• Comfort is spot on. I was never an ear cover headphone type of guy because my ears start to get hot. The comfort that it provides me makes this a minimal issue at most.
• The app is very customizable to these headphones. One example is the battery life of the headphones. On the app it will not only tell an accurate battery lifetime frame, but you can make the headphones shut off automatically if they're not in use within a specific time frame that you created.
• The app also allows you to create a number of sound profiles. As I said, very customizable
• You can also get to battery life, told to you, from the headphones themselves.
• The charging on these headphones are really quick. I did a 15-minute charge and that gave me an extra 2 hours of battery life.
• The sound is very smooth, clear, and what you get from any headphones from Bose (will explain more below).
Cons and Oks:
• You can’t fold up this device. It’s a sleek design but there are no hinges as the only option of storage using the case that it comes with.
• No aptX or aptX HD support
• Bose hasn’t yet found a solution in allowing the option to temporarily amplifying your surroundings when you need to. Sony has done this in their past headphones, but Bose has yet to get on board.
• I notice that these headphones do get off heat. When you’re using the noise canceling feature, the heat will grow.
• Bose headphones always provide the best in smoothness, but not in the bass. The bass is strong, but you expect a little more than what it offers. Obliviously this depends on the type of music you’re listening to. But for real hardcore beat music, you might get a step down in performance because the bass sounds a little tighter.
• These headphones tend to sand down the music you’re playing to (Listening to Kayne West, Lady Gaga, Jay Z songs that require a full range of sounds). It’s the signature way of what Bose does, but it’s still incredible to listen to it them. Note that the noise canceling feature really does help.
• Speech to text works pretty well. There is some miscommunication, but this is hard to go out on the headphones as it also depends on the program you’re using (was just using a basic voice speech program on my mac).
• There is a weight to these headphones, but fortunately, the weight is scattered evenly.
• The touch swipe feature is a nice change of pace, but I know those who live in cold environments will not enjoy this. Having mittens/gloves on won’t work with the touch sensor, so you’ll need to remove them in order to use it. The climate region on where you live may be an impact if you want to buy these.
• Make sure you download the right app. Bose has so many of them and it’s easy to download the wrong one since they all have similar names.
• It does deliver a suburb voice assistant support but I didn’t focus on this since 1. You have Goggles, Siri, and Alexa on standby and 2. This is new, and I already saw some bugs in this layout.
Bottom Line:
It’s Bose. Bose is the father of premium sound for decades so you’re getting the best of the best in sound. The design is sleek, the sound is great, and the noise canceling is excellent. One of the best features is using the microphone/calling setup. I recently reviewed the Denon AH-GC30, and the microphone/calling setup is the way for these new headphones.
There is not much to complain because anyone who has a Bose knows that everything you spent on a Bose comes from the hardware within. Yes, I wish the bass was a little better, and the design issue of not being able to fold it is annoying. But the overall sound is a Bose sound, so if you have the money, pick these up for yourself.
Overall: It’s Bose, the Ferrari of sound. A need for music lovers and a must for those who want quiet in a busy world.
Hope I was a help to you.
Love,
Honest Reviewer.
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 | Bose QuietComfort 35 II Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones— Wireless, Over Ear Headphones with Built in Microphone and Alexa Voice Control, Silver | Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 — Over Ear, Wireless Bluetooth Headphones with Built-In Microphone for Clear Calls & Alexa Voice Control, Soapstone | Sony WH-XB910N EXTRA BASS Noise Cancelling Headphones, Wireless Bluetooth Over the Ear Headset with Microphone and Alexa Voice Control, Black | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Rating | (26413) | (60831) | (7892) | (2935) |
| Price | $299.00 | $293.00 | $379.00 | $248.00 |
| Sold By | Amazon.com | OceansideSales | Amazon.com | Focus Camera LLC |
| Are batteries included? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Are batteries required? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Color | Triple Black | Silver | Soapstone | Black |
| Connectivity Technology | Bluetooth | Bluetooth | Bluetooth | Wireless |
| Fit Type | Over-Ear | Over-Ear | Over-Ear | Over-Ear |
| Special Features | Noise Cancellation, Microphone Feature, Water Resistant, Volume-Control | Noise Cancellation | Noise Cancellation, Microphone Feature, Water Resistant, Volume-Control | Microphone Included |
From the manufacturer
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
Instant home office.
Turn any space into the perfect place to listen to music, make phone calls, or get work done. Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 reinvent what true wireless headphones are — and redefine what they can be.
An adaptive mic system for superior voice pickup.
Bose headphones 700 feature an unrivaled microphone system that picks up and isolates your voice while cancelling the noise around you. You’ll hear and be heard like never before. These headphones are also optimized for Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant.
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Quiet for them. Loud for You.
Bose SimpleSync pairs your Bose Headphones 700 with your Bose Soundbar 500 or 700. With independent volume controls, one of you can sleep as the other continues watching — guilt free.
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Personalize your environment.
Bose has improved what they’re most known for with these active noise cancelling headphones. With 11 levels of noise cancellation, you can truly personalize your environment.
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And your music? Beautiful as ever.
These Bluetooth headphones deliver an immersive listening experience at any volume with signature active EQ and impressive bass response.
Whether you’re listening at low volumes or really want to turn it up, your music sounds just as it should.
Headphones 700
Compare Bose Headphones.
11 Levels | Noise Cancellation | 3 Levels |
| | Alexa Enabled | |
| | Touch Controls | |
Bose Connect App | | |
| | Bose Music App | |
20 hours | Battery Life | 20 hours |
11 Levels | Noise Cancellation | 12 Levels |
| | Alexa Enabled | |
| | Touch Controls | |
Bose Connect App | | |
| | Bose Music App | |
20 hours | Battery Life | 10 hours |
Customer reviews
A well rounded ANC wireless headphone
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2019
Received these Saturday from Bose after I pre-ordered them when they were announced.I am thoroughly impressed so far.Packaging is simplistic and straight to the point with two peel back tabs that let you inside. From there, you will see the NCH 700's case which was smaller than I thought because they don't fold up like the QC35II's. The case fits in my work bag just fine. However, I do have say it's not as small overall as the QC35II's case. The NCH 700 case has a little magnetic flap inside that stores the audio and USB-C cable. No airplane adapter. Thank you Bose for going USB-C with the NCH 700's. What's left is manuals and warranty cards.The feel of the NCH 700's is nice. It's a streamlined design that grew on me and looks very modern. Weight is slightly more than the QC35II's. Build quality is significantly superior with more metals being used and most importantly, the comfort is similar. I would maybe give the slight edge to the QC35II in comfort due to the lower weight, but the NCH 700's is still a very comfortable headphone. The headband adjustment is smooth and should accommodate a wide variety of head sizes just fine. Ear-cup openings is similar to the QC35II with the left and right labels inside the ear cups for easy notation on how to put the headphones on.Controls are great and I can say the touch controls are very responsive and intuitive. Swipe up for volume increase. Swipe down for volume decrease. Swipe forward for the next track. Swipe backward for the previous track. Double tap to play and pause. Tap once to accept and incoming call. Tap and hold to reject the call. Tap and hold to go to a shortcut predefined in the app. The current shortcut available was to have the voice prompt alert you of the current battery life in which she tells you the estimated time until the battery is dead. There's 3 dedicated buttons on the NCH 700's. The two on the right is responsible for Power on/Bluetooth pairing and voice assistance/mute mic. The one on the left is to cycle between the 3 preset noice cancelling modes defined with the app. The right earpiece houses the USB-C port and the left earpiece houses the audio input port.The app provides a lot of functionality control. You can on the fly scroll though the noise cancelling/ambient modes from 0-10. 0 being like having no headphones on at all and 10 being in your own little acoustical chamber. You can launch Bose AR apps and experience augmented reality with he NCH 700's. Pretty cool. You can select the sources that are connected and add a new source or remove an existing source. The NCH 700 can connect to up to 2 devices at once. You can set your voice assistant between Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa. You can set how much of your voice is heard during phone calls or voice assistant interaction. If you're familiar with the QC35II's Bose Connect app, it's pretty much similar settings you can control.Sound on the NCH 700's is clean, open and balanced when at moderate volumes. No frequency really stands out so you get an accurate representation of your music. I would say they sound similar to the QC35II but with a tighter bass. The Sony WH1000Xm3 in comparison sounds more warm and full with a more engaging and alive presentation similar to being at the concert. The Bose sounds more accurate and clear and more like being in the studio. A flat and accurate sound will not sound exciting to everyone however so do keep that into consideration if you're eyeing the Bose.. Sound is subjective overall so you can't go wrong with what you enjoy listening to. I really enjoy the NCH 700's sound. It's a smooth and clear sound that plays well with all genres. The main issue I have with the Bose NCH 700 sound is that when you want to crank the volume, the bass literally begins to disappear in the mix due to the active EQ implementation from Bose. I personally do not like this as it makes these headphones sound harsh and tinny.Noise cancelling is insanely good on the NCH 700's. The Sony WH1000Xm3 is still a bit more effective at reducing outside noises especially in the midrange and treble frequencies. Unfortunately, both headphones get those distortion artifacts when the ANC pressure within the ear cups is disrupted from sudden vibrations to the headphones. For example this can be caused by being on a bus while on a bumpy road or running with your headphones on. The ambient aware mode is very natural feeling on the NCH 700 and it's great being able to have awareness while listening to audio in situations where you don't want to blocked completely from the world. Would be cool if it had the Sony's right hand palm over the ear cup feature where it seamlessly kicks in ambient sound and lowers the music volume so you can quickly hear someone or something and then once your hand leaves the right ear cup, everything reverts back to normal. The Bose NCH 700 does this with the button on the left ear cup. If you press and hold the button for about 2 seconds, it pauses the music and pipes in the nosies around you. When you press the button again, it reverts back to the previously set ANC setting and resumes playing audio.The NCH 700's perform exceptionally for voice mic quality on calls and interacting with your voice assistant. It's amazing how clear your voice is projected onto the other line while using the NCH 700. These are killer for conference calls even if you dare take them in the middle of Times Square, NYC.Overall, the NCH 700 is a welcome evolution to the Bose headphone line up and I'm sure these will win the hearts of many. Highly recommended!
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2019
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Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2019
Color: Triple Black
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2019
I am thoroughly impressed so far.
Packaging is simplistic and straight to the point with two peel back tabs that let you inside. From there, you will see the NCH 700's case which was smaller than I thought because they don't fold up like the QC35II's. The case fits in my work bag just fine. However, I do have say it's not as small overall as the QC35II's case. The NCH 700 case has a little magnetic flap inside that stores the audio and USB-C cable. No airplane adapter. Thank you Bose for going USB-C with the NCH 700's. What's left is manuals and warranty cards.
The feel of the NCH 700's is nice. It's a streamlined design that grew on me and looks very modern. Weight is slightly more than the QC35II's. Build quality is significantly superior with more metals being used and most importantly, the comfort is similar. I would maybe give the slight edge to the QC35II in comfort due to the lower weight, but the NCH 700's is still a very comfortable headphone. The headband adjustment is smooth and should accommodate a wide variety of head sizes just fine. Ear-cup openings is similar to the QC35II with the left and right labels inside the ear cups for easy notation on how to put the headphones on.
Controls are great and I can say the touch controls are very responsive and intuitive. Swipe up for volume increase. Swipe down for volume decrease. Swipe forward for the next track. Swipe backward for the previous track. Double tap to play and pause. Tap once to accept and incoming call. Tap and hold to reject the call. Tap and hold to go to a shortcut predefined in the app. The current shortcut available was to have the voice prompt alert you of the current battery life in which she tells you the estimated time until the battery is dead. There's 3 dedicated buttons on the NCH 700's. The two on the right is responsible for Power on/Bluetooth pairing and voice assistance/mute mic. The one on the left is to cycle between the 3 preset noice cancelling modes defined with the app. The right earpiece houses the USB-C port and the left earpiece houses the audio input port.
The app provides a lot of functionality control. You can on the fly scroll though the noise cancelling/ambient modes from 0-10. 0 being like having no headphones on at all and 10 being in your own little acoustical chamber. You can launch Bose AR apps and experience augmented reality with he NCH 700's. Pretty cool. You can select the sources that are connected and add a new source or remove an existing source. The NCH 700 can connect to up to 2 devices at once. You can set your voice assistant between Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa. You can set how much of your voice is heard during phone calls or voice assistant interaction. If you're familiar with the QC35II's Bose Connect app, it's pretty much similar settings you can control.
Sound on the NCH 700's is clean, open and balanced when at moderate volumes. No frequency really stands out so you get an accurate representation of your music. I would say they sound similar to the QC35II but with a tighter bass. The Sony WH1000Xm3 in comparison sounds more warm and full with a more engaging and alive presentation similar to being at the concert. The Bose sounds more accurate and clear and more like being in the studio. A flat and accurate sound will not sound exciting to everyone however so do keep that into consideration if you're eyeing the Bose.. Sound is subjective overall so you can't go wrong with what you enjoy listening to. I really enjoy the NCH 700's sound. It's a smooth and clear sound that plays well with all genres. The main issue I have with the Bose NCH 700 sound is that when you want to crank the volume, the bass literally begins to disappear in the mix due to the active EQ implementation from Bose. I personally do not like this as it makes these headphones sound harsh and tinny.
Noise cancelling is insanely good on the NCH 700's. The Sony WH1000Xm3 is still a bit more effective at reducing outside noises especially in the midrange and treble frequencies. Unfortunately, both headphones get those distortion artifacts when the ANC pressure within the ear cups is disrupted from sudden vibrations to the headphones. For example this can be caused by being on a bus while on a bumpy road or running with your headphones on. The ambient aware mode is very natural feeling on the NCH 700 and it's great being able to have awareness while listening to audio in situations where you don't want to blocked completely from the world. Would be cool if it had the Sony's right hand palm over the ear cup feature where it seamlessly kicks in ambient sound and lowers the music volume so you can quickly hear someone or something and then once your hand leaves the right ear cup, everything reverts back to normal. The Bose NCH 700 does this with the button on the left ear cup. If you press and hold the button for about 2 seconds, it pauses the music and pipes in the nosies around you. When you press the button again, it reverts back to the previously set ANC setting and resumes playing audio.
The NCH 700's perform exceptionally for voice mic quality on calls and interacting with your voice assistant. It's amazing how clear your voice is projected onto the other line while using the NCH 700. These are killer for conference calls even if you dare take them in the middle of Times Square, NYC.
Overall, the NCH 700 is a welcome evolution to the Bose headphone line up and I'm sure these will win the hearts of many. Highly recommended!
Color: Triple Black
A well rounded ANC wireless headphone
By Daniel James on June 30, 2019
Received these Saturday from Bose after I pre-ordered them when they were announced.By Daniel James on June 30, 2019
I am thoroughly impressed so far.
Packaging is simplistic and straight to the point with two peel back tabs that let you inside. From there, you will see the NCH 700's case which was smaller than I thought because they don't fold up like the QC35II's. The case fits in my work bag just fine. However, I do have say it's not as small overall as the QC35II's case. The NCH 700 case has a little magnetic flap inside that stores the audio and USB-C cable. No airplane adapter. Thank you Bose for going USB-C with the NCH 700's. What's left is manuals and warranty cards.
The feel of the NCH 700's is nice. It's a streamlined design that grew on me and looks very modern. Weight is slightly more than the QC35II's. Build quality is significantly superior with more metals being used and most importantly, the comfort is similar. I would maybe give the slight edge to the QC35II in comfort due to the lower weight, but the NCH 700's is still a very comfortable headphone. The headband adjustment is smooth and should accommodate a wide variety of head sizes just fine. Ear-cup openings is similar to the QC35II with the left and right labels inside the ear cups for easy notation on how to put the headphones on.
Controls are great and I can say the touch controls are very responsive and intuitive. Swipe up for volume increase. Swipe down for volume decrease. Swipe forward for the next track. Swipe backward for the previous track. Double tap to play and pause. Tap once to accept and incoming call. Tap and hold to reject the call. Tap and hold to go to a shortcut predefined in the app. The current shortcut available was to have the voice prompt alert you of the current battery life in which she tells you the estimated time until the battery is dead. There's 3 dedicated buttons on the NCH 700's. The two on the right is responsible for Power on/Bluetooth pairing and voice assistance/mute mic. The one on the left is to cycle between the 3 preset noice cancelling modes defined with the app. The right earpiece houses the USB-C port and the left earpiece houses the audio input port.
The app provides a lot of functionality control. You can on the fly scroll though the noise cancelling/ambient modes from 0-10. 0 being like having no headphones on at all and 10 being in your own little acoustical chamber. You can launch Bose AR apps and experience augmented reality with he NCH 700's. Pretty cool. You can select the sources that are connected and add a new source or remove an existing source. The NCH 700 can connect to up to 2 devices at once. You can set your voice assistant between Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa. You can set how much of your voice is heard during phone calls or voice assistant interaction. If you're familiar with the QC35II's Bose Connect app, it's pretty much similar settings you can control.
Sound on the NCH 700's is clean, open and balanced when at moderate volumes. No frequency really stands out so you get an accurate representation of your music. I would say they sound similar to the QC35II but with a tighter bass. The Sony WH1000Xm3 in comparison sounds more warm and full with a more engaging and alive presentation similar to being at the concert. The Bose sounds more accurate and clear and more like being in the studio. A flat and accurate sound will not sound exciting to everyone however so do keep that into consideration if you're eyeing the Bose.. Sound is subjective overall so you can't go wrong with what you enjoy listening to. I really enjoy the NCH 700's sound. It's a smooth and clear sound that plays well with all genres. The main issue I have with the Bose NCH 700 sound is that when you want to crank the volume, the bass literally begins to disappear in the mix due to the active EQ implementation from Bose. I personally do not like this as it makes these headphones sound harsh and tinny.
Noise cancelling is insanely good on the NCH 700's. The Sony WH1000Xm3 is still a bit more effective at reducing outside noises especially in the midrange and treble frequencies. Unfortunately, both headphones get those distortion artifacts when the ANC pressure within the ear cups is disrupted from sudden vibrations to the headphones. For example this can be caused by being on a bus while on a bumpy road or running with your headphones on. The ambient aware mode is very natural feeling on the NCH 700 and it's great being able to have awareness while listening to audio in situations where you don't want to blocked completely from the world. Would be cool if it had the Sony's right hand palm over the ear cup feature where it seamlessly kicks in ambient sound and lowers the music volume so you can quickly hear someone or something and then once your hand leaves the right ear cup, everything reverts back to normal. The Bose NCH 700 does this with the button on the left ear cup. If you press and hold the button for about 2 seconds, it pauses the music and pipes in the nosies around you. When you press the button again, it reverts back to the previously set ANC setting and resumes playing audio.
The NCH 700's perform exceptionally for voice mic quality on calls and interacting with your voice assistant. It's amazing how clear your voice is projected onto the other line while using the NCH 700. These are killer for conference calls even if you dare take them in the middle of Times Square, NYC.
Overall, the NCH 700 is a welcome evolution to the Bose headphone line up and I'm sure these will win the hearts of many. Highly recommended!
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Mr. B. Rose
The good, the bad and the lovely!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2019Color: Triple BlackVerified Purchase
The good, the bad and the lovely!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2019
I've owned a pair of Bose QuietComfort 15 headphones for the last seven years, I chose them as I preferred the over ear design and I liked having a replaceable battery which I could change on the move without the hassle of recharging. The noise cancellation of those was class leading, when new, but has since been left a little behind as newer models have been released.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2019
Since 2012, bluetooth wireless has become mainstream. My daily phone (Oneplus 6T) doesn't even have a headphone jack and I had to use an adapter to connect my old headphones. This wasn't a major concern, neither was the wire, as I only really use my headphones with my Google Pixel C tablet when sat still on the train. When moving around I usually use a set of Plantronic earphones, which are more suited to walking and running than a heavy pair of cans.
By 2018 I'd worn out one of the two included headphone cables and had ordered my third paid or earpad cushions - I use these headphones every working day a couple of hours. The headphones were visibly as new and fully functional, but some parts simply worn out after some 3500+ hours of use and I suspected the noise cancellation wasn't as good as it used to be.
So I started looking around at options. I liked some functions of the Microsoft Surface headphones, but they didn't quite tick all the boxes for me. The Sony headphones were getting great reviews, but would only connect to one device over Bluetooth - given the entry cost of these devices I wanted to make sure I was somewhat "future proof" and a single device seemed a bit limited. I also wanted USB-C charging, which the older Bose headphones didn't have. My phone and tablet are both USB-C so I wasn't going back there.
Enter the Bose 700 Noise Cancelling headphones which appeared to tick all the boxes for me:
- Bluetooth wireless including "HD Audio: AAC" support.
- Touch controls for volume, track skip etc
- Class leading noise cancellation including a button to disable temporarily if somebody like cabin crew or train guard need to talk to you momentarily.
- 20 hour battery life - well in excess of my tablet and enough to get me over a week between charging.
- Google assistant (and Alexa) support. Don't expect to use this much but it's there should be usage change.
- High quality phone call options - again, not expecting to use much but a nice to have for many.
- Can connect to multiple (two) bluetooth sources concurrently.
So I ordered the NC 700 and eagerly awaited delivery.
On arrival I took them out of the box and they were exactly how I expected. My old QC-15 only had one switch but these looked much cleaner, especially in the black finish vs the old silver. The new band design is pretty stylish and works well. The size adjustment is different but works well and I find the 700s sit on my head nicely for hours without any discomfort. If you have a larger head, the headphones won't fit back in the case without sliding the band back first - this is fairly easy but I guess could get annoying if you used a lot and were at the larger end of the adjustment. The mechanism is also a little "loose" which, while they won't change size in use at all, may rattle a little if you were walking in them. I don't plan to move around so no concern for me however.
I'd read about a LOT of problems with the app needed to set the headphones, but these were largely from early adopters and the app has since been updated, fixing a lot of the issues. Also most of the problems were from Apple iPhone uses, I'm an Android guy. I expect I'll be fine...
Seems I spoke too soon. Bose didn't quite get this right. I downloaded the "Bose Music" app easily enough and registered to use - something that shouldn't be necessary. I used my Facebook login to activate the app, rather than having a dedicated username/password for Bose.
App fully activated, I turned on the headphone and they were detected right away by the app. So far, so good. Then the app tries to automatically pair the device with your phone. It didn't work. Not much troubleshooting, just said it had failed. Tried again, failed. Being a techie, I then decided to go to my phone's bluetooth settings and pair them manually. I had to turn the headphones off and on again, to get them back into pairing mode and visible on the phone's bluetooth interface, but pairing worked first time. I could then use the Connect button in the app and view all the settings. OK, we're good to go.
I put the headphones on and pressed play on some music in Spotify. Worked first time, all good and audio quality (whilst subjective) as good as I expected and no major concern when compared to my old QC-15. I'd heard some concerns about bass levels etc but these are just fine for me - they aren't going to give Beats levels of thumping bass though, thankfully.
My phone prompted to finish completion of the Google Assistant function, I tested that and it worked well. You press a dedicated physical button on the headphones for this although I understand you can just say "Alexa" and it will trigger without a button push - may not be useful in public! I was surprised how quietly I could speak and be heard though.
I tested different noise cancellation levels and the ability to hold the NC button down when somebody walked up to my desk. This function is great, but a little slow. Somebody walks up and starts to talk, you reach for the button, can't find it right away as they are new, and then when you finally hold down the button it takes about 1.5 secs to mute the music and switch off the noise cancellation. It's quicker to take them off so the feature just misses the mark for me - I may look at reprogramming the button so I can just kill it in one click, but this won't pause the music. Turning the headphones off also won't work as then the external sound will remain muffled, and turning off also takes a second - playing a shutdown chime as it does so. So it's great if you want to talk to somebody else and press the button before doing so, but a bit of hassle if somebody taps you on the shoulder before you see them coming. Maybe this will improve with a future update. The noise cancellation overall is superb though, and a marked improvement on the QC-15. I put this down to newer tech with more microphones and better foam cushioning that works better around my glasses.
The touch controls are working very well. Double tap to play/pause, swipe for volume or track skip. So far they work well for me and I haven't had any failed or phantom touches, despite hot, sweaty hands in a heatwave - will update the review if this happens.
Battery life is what it said on the box, they arrived with about 4 hours of charge - the battery meter in the app doesn't refresh immediately though which confused me after they'd been on charge a while and it didn't appear to have gone up. I understand a 15 minute charge will give you three hours of listening time, which is good if you forget to charge them and only have a little while before running for your train. I haven't validated the 20 hours of life but I don't expect to be disappointed here. No, you can't use them while connected to the charger, I tried.
While testing the music, my phone rang and the headphones immediately alerted me by not only ringing but also telling me who was calling without having to look at my phone. Handy. I answered the call with a double tap and began to talk. The caller had no idea I was on my headphones and I could hear them clearly in a "centre stage" position with noise cancellation meaning I couldn't hear the office noise around me. It led to a very clear, comfortable phone call and it made me realise I'd use them a lot more for this function than expected. I can watch videos on my tablet and, should my phone ring halfway through, I'll be able to take the call without taking off my headphones. Perfect.
Which leads me onto the multiple device support. I installed the Bose Music app on my tablet and signed in using the Facebook credentials I'd used last time. It saw my headphones and tried to pair with them, again badly. Being familiar with the process I turned on the headphone, then held down the power button for a second or so until I heard a voice prompt "ready to pair another device". All paired up, I played a video on my tablet. I heard audio, but bad, choppy broken up audio. Like interference you would get with a bad signal, but the devices were next to each other. I tried music on my phone again, all good. Back to my tablet - broken. Totally unusable. I turned everything off and on again. Hold on it's working. Perhaps it was a fluke problem. Then I noticed I hadn't entered my pin code on my phone, when I did it completed booting and the Bose NC 700 announced "Oneplus 6T connected" and the tablet audio died again. I could use one, or the other, but not both - pretty useless given the multiple device support I'd bought them for.
A Google search revealed I wasn't alone with this issue and it wasn't limited to Android to tablets. I found a couple of people trying to connect a Macbook as a second device without success. All suffered from the same broken, stuttering audio. I searched some more and found a reference to a firmware update for these headphones. What version was I using? I looked in the app for a reference to it.
Open the Bose Music app, find your headphones, turn them on, then use the "Connect" button. Randomly at this point the app will make you go through the "ready to connect another device" function again. I just had to when reproducing the steps for this review. It's now showing battery life as 20hrs 14mins and hadn't finished charging when I turned them on. Once connected tab the picture to go through to the device details and then click the "settings" button". Scroll down the list and towards the bottom is "Technical Info". Tapping this will show the firmware version, manufacturing date etc. I was running 1.0.9.863.47372cb but then it displayed that it was downloading an update. No prompt, no "do you want to update?", it just did it. Music carried on playing during the process but I couldn't stop it.
I have no idea where it downloaded the update from but it was sloooow. It took around one hour to complete. Don't turn the headphones off, it will stop and you may have to start again. Don't try it on another device to see if it will go quicker, you'll just have to start again - I did. Just wait.
After the wait I had been updated to version 1.1.4.1144.be3bf4b - the headphones had to reboot for this, so music was stopped momentarily. I'n now on the latest version, but did it fix my problem?
I tried music from my phone, all good. I tried video on my tablet, audio still broken. I turned off bluetooth on my phone, tablet audio fixed. Phone back on, tablet audio broken. It was better in that I didn't have to reboot to fix the fault each time it happened, but I still couldn't connect two devices at the same time. Should I send them back?
One last Google around, I found similar problems people were having with the old Bose QC35 headphones. These had suggested updating the software and then performing a factory reset on the headphones - a process which required a button that doesn't exist on the NC 700. So I searched for a reset procedure for the NC 700 and found one that would clear the Bluetooth settings. Process as follows:
Turn the headphones off.
On your phone, go into Bluetooth settings and delete the NC 700 headphones.
On your tablet and any other devices, go into Bluetooth settings and delete the NC700 headphones.
Turn the headphones on, while wearing.
Press and hold down the power button for 10+ settings, ignoring other prompts, until you hear "bluetooth device list cleared".
Now open the Bose Music App on your phone. Try to connect to your headphones, it will try to pair them again. Mine failed like it did the first time but I tried and tried until is succeeded. DO NOT pair them using your phone settings. Let the app do it. Once successful, do the same on your other device. Now test.
Since doing this, my set-up has been flawless. But it took far too long to get to the this point, using the combined knowledge or myself, some forum posts about these headphones, some posts about older headphone and some guess work. But we're working, finally.
So, on to the scoring...
For £349 these should be five star headphones. In fairness, they probably are, but the software lets them down. I only got these working as I'm a real techie and I refuse to give up - they'll get a lot of faulty returns and rightly so.
I've taken a whole star off for the bad app that won't even run in landscape mode on my tablet. The pairing process is a joke and should have been easier - most headphone manufacturers get you to use the device native pairing on your phone or tablet, this would likely have been easier for most owners.
The other star I've taken off for a combination of the following:
1) Bluetooth audio isn't as high quality as that with a wire. Other wireless technologies exist but aren't supported by this device. The HD audio support also seems to be a bit hit and miss, sometimes the option doesn't appear on my phone/tablet after connecting. The headphones are capable of better quality than the bluetooth connection allows.
2) The headphones can't be charged while laying flat in the case.
3) You can't use the headphones while connected to the charger - rare use care, but why not?
4) The noise cancelling override function takes a little too long to engage.
5) The case zipper is too long and it's hard to fully open whilst holding them. Hard to explain, but you'll know the first time you try to open them. The case folds open like a book and the spine isn't long enough.
6) Compulsory registration with Bose - should not be needed.
7) Software update wasn't automatic and would fix many issues if this happened during first time set-up.
8) Switching playback source devices could be easier. If I want to go from music on my phone, to video audio on my tablet, the process is a bit of a fiddle.
So, five star headphones with 1.5 stars of niggles. I'd have given these 3.5 stars but, without that option, I gave them a 3 rather than a 4. I'll update this review if any of these things improve. I'm also happy to answer any questions posted to this page if I've missed anything - although can't answer Apple issues.
I'm happy with the headphones now, with no plans to return, but they don't justify the entry price until some of these niggles are fixed.
Images in this review
inovex
Unverständlicher Anmeldezwang
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Eric
I did the comparing, so that you don't have to
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Josué
Plus que jamais, on frôle la perfection.
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