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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2023
Bottom Line Up Front: These are great, fantastic, awesome, and a bunch of other words. The sound is fantastic, the ANC blocks out almost everything (in a normal and some not so normal environments), the mics do a fantastic job picking out only my voice on calls, the battery life is good, range is great, and (biggest surprise of all) the app works!
Rest of the Story: I rushed to find a new headset after coming home and finding my JBLs lying on the floor in a state of repose that let me know that my toddler had done his worst. No amount of resuscitation worked; they were gone. Quickly cycling through the stages of grief, I set off to find a new respite from the constant cacophony that accompanies the child since I needed to have a sanctuary of calm and also a way to join calls without people informing me constantly about background noise.
Read a bunch of reviews and guides; many people seem to have very particular tastes surrounding their very detailed preferences in sound quality, how the headphones look (because apparently one can improve their appearance wearing over-ear headphones), and any number of non-sensical comparisons. Here's my key features that I imagine are the most important to an average human just looking for a tool to get the job done:
1. ANC works well within reasonable expectations of what is possible at a price point less than a used car
2. Mic filters out unwanted noise while picking up my/your voice well
3. Good battery life so it doesn't have to be ritually charged every day
4. Connections to devices are easy and consistent
5. Comfortable to wear for long periods
6. Doesn't break the bank and, preferably, is a value
7. Durable (see toddler comment)
8. Sounds good
9. Easy to use
Let's explore:
1. The ANC works very well and maybe too well. I was chastised because my wife was talking to me and stated a question multiple times before shouting at me and then I barely heard her from 5 feet away. It easily blocks out normal frequencies of everyday life, however, the piercing shrieks of small humans chasing a dog will still cut through a little bit. The levels are very adjustable, but I like my fortress of solitude so I choose to leave it at max and deal with the consequences.
2. I asked several people on calls using Teams, cellphone, and Zoom if they could hear the chaos ensuing around me and it was reported that they could not hear anything other than me, although it did sound a little different than normal. Call it a win. I will add that the self voice feature is nice so I can hear myself speaking an a little bit of what is going on around me when on a call. Off the call, we are back to the fortress.
3. It claims to have 20 hours of battery life and ever so nicely informs me of the state of charge in hours when turning the headphones on. I have not tried to listen for 20 hours straight because that is silly, but I can say that I used these on-and-off for a week without charging and, during that week, used them for multiple hours each day. I'd say that is pretty good and no need to compare further.
4. These will maintain a connection to two devices at once and my most common use to was have them connected to the computer and phone simultaneously. It maintains a solid connection to both and I can hear music on one and get notifications on the other. If I am listening to music from the computer and a call comes in, it seamlessly switches to the phone. Hang up the call and the paused computer music picks back up. Switching to another device is easy using the (wait for it) Bose app that actually works! I could never get the JBL app to work right and I would have to disconnect from the work computer and then go into bluetooth settings on another to connect. The range, for me, was anywhere in the house; only had cut out when I went into the garage on the other side of a metal door and metal wall. I almost forgot: When turning them on, it tells you which two devices it connected to which is super nice if you have them set up for several possible connections.
5. These are comfortable to wear all day if need be. The headband and ear cup foam are squishy yet supportive. I had no issue wearing these in a normal setting. Of course you will have sweaty ears if it hot outside and wearing these or if working out; duh. I saw someone talking about wearing these to weedeat; not the right application and people make devices with an actual NRR rating for that application. For normal uses, these are going to treat you well.
6. These are a high performing audio piece of equipment and the price actually doesn't reflect that when compared to what else is out there. Sure, they aren't cheap, but quality does come at a cost. I would say that, when compared to it's peers that I'm sure you will find doing your own research, these are a relative value.
7. These were probably never designed for wet environments so don't put them there (some reviews talk about this as a con). Otherwise, these feel solid and are constructed well. The phones slide down the bar rather than the bar extending; I think this is a good design feature that will make them last longer over all due to less moving parts and also keeps them set up correctly. The toddler has already attempted to replicate his earlier feat, but the Bose held it's own. To increase the protection of your investment, Bose has seen fit to include a hard case for travel/toddlers.
8. Ultimately, you want a nice piece of audio equipment to sound nice; these do. They really, really do. I listened to my favorites on Spotify that I had heard a hundred times and picked up details I hadn't heard in songs before. Use the app that somehow actually works to adjust to your liking. I don't think these were engineered to blow out eardrums, but you can get a great bass thump if that is what you want. Overall, you won't be unhappy with the sound quality unless you are really looking to be unhappy with the sound quality.
9. This one is maybe a bit nuanced; I think they are easy to use with the buttons and the swipe controls, but you might disagree. Some of it can be tailored in the app, but some of it will take a little getting used to. I do like having less physical buttons as opposed to more because I would inadvertently hit a button taking them off or putting on or I would fumble around for a button trying to do something simple like skip a song.
Ultimately, my theme is function over form and these deliver on function. I am very pleased with the package Bose put together here and I think you will be too.
Rest of the Story: I rushed to find a new headset after coming home and finding my JBLs lying on the floor in a state of repose that let me know that my toddler had done his worst. No amount of resuscitation worked; they were gone. Quickly cycling through the stages of grief, I set off to find a new respite from the constant cacophony that accompanies the child since I needed to have a sanctuary of calm and also a way to join calls without people informing me constantly about background noise.
Read a bunch of reviews and guides; many people seem to have very particular tastes surrounding their very detailed preferences in sound quality, how the headphones look (because apparently one can improve their appearance wearing over-ear headphones), and any number of non-sensical comparisons. Here's my key features that I imagine are the most important to an average human just looking for a tool to get the job done:
1. ANC works well within reasonable expectations of what is possible at a price point less than a used car
2. Mic filters out unwanted noise while picking up my/your voice well
3. Good battery life so it doesn't have to be ritually charged every day
4. Connections to devices are easy and consistent
5. Comfortable to wear for long periods
6. Doesn't break the bank and, preferably, is a value
7. Durable (see toddler comment)
8. Sounds good
9. Easy to use
Let's explore:
1. The ANC works very well and maybe too well. I was chastised because my wife was talking to me and stated a question multiple times before shouting at me and then I barely heard her from 5 feet away. It easily blocks out normal frequencies of everyday life, however, the piercing shrieks of small humans chasing a dog will still cut through a little bit. The levels are very adjustable, but I like my fortress of solitude so I choose to leave it at max and deal with the consequences.
2. I asked several people on calls using Teams, cellphone, and Zoom if they could hear the chaos ensuing around me and it was reported that they could not hear anything other than me, although it did sound a little different than normal. Call it a win. I will add that the self voice feature is nice so I can hear myself speaking an a little bit of what is going on around me when on a call. Off the call, we are back to the fortress.
3. It claims to have 20 hours of battery life and ever so nicely informs me of the state of charge in hours when turning the headphones on. I have not tried to listen for 20 hours straight because that is silly, but I can say that I used these on-and-off for a week without charging and, during that week, used them for multiple hours each day. I'd say that is pretty good and no need to compare further.
4. These will maintain a connection to two devices at once and my most common use to was have them connected to the computer and phone simultaneously. It maintains a solid connection to both and I can hear music on one and get notifications on the other. If I am listening to music from the computer and a call comes in, it seamlessly switches to the phone. Hang up the call and the paused computer music picks back up. Switching to another device is easy using the (wait for it) Bose app that actually works! I could never get the JBL app to work right and I would have to disconnect from the work computer and then go into bluetooth settings on another to connect. The range, for me, was anywhere in the house; only had cut out when I went into the garage on the other side of a metal door and metal wall. I almost forgot: When turning them on, it tells you which two devices it connected to which is super nice if you have them set up for several possible connections.
5. These are comfortable to wear all day if need be. The headband and ear cup foam are squishy yet supportive. I had no issue wearing these in a normal setting. Of course you will have sweaty ears if it hot outside and wearing these or if working out; duh. I saw someone talking about wearing these to weedeat; not the right application and people make devices with an actual NRR rating for that application. For normal uses, these are going to treat you well.
6. These are a high performing audio piece of equipment and the price actually doesn't reflect that when compared to what else is out there. Sure, they aren't cheap, but quality does come at a cost. I would say that, when compared to it's peers that I'm sure you will find doing your own research, these are a relative value.
7. These were probably never designed for wet environments so don't put them there (some reviews talk about this as a con). Otherwise, these feel solid and are constructed well. The phones slide down the bar rather than the bar extending; I think this is a good design feature that will make them last longer over all due to less moving parts and also keeps them set up correctly. The toddler has already attempted to replicate his earlier feat, but the Bose held it's own. To increase the protection of your investment, Bose has seen fit to include a hard case for travel/toddlers.
8. Ultimately, you want a nice piece of audio equipment to sound nice; these do. They really, really do. I listened to my favorites on Spotify that I had heard a hundred times and picked up details I hadn't heard in songs before. Use the app that somehow actually works to adjust to your liking. I don't think these were engineered to blow out eardrums, but you can get a great bass thump if that is what you want. Overall, you won't be unhappy with the sound quality unless you are really looking to be unhappy with the sound quality.
9. This one is maybe a bit nuanced; I think they are easy to use with the buttons and the swipe controls, but you might disagree. Some of it can be tailored in the app, but some of it will take a little getting used to. I do like having less physical buttons as opposed to more because I would inadvertently hit a button taking them off or putting on or I would fumble around for a button trying to do something simple like skip a song.
Ultimately, my theme is function over form and these deliver on function. I am very pleased with the package Bose put together here and I think you will be too.
