Bose – QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-the-Ear Headphones – White Smoke

I’ve been listening to music, podcasts, and watching movies with these Bose QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling Over The Ear Headphones for the past week and I am smitten with them. They have become my go to / primary dedicated headphones for listening. They are very comfortable for extended listening sessions. I’ve fallen asleep with them on, I am a side sleeper and they don’t bother my ears. I don’t fall asleep with headphones on often lol, but the couple times I have.. they did not bother my ears or sleep. Once I woke up with them on the floor, so I guess I knocked them off my head and they did not take any damage. Build quality is excellent, I wouldn’t snooze with them everyday or just toss them in a bag without the case though. The headband is quite strong and sturdy. I gave it the old twist / flex test and it doesn’t creak at all or feel like it will break. The headband is actually a little flexible. I own quite a few sets of headphones and earbuds ( I won’t mention brand names) But These Bose Quiet Comfort are quite possibly the best sounding headsets I’ve ever owned. My music library touches just about every genre, and it all sounds amazing with these headphones. I like to use the bass booster setting in the Bose app because I like to feel the bass a little, but I leave mids and treble at 0 and every note is loud and crispy clear. The bass does not completely overpower everything else but you can still feel the bass thumping on your temple a little.I think Bose has re-established themselves as the best in sound quality with these. I smile every time I hear a little note or sound I missed / didn’t notice before with other headphones before. You definitely will not be disappointed with them. Battery life is excellent but they do take a lil while to charge. So I would recommend topping them off when they get between 20-40% if you plan on being away from a plug for a while. The right ear cup has volume controls, charging port and the power slider. The left ear cup has an AUX port and a button to toggle between “quiet and aware” modes.
Would I recommend these headphones? For sure!
I love them and would gladly buy another pair if I need to replace them.

Bose has always been known to make high-quality products that sound great, so I was extremely excited to try out the new QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling headphones. While I have been impressed with the build quality, nice sound, and high tech features, there are just a few things that keep these from being a “perfect” set of headphones.
The Bose QuietComfort headphones ship in a sleek box, and included along with the headphones are a hard-sided carrying case, a USB-C charging cable, a 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable with an inline microphone, as well as warranty information. Inside the package is a QR code that will send you to the Bose Music app that is used to control the settings on the headphones. Downloading was simple, and my headphones were paired in a matter of seconds after I had finished charging them up.
The Bose Music app really comes in handy when using the QuietComfort headphones, as it allows for customization options that aren’t accessible by any other means. I appreciated that you can easily switch from “Aware” mode, which pumps in the ambient sound around you, and “Quiet” mode, which is noise cancelling. You can also create a custom mode that blends the two, with a slider used to dial in how much noise cancelling you want (or none at all). Unfortunately, there is no option to just use the headphones in Bluetooth mode with neither Aware or Quiet turned off; one or the other (or a combo) must always be activated. I found that the sound while in Aware mode was actually not that intrusive when it came to amplifying the sounds happening in the outside world around me. Basically, it did not sound overly harsh or synthetic that I was being fed in the ambient noise by the headphones mic system.
Noise cancelling is also very good on these headphones, probably the best I’ve ever heard. While the QuietComfort headphones use fancy technology to achieve these results, it helps that the headset cancels out a fair amount of noise just by putting them over your ears. With the noise cancelling off, I noticed that I already had a hard time hearing the people around me; once the noise cancelling is turned on, it’s very much as if you’re in your own private world. I haven’t had a chance to use these on an airplane, but I’d imagine they would be excellent at negating some of the annoying noises found on most flights.
Now here’s where we get to my first problem with the Bose QuietComfort headphones. The seal around your ears that is responsible for that awesome reduction in ambient noise, is also something that I’ve found I can only tolerate for small amounts of time. The sense of pressure on my ears is so noticeable, that it reminds me of in-ear earbuds and why I have a very hard time wearing those types of headphones. I thought that maybe it was only when the Quiet mode was on, but this sensation was persistent throughout my testing, and occurred even when the headphones were turned off and being used with a cable.
The first day I had these, I wore them for about a total of 5 hours, and tried to ignore the feeling in my ears. Over the course of that night and the next day, I had a headache and my ears felt like I had been listening to music at full blast. I recognize that this is something that affects everyone differently, and that some people likely won’t notice this at all. However, I thought I should mention it, in case someone (like me) is very sensitive to headphones that create a strong seal on their ears.
The upside is that aside from that sensation (for me), these are some of the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn. The headband is soft and padded, and the super squishy earpads are large and completely go around your ears. The inside of the cups is also deep enough that I never noticed my ears touching the drivers or the sides of the cup. Each side is adjustable using sliders that extend plenty far enough for my big head, with room to spare.
On to the sound. (For testing, I used an iPhone 13, a MacBook Pro, and an Xbox controller with a 3.5 mm headphone jack).
The sound profile of these headphones is very different when in Bluetooth, versus playing with the included cable. On a Bluetooth connection, the sound slightly emphasizes the bass, and the mids and treble sound defined, and thankfully the highs are also not too harsh. What is strange, is that if you push the volume past about 70 percent, the bass starts to artificially roll off as you approach 100 percent. I imagine that this is done to lessen the chances of blowing out the speakers (?), but what’s interesting is that when played with the audio cable (no Bluetooth), you can push the volume to the max and easily tell that these headphones can handle it, no problem. While I don’t listen to things at full blast all the time, I like knowing that I can raise the volume, and every facet of the sound will follow along. The artificial bass cutoff with Bluetooth turned on is so noticeable, and I honestly have no idea why they implemented it. Additionally, the QuietComfort headphones get LOUD in Bluetooth mode, but once again, with the dimmed-down bass at the top of the volume range, I saw no reason to push it to 100 percent.
Audio quality with the included cable is like a totally different headphone. When playing music with the cable, the QuietComforts sound incredibly neutral, with bass that borders on anemic at times. Thankfully, the actual tone of the sound range is great, with tons of detail in the mids and highs, with genres like rock, country, and classical sounding pretty amazing with the power off. I do wish that the bass was more pronounced, but it can show itself in some more bass-heavy tracks found in hip-hop and electronic music. Overall, the audio cable sound was impressive, even if I wish there was just a touch more bass.
As for the cable, this is definitely a weak point of the Bose QuietComfort headphones. While it has a mic (that works fine for phone calls), it is incredibly thin and flimsy feeling. Additionally, I didn’t measure it but it barely made the length from my headphones to my side pants pocket where my phone was. It also does not have any inline controls, so you cannot change the volume, answer calls, press play/skip, etc. This feels like the absolute bare minimum Bose could have included with these headphones, and almost urges you to use them in Bluetooth mode.
Other things I didn’t cover:
-There are buttons on the headphones, for volume and controlling tracks/answering phone calls. These can’t be used when running the headphones via the cable (I tried).
-There is another button used to switch between modes, or tell you the battery life (via a voice in the headset).
-Battery life is rated at about 24 hours per charge, and I believe it. I haven’t timed exactly how long I’ve been using these in Bluetooth, but the charge lasts a very long time.
-Cable charging is done with USB-C, so that is a plus! Although the included cable is so short I’m not sure how useful it is.
-The Bose Music app lets you adjust the EQ of the headphones, which is nice, though I’m not much on using EQs on my phone to begin with.
-Build quality is great, these headphones feel sturdy enough to hold up for the long haul, and all of the materials used feel great in the hand.
Overall, I believe that Bose has created a great set of noise-cancelling headphones, with only a few downsides. I do think Bose could make improvements when it comes to being able to use Bluetooth without Quiet or Aware mode; no artificial bass cutoff in Bluetooth mode; and a better audio cable. If you’re looking for exceptional noise cancelling with good sound quality, and don’t mind the few issues I noted, the Bose QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-the-Ear Headphones should definitely be on the top of your list!