 This Product Bose QuietComfort 35 II | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Overall Wireless Headphones | Most Comfortable Wireless Headphones |  Best Bang for Your Buck | ||
| Price | $349 List $199.00 at Amazon | $350 List $198.00 at Amazon | $379 List | $60 List $43.99 at Amazon | $160 List $103.27 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | Perfect for audiophiles that want exceptional possible sound and good noise cancellation | An excellent choice for both audiophiles and those looking to enhance their concentration by drowning out distractions | The clear choice for those that place a premium on comfort without sacrificing sound quality and noise cancellation | Good overall sound quality, noise isolation, and comfort at a great price | Only suitable for those that want powerful bass, don't care about clarity, and don't have large heads |
| Rating Categories | Bose QuietComfort 3... | Sony WH-1000XM4 | Bose Noise Cancelli... | Soundcore Life Q20 | Skullcandy Crusher |
| Sound Quality (30%) | |||||
| Noise Isolation (25%) | |||||
| Comfort (25%) | |||||
| User Friendliness (10%) | |||||
| Portability (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Bose QuietComfort 3... | Sony WH-1000XM4 | Bose Noise Cancelli... | Soundcore Life Q20 | Skullcandy Crusher |
| Type | Over-ear | Over-ear | Over-ear | Over-ear | Over-ear |
| Noise cancelling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Manufacturer reported battery life (hours) | 40 wired, 20 BT | 30 | 20 | 40 | 40 |
| Measured weight (ounces) | 10.9 | 8.8 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 10.1 |
| Included case | Semi-hard case | Semi-hard case | Semi-hard case | Lined drawstring pouch | Lined drawstring pouch |
| App | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Earcup padding cover material | Synthetic protein leather | Foamed urethane/leatherette | Leather | Leatherette | Leatherette |
| Charging cable length (inches) | 47.2" | 7.9" | 42" | 40" | N/A |
| Microphone for voice? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth version | 4.1 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | N/A |
| Onboard buttons | Volume, play/pause, forward/back, noise cancelling | Volume, change track, take/make calls | Volume, play/pause, forward/back, noise cancelling, voice assistant, power/bluetooth, answer/decline/mute calls | Volume, multifunction, power, NC | Volume, play/pause, forward/back, bass |
The Bose QuietComfort 35 II is one of the top noise cancelling headphones we tested. Though dethroned from their long reign at the top of the field, we would still recommend these headphones without reservation.
The Bose QuietComfort 35 II sits near the top of our sound quality leaderboard. These headphones exemplified the crystal clear sound that you would expect from high-end audio equipment in our testing. They also produced impressively deep and resonant bass, which gave the sound a well-rounded and full quality. Everything from bass-heavy electronic music too complicated jazz riffs to mellow acoustic numbers sounds great in these headphones.
Yes, there are some newer models on the market that narrowly best these headphones when it comes to sound quality, but we highly doubt anyone will be disappointed by the sound offered by the QuietComfort 35 II
The QuietComfort 35 II was one of the better models we tested for noise isolation. With the active noise cancellation turned on, the QuietComfort 35 II eliminates almost all ambient noise when you're listening to music. Even when listening to quiet things like podcasts, ambient noise is barely noticeable. If you're not listening to anything, some things may make their way into your ears, like voices and loud footsteps, but they will be very muffled. If you're using the QuietComfort 35 II solely for sound cancellation and not for music listening (e.g., drowning out the crowd noise while you enjoy a museum), we think you'll be satisfied.
Here again, a few newer models on the market from Bose and Sony offer slightly more adept active noise cancellation. Still, the differences are minor and likely not noticeable outside of direct side-by-side comparisons.
Bose doesn't change its physical design between headphones too much, so if you've ever tried on a pair of Bose headphones and found them comfy, we think you'll have similar sentiments about the QuietComfort 35 II. It has widely spaced, fluffy padding that accepts any sized ears and provides a cozy fit. The leather is synthetic.
The QuietComfort 35 II was easy to pair with both Android and iOS devices in our testing. In fact, it can pair with multiple devices at one time, allowing you to switch between all the paired devices with a push of a button. So you can be watching a movie on your tablet and then push a button on the headphones to switch over to your phone when you feel it vibrating in your pocket. This added feature was one thing that earned it one of the highest scores in this metric.
The QuietComfort 35 II features simple onboard headphone controls, with multi-function buttons that can play and pause music and adjust the volume. Double and triple tapping the middle button can move tracks forward or back. Holding that same button-down summons Siri for iOS users. There is also a new dedicated Google Assistant button that can summon Google voice commands. These are nice features to have, but their usefulness depends on how much you use Siri or Google Assistant in the first place. There is also an app that lets you fine-tune audio and noise cancellation settings. We found the app quite intuitive to use, but generally, we found the default settings to be better than any tinkering we did.
The QuietComfort 35 II has hinged earpieces that allow them to fold up into a slim, included carrying case. The headphones themselves weigh 10.9 ounces.
While expensive, the QuietComfort 35 II's price is fairly average for top-tier noise cancelling headphones. If you're willing to pay a premium for top-notch quality, these headphones offer reasonable value but certainly aren't a bargain. The Bose QuietComfort 35 II are high-performing, noise-canceling headphones that offer pretty much everything you could want from a personal, wireless music device. If you're willing to sacrifice a bit of sound quality and bells and whistles, there are slightly better values available, but if you want top-notch performance, these headphones are a great choice.
