Bose QuietComfort White Smoke Noise Cancelling Headphones

Most Liked Positive Review

Great price for the features, but weak elsewhere.

These headphones are great. Comfort-wise, these are probably the best you're going to get. The head strap is great, equipped with slightly firm cushioning, so it doesn't automatically hit the hard plastic. The ear cushions are fantastic, being very soft but firm enough to hold their shape, allowing them to stay on your head. In addition, the earcups are excellent as they have a contoured frame, with a very deep spot near the back to accommodate the shape of the ear. Overall, I have not had any problems with these, besides the fact that they aren't very breathable, which for me causes a little bit of sweating on hot days and some mild heat, however, not enough to bug me after hours of listening. However, the seal that these earcups carry, while good on their own, is limited when wearing headphones, likely due to the weak clamping force as these headphones are slightly looser. While this helps in comfort, it can affect ANC performance as well as bass response, in my case, a noticeable but small amount, when wearing glasses. ANC-wise, these are exceptional. It tones down the lower frequency of sounds (hums of an engine, footsteps) really well (however, this is probably due to the seal created by the headphones). When it comes to vocals and higher-pitched sounds like birds chirping, it is exceptionally well, just barely hearing what's going on in the best case scenario. Added on with music at a relative 30-40% volume (these do get pretty loud), and you will hear nothing at all and become completely isolated. However, like my previous complaint, I would want to see either memory foam-based earcups or something alike to allow for glasses wearers to enjoy the full capabilities of the ANC performance on these headphones, as the clamping force and the soft earcups allow for some sound leak to get through, which dampens the effect. Transparency mode is probably the weakest strength, if it is at all. While trying them for the first time is alright, if anyone talks to you on your left or right side, it will sound surprisingly bassy, and also, shockingly, really quiet. Not only that, rubbing the microphones on the earcups by accident makes a really loud noise, which distracts from the audio, and can be pretty painful. In some cases, I do like the transparency because it is much quieter than other headphones, allowing me to listen to music whilst understanding my surroundings, but quiet is quiet, and these are quite frankly unacceptable. I would prefer either a much louder transparency mode that is more tuned to accurately depict voices coming through than this mode. I am shocked by the fact that there is no adaptive mode of some sort, automatically tuning out loud noises but still bringing in voices nearby. Other than that, besides the quiet performance of transparency mode and the lackluster audio quality from the microphones in aid, these are still fairly well when it comes to understanding your environment; each sound is discernible and identifiable with great surround, so you can pinpoint where sounds are coming from quickly. Audio quality-wise, whilst this is subjective, there are some notes I want to point out. For one, the out-of-the-box EQ is pretty bassy, but not in a way that drowns out other sounds. This type of bass is pretty deep and warm-sounding, something you can feel without distorting the rest of the audio. The vocals are also pretty nice, but I feel it is less prioritized with this sound signature, providing more of a V-curve than anything, being mostly quiet, but not drowned out, just reduced in decibels. The instrumentals, however, are nice and separated, allowing you to understand the uniqueness of every instrument being played. In simple terms, these are a pretty nice pair of warm-sounding headphones, with emphasized bass with lower mids (vocals) than I would like. In terms of distortion, there practically is none; everything you listen to is pretty much crystal clear. However, if you're buying these headphones wanting to customize the EQ settings, the selection is very basic, with just bass, treble, and mids, with either +10 or -10 maximum/minimum on all 3 bands. This is very limited, and I would like to see this improve. If you are looking for these headphones to sound more balanced, just like I do, I would suggest setting the bass EQ to -3, the mids EQ to +4, as well as the treble EQ to +4. Portability-wise, these are great, and not much is added. Comes with a nice hard case; however, I wish the pocket had more friction, as items can slide out, but there's not much here. Headphones stay in their shape well, and the case holds them very well, almost like packing foam. These headphones are also all-matte/plastic, so small scratches you see can be rubbed straight off, and these materials also aid in their pretty lightweight, allowing for some more comfort. Smaller tidbits: the 2-device multipoint connection is nice, responsive, and quick, just requires that both devices have the Bose app installed. The Bluetooth version is 5.1, nice, but I would've expected a modern 5.3 considering the newer phone lineup, but it doesn't at all affect audio quality. The battery can last me multiple days, even listening for 4-5 hours a day, sometimes more, sometimes less. The headphones charge relatively quickly, roughly 2-3 hours for a full charge. The audio quality through an audio jack is uncustomizable (the base profile) unless you turn off standby (within the app) and set the mode to Bluetooth on the switch. The media controls are convenient and easy to use.