Bose has been at the top of the active noise-canceling headphone market for years, and the QuietComfort range of headphones has played a significant role in that success. The firm currently offers the Noise Cancelling 700 Headphones, but before it came out, the noise-canceling cans to beat were the Bose QuietComfort 35 II, which was the best on the market.
Consequently, how do they fare now that some time has elapsed? Compared to current models or even the competitors, are they a good value for your money? It was introduced in September 2017, and the QuietComfort 35 II, which we reviewed here, is still considered to be one of the best options for wireless noise-canceling headphones.
While the Sony WH-1000XM2 may have a somewhat better sound quality and more features, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II is lighter and more pleasant to wear than the Sony model. It has become a more appealing alternative in this category since the price of the Beats Studio3 Wireless has decreased (you can now acquire it for less than $225 online).
These headphones, which were introduced in 2017, contain a dedicated button to engage Google Assistant, which would, at your command, play music, answer trivia questions, and read to you the alerts from your smartphone. When you combine it with the QC35 II’s excellent audio quality and noise-canceling features, you get a set of headphones with a broad range of appeal.
Price and availability
The Bose QuietComfort 35 II headphones are available in black and silver color options, and they are still readily accessible from most major stores despite the introduction of the newer Bose 700 headphones.
Bose itself offers the most competitive pricing right now, at a steal of $215. The majority of retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, offer it for $299 or less.
The Build
The build quality of the BOSE QuietComfort is something else. With the best sound and extreme range comes also a stable build. The Bose QuietComfort 35 II is a well-built piece of audio equipment. The plastic used for the ear cups is thick, and it should be able to withstand a few droplets of liquid without being permanently harmed.
The headband is somewhat flexible and has a metal frame to provide structural support, yet they still use a lot of plastic in their design, which seems a little cheesy given their price range.
Certainly, the ‘comfort’ portion of their name is well-deserved by the QuietComfort 35 II. Because they weigh just 310g, they are substantially lighter than the B&W PX and provide a softer grip than Sony’s headphones.
Those in need of a set of noise-canceling headphones for lengthy travels should keep these in mind at all times. It seems that the headphones can be folded down neatly due to the hinges on their housings, and their build quality implies that they may be carried about without having to be stored in the carry-case that comes with them.
The playback is controlled via the buttons located around the right housing. They are naturally positioned and have a pleasant feel to them while in use. You’ll quickly get used to the number of taps required to rewind or skip through your tracks.
The Style
The Bose QuietComfort 35 II looks identical to the original Bose QuietComfort 35/QC35 Wireless 2016 but with an additional button on the left ear cup. The model is all-black, but they’re also available in ‘Silver’, ‘Triple Midnight’, or ‘Rose Gold’ color of the Bose qc35.
You can also fully customize a pair with your own colors through the Bose website, but it costs a bit more. They are quite sturdy, but not sufficiently snug on the head to make them suited for a more severe activity or sporting activities.
However, since these headphones are wireless, there is no risk of the audio cord being tangled in anything and ripping the headphones off your head. The headphones wobble somewhat while you are exercising, but this is to be expected.
How do you connect
When you initially launch the Bose Connect+ app, it will attempt to locate the headset and then prompt you to slide it down to complete the connecting process. It’s very amazing, particularly considering that the procedure is aided by a little voice in your ear encouraging you to keep going.
As soon as you’ve selected your language and created a nickname, you’ll be taken to the action button configuration screen, where you can choose between Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and active noise cancellation, among other options. With the Google Assistant, you can choose to have your alerts read out loud into your ear.
There is even a specific Google support website for the device if you opt to use it. It is possible to communicate with your Google Assistant via your headphones in the same way that you would if you enabled the assistant on your phone, except that it is considerably faster.
The moment you hit the button, you’ll be alerted by a little tiny tone, after which you may ask your query or provide your instruction.
It’s normal to have to wait for a second or two for headphones to register and bring up Google on your phone, but the Bose QuietComfort 35 II begins listening as soon as you hit the button, so you’re never left wondering whether it worked or not after pressing the button.
This is one of the advantages of working directly with Google and being a part of the Made for Google product family, among other things.
Controls
With a minor improvement over the original Bose QuietComfort 35/QC35 Wireless 2016, the QC35 II has a little enhanced control system. They contain an extra button on the left ear cup that allows you to activate Google Assistant or Alexa as well as switch between noise-canceling settings.
The remainder of the buttons are almost identical to those on the previous model, and they provide access to the majority of commonly used instructions.
Physical controls on headphones such as the Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless provide excellent tactile feedback, particularly when contrasted with touch-sensitive buttons on other headphones.
Unfortunately, the buttons on the bottom of the right ear cup seem a bit constricted, but they’re simple to operate and you’ll get used to them in no time at all.
Features
Google Assistant, which is mostly featured on Android devices, is the company’s answer to Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. Using the QC 35 II’s Connect app – or, if you’re an Apple user, the Bose app paired with Google’s Assistant app for iOS devices – you can have the speaker buzz whenever your phone receives a new notice or read out future calendar events automatically.
When you get a text or other online communication, just push the button on the left housing to have Google Assistant read it out loud to you! It then provides you with the option of responding with your voice.
In the winter, it’s particularly useful since it’s far easier to answer messages or make calls with the touch of a button than it is to take your phone out of your pocket, remove your gloves, and scribble a fast response on your phone with numb, icy fingers.
However, there are certain restrictions. While you can manage and play your music with these headphones, you’ll need to utilize Spotify in order for Google Assistant to function properly. At the moment, it is unable to access your offline media or connect with third-party services like Tidal or Deezer (indeed, if you’re on an iPhone, we discovered that you were unable to stream music using the Assistant at all).
Whenever we activate the Google Assistant to read a notification on our phone, we also find that iTunes on our MacBook is launched. If you’re connected to both a laptop and a smartphone (the QuietComfort 35 II has the ability to connect to two devices at the same time), we find that activating the Google Assistant to read the notification on our phone also starts up iTunes on our MacBook.
Furthermore, for some reason, it refuses to read out the surnames of your contacts, which means that if you have numerous persons with the same name in your address book, you’ll have to figure out who is sending you the message.
The Sound
The QuietComfort 35 II has excellent handling of whatever music you want to play through them. We start with Hey Jude by the Beatles, which is played over these headphones while linked to a MacBook Pro, and these headphones manage to unearth subtleties that would otherwise be missed.
As the song builds up to the chorus, Paul McCartney maintains an erratic sense of timing, delivering lines a bit later than you’d anticipate. His lips move little and barely audibly, which allows the QuietComfort 35 II to catch up on the barely audible sounds of his lips moving effortlessly.
When My Chemical Romance’s I don’t love you is playing, these headphones pay close attention to the midrange and bass. Despite the disdainful assonance and sneer in Gerard Way’s lyrics, his lamentation at the loss of young uniqueness is unmistakably heartbreaking.
Battery Life
The battery life of bose QC 35 ii has also remained consistent from the previous iteration, with an estimated 20 hours of use. That’s enough to take three or four coast-to-coast flights across the United States, which isn’t awful.
Other headphones have subsequently eclipsed this mark, but it remains a respectable achievement. On an approximate 80 percent volume, you will be able to get precisely 16 hours and 31 minutes. So, unless you’re always blasting your music at maximum level, you shouldn’t have any problems with them.
There are a lot of firmware updates that ensure a healthy and maintaining battery life of the Bose QuietComfort. However bare in mind, that if you use the google assistant app in the newer models, it may drain the battery faster.
Furthermore, a great option is, if you have a device that has a headphone jack, you may simply utilize that device in the event that your headphone battery runs out entirely.
The Microphone
For those looking for a more powerful microphone, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II Gaming Headset is an excellent choice. Depending on whether the plastic part of the headphones at the base was manufactured particularly for the QC 35 II, the microphone may or may not have functioned with other Bluetooth headphones.
The Bose QuietComfort 2, abbreviated as QC2, is equipped with a communications kit that allows you to attach a better microphone to the headphones if you so want. This allows you to use your noise-canceling headphones with a computer or a mobile phone without having to remove them.
It is possible to hear talks clearly because of the noise cancellation feature of the headphones. The microphone on the Bose QuietComfort 35 II, like the microphones on other Bluetooth headphones, tends to take up a lot of background noise and isn’t very good at full-band recording, which is disappointing.
As a result of this, it handles the voice band commendably well and will perform admirably for phone and conference conversations, if not better than might be anticipated. Additionally, the BOSE headphones, outperform the AirPods max in terms of microphone quality.
Active Noise Cancelling
Oh, and let’s not forget about the active noise cancellation. Bose has long had top-of-the-line active noise cancellation, but it’s beginning to seem a bit out of touch with the times. To this day, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II continues to provide excellent active noise canceling performance.
Noise reduction is the most essential performance parameter for active noise-canceling headphones, and for commuters, this is very crucial. Even when compared to its more recent competitors, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II performs well in terms of noise-canceling performance.
Important to remember is that exceptional ANC does not always equate to good isolation, therefore the fact that these headphones perform so well in this area is an added benefit.
The Portability
The Bose QuietComfort 35 II headphones feature a poor level of portability. Their over-the-ear style is large and takes up a lot of room in your pocket or luggage.
However, they can be folded down into a more compact size, and the ear cups can be laid flat to save on storage space, which is a wonderful feature.
The quality of the hard case is excellent. In addition, unlike the Bose QuietComfort 25/QC25, it does not add much bulk and allows for easy storage of all of the included accessories in a designated compartment inside the case.
The Final Verdict
The QuietComfort 35 II headphones are really effective in a Ronseal sort of way: their amazing noise-canceling technology makes everything around you silent, and they’re also quite comfy. In those respects, they are unmatched, and for many habitual long-haulers, they will be the most essential criteria in their decision.
However, these Bose headphones aren’t the finest sounding in their class, with the Sonys, in particular, providing comparable levels of noise cancellation and comfort while also adding a touch of musicality to the equation.
They are now also compatible with Google Assistant. Still, if you’re willing to give up a bit of auditory performance in exchange for increased comfort, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II noise-canceling headphones may be the right choice for you. Let your ears enjoy noise with this great pair of headphones.
Should you buy the BOSE QC35 II
Should you buy the original version or the newer version of the BOSE QC35 II? A device owner recently confirmed that a good reason for buying the original version is just the fact, that the BOSE qc35 II gives a special kind of performance. The good ANC. Bass kick, comfortable earcup, the latest firmware, software features, and other key features are reasons enough.
Considering the call quality, Bluetooth codecs, phone calls quality, sound-canceling, and other mentioned features, this is certainly a good buy for your money. Active noise cancellation, excellent sound reproduction, and a lightweight design are all features that Bose offers with the QuietComfort 35 II headphones.
Adding Google Assistant to the Bose lineup is a nice-to-have option for prospective new Bose customers. Current QC35 customers, on the other hand, do not need to shell out additional extra money, $299 for the pleasure; you already possess a smartphone that does the same function for a fraction of the price.
If you can’t bring yourself to spend that much money on a set of noise-canceling headphones, the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC70 Quietpoint headphones ($199) are a good alternative. QC35 II is one of the greatest sets of headphones for anybody who is serious about maintaining their inner calm while traveling. There is also the bose QuietComfort 35 ii gaming headset for serious gamers.
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