Bose has the Heir to the QC 35 II up for Preorder...

[Ukbrotha]

The Rock just dropped some new ones..lol
https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/u.../pid1356424-001?cid=sm|us|brand-o|twitter|acc

$200. Must be out of their damn minds.

 

[R=G]

$200. Must be out of their damn minds.

$120 for these Galaxy Buds and they go great with both my Note phones. The budget Jbuds should be decent too at $50.

 

[SPACE IS FAKE]

So What’s the difference between these n the QC 35s

 

[R=G]

Review

Last week Bose unveiled the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, the long-awaited successor to its popular Bose QuietComfort 35 II noise-cancelling headphones. They aren't available until June 30, but I got some early hands-on time with the headphones at a Bose media event in New York, where I played around with a final production unit that was running beta software.
The first thing you'll notice about the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 is that they have a totally new design -- and it really is a new headphone, both on the outside and the inside, with new drivers and a total of 8 microphones to help enable Bose's "evolved noise-canceling functionality."
The design and technology upgrades come at a price: The Noise Cancelling Headphones cost $400 or £350 (Australian pricing isn't yet available but the UK price converts to about AU$640). That list price is $50 higher than that of the QuietComfort 35 II and the Sony WH-1000XM3, CNET's current top-rated noise-cancelling headphone. Both those models are on sale right now for $300.
One of the biggest external changes is to the headband. The QuietComfort 35 II has a high-tech resin (read: plastic) headband, while the Headphones 700's headband incorporates a single, seamless piece of stainless steel that would seemingly make it a little sturdier. However, as a result of the new design, there's no hinge, so they don't fold up, just flat, and you simply lay them into their protective carrying case, which is larger than the QuietComfort 35 II's case.
Some will like that you don't have to bother folding the headphones while others will prefer the smaller case. I did like that there's a little compartment in the case -- its door closes magnetically -- for storing the USB-C charging cable and the cable for wired listening. It's worth noting that the port on the headphone is the smaller 2.5mm variety so, bizarrely, it's a 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable.

 

[R=G]

In the past, Bose has tried to shave the weight of its headphones, but this model is actually about half an ounce heavier than the QuietComfort 35, which will remain in the line for now. You can feel the weight difference, but I didn't find the headphone any less or more comfortable than the QuietComfort 35 II; it just feels a little different on your head.
Bose is really touting the voice communication features of the headphone. While the overall sound quality is a relatively small step up from the QuietComfort 35 II -- more on that in a minute -- the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 should perform significantly better as a headset for making calls. The new microphones are designed to pick up your voice better (some of them are beam-forming mics) and reduce noise around you so people can hear you better in noisier environments. That goes for voice assistants as well -- the headphone supports Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa, all of which should better understand what you're saying in noisier environments.

There's also an adjustable sidetone feature that allows you to hear your voice in the headphones. The QuietComfort 35 II has some light sidetone that not everybody notices, but you can really sense it in this new model.
In Bose's Music companion app for iOS and Android, you designate which assistant you want to use and then access that assistant with a button push like you do on the QuietComfort 35 II. However, if you choose Alexa, Bose says you'll be able to activate Amazon's voice assistant by simply saying the wake word "Alexa."

I didn't get to try that feature -- Bose is still tweaking the software for the headphones -- but if it indeed works, this will be one of the few headphones to offer always-on Alexa. The Jabra Elite 85t, another headphone equipped with lots of microphones that's great for making calls, was supposed to have this feature but Jabra ended up leaving it off after it discovered that it had too great an impact on battery life.
I asked a Bose rep about the possible adverse impact on battery life when using always-on Alexa because the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700's 20 hours of battery life is shorter than that of a lot of its competitors (a quick-charge feature does allow you to get 3.5 hours of battery life from a 15-minute charge). The rep said that it did not have an impact on battery life and that the battery life was the same whether you had Bluetooth on or off, say, if you were in wired mode on a plane. He did add that you can use the headphone in wired mode if the battery dies. Presumably it won't sound as good, but at least it will work.
New for Bose

This is the first Bose headphone equipped with touch controls. The touch area is on the right side of the right ear cup. I found that they worked well and that same Bose rep told me that Bose's engineers were aware of the problems that some Sony WH-1000XM3 users were having with that headphone's touch controls in cold weather and that the Noise Cancelling 700 Headphones had been tested in the cold. Supposedly, the touch controls work but we'll have to wait until winter to test it out ourselves (maybe someone in the southern hemisphere where it will soon be winter can test it for us).

Typically, Bose hasn't offered users much in the way of customizable settings but it is here. You can adjust the level of noise-cancelling in the app and there's a dedicated button on the headphone that allows you to toggle between low, high and a zero noise-cancelling mode that Bose refers to as a true "transparency" mode.

Impressively, when you're in that transparency mode you essentially hear the outside world as your ears normally would. In the demo, it was hard to tell the difference between having the headphones on your off. Holding the noise-cancelling button puts you right into transparency mode so you can talk to someone while you're wearing the headphones -- to a flight attendant on a plane, for example.

They're also enabled with Bose AR, the the company's audio-augmented reality platform, and in the future, Bose says it will add new features -- the headphones are firmware upgradable -- including an equalizer for tweaking the sound to your liking, a Dynamic Transparency mode that allows you to hear the outside world but muffles loud noises like sirens as they crop up and a Noise Masking feature that creates white noise to help you block out the outside world and help you concentrate without listening to music. Bose lists those features as "coming soon."
Sound comparisons

So how do they sound? Well, I brought along the QuietComfort 35 II and Sony WH-1000XM3 to the event to make some quick comparisons. I'll need a little more time with them to make a final judgement on sound quality, but my initial impression is that they do sound a little better than the QuietComfort 35 II, with slightly more overall clarity and bass definition. I listened to a few of our test tracks, including Alt-J's 3WW, Ran 'n Bone Man's Human and Spoon's You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb and came away thinking that the Sony's bass had more energy and a little more oomph it but the Bose's bass sounded a little tighter. I'll be interested to hear what CNET's home audio editor Ty Pendlebury and Steve Guttenberg, who writes CNET's The Audiophiliac column, think of the new Bose's sound compared to the Sony's when I get a review sample later this month.

I'll post a full rated review around the time the headphone ships on June 30, but for now I'll say that despite the Noise Cancelling 700's high price, it will tempt a lot of people who might be looking to upgrade their noise-cancelling headphones, particularly those who value some of the new voice -- and voice calling -- features Bose is touting.

Here's a quick look at the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 key specs, according to Bose.

Weight: 254gOver-ear designNew acoustic and electronics package with new digital signal processing
New 8-microphone system11 levels of noise cancellationAdaptive voice system
Built-In voice assistants (one-touch access)Low-power wake word (for Amazon Alexa voice assistant)Conversation mode
Active EQ Sound Management (coming soon)
Touch controlsOver-the-air updates
Bluetooth range: Up to 33 ft. (10m)Battery charging time: Up to 2.5 hoursQuick charge time: 15 min for 3.5 hoursBattery life: Up to 20 hoursUSB-C chargingTwo color options: Black and silver
Price: $400Shipping date: June 30

 

[R=G]

Another review where it seems these are some REAL WINNERS..the noise cancelling apparently works great for calls in packed starbuck environments or listening to your own music..transparency mode makes you not sound muffled...hmmmm

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HEADPHONESREVIEWBose 700 Hands-on Review: All Hail the New Noise-Cancelling King

by SHERRI L. SMITH Jun 6, 2019, 1:52 PM



Sure, the Bose QC 35 II have been the gold standard for noise cancelling headphones for a while. But there’s been one nagging flaw throughout the company’s reign: so-so performance during calls and when trying to use digital assistants. The new Bose 700 headphones (available June 30 for $399) bring noise cancelling to the next level by blocking the racket around you while you try to gab on the phone or chat with Siri.

Bose 700



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These next-gen cans also sport a slick, futuristic design and a host of cool features, including adjustable noise cancellation. Based on my hands-on time with the Bose 700, the competition could be left scrambling to keep up.

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Bose Headphones 700 release date and price

The Headphones 700 are now available for pre-order, and will ship June 30. They cost $399 or $50 more than the Bose QC35 II headphones, which will remain in the lineup.

Design

Past models of Bose headphones like the QuietComfort 35 II were handsome, but in a dad-sort of way. Available in black or silver, the 700s are definitely DILF-ware. The headband is made of sturdy stainless steel that bisects the middle of the plastic earcups. The top and bottom of the band are made of a soft-touch plastic which houses a bit of Bose’s proprietary foam.

The headband is designed to evenly distribute weight, which makes for a more comfortable fit. Speaking of fit, if you need to adjust the cans, you simply slide the earcups up or down instead of manipulating the band.

Without knowing how much the 700s weigh and only have a few minutes to demo the headphones, I can say the cans are comfy, at least initially. I’ll have to spend at least a few days to give a real opinion, but so far, so good.

Several buttons located along the earcups help alleviate the need to touch your connected device. The left cup has the adjustable noise cancellation button while the right cup has toggles for Power/Bluetooth and launching digital assistants.

If blindly fumbling around for buttons isn’t your thing, Bose has included a capacitive touch panel on the right earcup. A double tap will play/play or answer/ignore calls while a swipe up or down will raise or lower the volume accordingly. A swipe forward or back will skip forward or backward on a track.

Noise cancelling comes to talking

Let’s be clear, Bose headphones have always delivered some of the best call quality available on a pair of headphones already. With the 700s, they’re taking it up a notch. The hidden within the headphones’ rather svelte frame are 8 individual microphones. Six of those are used to block incoming noise. Two of those mics pull double duty and work another two to amplify your voice when you’re on a call or cueing up a digital assistant.

The result is a sort of audio rejection beam that blocks the louder ambient noise in the atmosphere, while the mics focused on your voice work to create proper separation. In practice, that means that when the Bose rep sitting in a crowded noisy Starbucks called I couldn’t hear any voices outside of his despite all the people ordering iced coffee and snacks. Granted, I could hear a little bit of Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” blasting in the background, but it was very faint, so much so, I had to really focus in to hear it.


Giving you a ton of control, the Bose 700 gives quiet-seekers 11 levels to choose from via the Bose app. Pressing the ANC button lets you toggle between three of those settings on the fly: High, Medium and Full Transparency. High is definitely impressive, especially when paired with music, which let it effectively drown out pumped-in noise from a busy 96th Street.

As I listened to music track provided, I noticed how warm the music sounded. Typically, Bose’s ANC tends to sound colder than competing headphones thanks to that powerful noise cancelling. But I didn’t hear that aural wall that I’ve come to chalk up as the cost of achieving true quiet with Bose. I’m looking forward to putting this to the test in the Tom’s Guide office and on the subways.

But the star of the show, at least for me, is Full Transparency mode. It essentially sounds like you’re not wearing headphones; so when I talked, I sounded like myself instead of being muffled. That means in those moments I break into song on the subway or walking around, I can hear myself, so I won’t be too off key (I hope). But outside of impromptu performances, if you’re the type of person that likes to keep their headphones on during work, this is ideal. You’ll be able to clearly hear everyone without having to remove the cans.

 

[Black Magisterialness]

ANC joints cost WAY too fukking much...period.

 

[Sad Bunny]

I'm tempted

 

[R=G]

ANC joints cost WAY too fukking much...period.

True but I don't want hear anything on the plane.

 

[Black Magisterialness]

True but I don't want hear anything on the plane.

I feel it. But $300+ she that's half the plane ticket. I gonna have to take the plunge soon doe. My Sennhiser NC buds are finally dying

 

[R=G]

I feel it. But $300+ she that's half the plane ticket. I gonna have to take the plunge soon doe. My Sennhiser NC buds are finally dying

My QC 35 II last July cost $380 altogether with tax but I got a Dell account so it was only just $20 a month.

 

[StretfordRed]

Preordered these on Friday after reading some pre reviews

Currently got AirPods but really need ANC as my journey into work will be a lot noisier soon

Not too bad in price in the UK at £350 considering the shyt strength of the £

But these should be interesting. Haven’t used ANC before, so it’ll be a a plus for me

 

[R=G]

We there you have it..the greatest bluetooth talking headphones via phone to date. Surrounded by noise, everything was crystal clear...surrounded by noise, using a regular non yelling voice, he was to talk with no issues. Can hear himself without shouting.

And they are the NEW NOISE CANCELLIMG CHAMP..as I suspected they would be by the little early hipster reviews...but this seals it.

 

[R=G]

Just $20 extra on my Dell account..might as well cop

 

[Rekkapryde]

Read a LOT of bad reviews on this joint.

Sony 1000XM3s are still the best. Just copped some silver ones (someone jacked my black ones )