Bose established itself as a leader in noise-canceling, and the QuietComfort Headphones use the same technology found in Bose’s flagship products, but in a model priced below those flagships. The headphones have adjustable ANC (active noise cancellation), letting you choose how much of the external environment you hear, rather than a single toggle that either cancels all surrounding noise or none. The headphones also include Aware Mode, which lets you hear flight attendant announcements if you need to. For battery life, the headphones offer 24 hours of use after a full charge, and a 15-minute quick charge adds another 2.5 hours. The ear cups also fold flat and can fit inside the carry case that comes with the headphones.
Head over to Amazon to get the Bose QuietComfort Headphones for just $199, down from the usual $359. That’s a $160 discount and 45% off.
Comfortable headphones with plush earcups and excellent noise canceling
The important thing to understand is that there are different types of active noise canceling. Many headphones just turn noise canceling on or off, but this type offers adjustable levels and lets you create custom profiles by saving different cancellation settings. For example, you can put the noise canceling on high with Quiet Mode to block out all ambient noises when you’re going to sleep on a plane or sitting in a noisy office, or you can switch to Aware Mode so that you can still hear someone talking to you.
To achieve deep lows from small drivers, Bose developed an acoustic system called TriPort. By placing small vents in the housing above and below each driver and allowing air to flow in and around the drivers, the TriPort system’s designers extended the bass response while keeping the overall ear cup size the same. This means that even though these headphones weigh roughly as much as many other large headphones, they sit comfortably on your head for extended periods.
The battery lasts about 24 hours with noise cancellation. This should provide you with ample power for a week of daily commutes to work or school, or cover most of a transcontinental flight. If and when the batteries do run low, simply plug in for 15 minutes, and you’ll have enough juice to make it through the remainder of your day.
When making calls via mobile device, the headphones use a multi-microphone array with a feature called self voice, where you can choose how much of your own voice is allowed to come back through to your ears during calls. This might seem like a small detail until you’ve spent 30-plus minutes yelling on the phone because you had no idea how loud you sounded, thanks to your headphones’ noise-cancelingcapabilities
On the comfort front, plush synthetic leather cushions and headband padding help ensure comfort during extended wear. The headphones weigh 8.7 ounces, so they shouldn’t feel too heavy after an hour or so of wear on a flight. They also support multipoint pairing, so you can keep your laptop and phone connected at the same time. At $199, down from $359, the Bose QuietComfort Headphones include a standard 3.5mm audio cable for wired listening and a USB-C charging cable. Spotify Tap functionality is also integrated into the right ear cup, letting you quickly restart playback of whatever you were previously listening to by double-tapping it.
