Amazon kept pricing steady on select flagship products after Cyber Monday ended, and the Bose QuietComfort headphones remain discounted at what marks their lowest price point yet. These wireless noise-cancelling headphones now sell for $199 instead of the regular $349 tag which brings premium Bose audio and industry-leading noise cancellation down to a price bracket where you’d typically find mid-tier alternatives with compromised performance.
Adaptive noise cancellation
The QuietComfort headphones have microphones around each earcup that constantly pick up sounds from the outside world and they make sound waves that are opposite to the noise that is coming in, which cancels it out before it gets to your ears. This active noise cancellation works over a wide range of frequencies and gets rid of everything from the low rumble of airplane engines to the mid-frequency chatter of people talking in an office. The system changes in real time as your acoustic environment changes and for example, it automatically lowers the cancellation strength when you move from a quiet room to a busy street. The plush over-ear cushions block out noise passively by making a physical seal around your ears. This works with active cancellation to make the silence even deeper than either method alone.
When you need to concentrate or sleep while traveling, Quiet Mode turns on full noise cancellation for the best isolation, while Aware Mode lets outside sounds through the headphones so you can hear announcements, conversations, or traffic without taking them off. This mode of transparency uses the same outside microphones that cancel out noise. It picks up sounds from the outside world and mixes them in with your audio playback in a natural way and with the push of a button, you can switch between modes, which lets you quickly adapt to situations where being aware is important for safety or socializing.
High-fidelity audio drivers make sound clear across the whole frequency range, bringing out vocal and instrumental details that are lost on cheaper headphones. You can change the bass, midrange, and treble settings right in the Bose Music app. This lets you change the sound to fit your tastes or make up for different types of music. When you want cleaner mids in bass-heavy electronic music, lowering the low-end can help. On the other hand, adding treble to acoustic recordings can bring out string details.
With noise cancellation on, the battery can last up to 24 hours on a single charge which is enough for multi-day trips or full work weeks without needing to plug in. Plugging it in for just 15 minutes gives you 2.5 hours of playback time, which is great if you forgot to charge it overnight and need to leave right away. The included audio cable with an inline microphone lets you connect the headphones with a wire when Bluetooth isn’t available or when the battery dies in the middle of a flight.
With multipoint Bluetooth, you can connect to two devices at the same time and switch between them automatically based on which one plays audio first. You can stay connected to both your laptop and your phone at the same time, you can answer calls on your phone without having to disconnect from your computer or miss notifications while watching videos. The seamless switching between devices makes it easy to switch audio sources without having to go into Bluetooth settings every time.
The padded headband spreads the weight evenly across the top of your head, stopping the pressure points that form when you wear poorly made headphones for a long time. The over-ear cushions are made of memory foam wrapped in synthetic protein leather. This makes them feel soft against your skin and keeps their shape even after years of daily use and these headphones stay comfortable even on long flights across the ocean or during eight-hour work days.
The $199 price drop is $150 less than Bose’s top-of-the-line noise-canceling headphones, which puts them in competition with brands that can’t match their adaptive ANC, sound quality, and comfort all day long.
