I know this is sponsored but I would have really liked a comparison to the XM4 or XM5 since they would probably be the closest competitors (preferably the XM4s because of the form factor)
Wanted to say the same thing... they seem to be exactly the same, even down to the overall shape and styling, but they cost significantly more, with only the spatial audio gimmick as extra... doesn't seem worth it.
I've had QC35 for 6 years now. best headphones I've used. still sound amazing and still fit perfectly. build quality is top notch and I've switched the ear muffs twice. Definitely worth buying Bose
Yeah I’ve been using my QC35 for 5 years tomorrow, i love them so much I even remember our anniversary 😂 I am seriously terrified of spending hundreds of dollars on an upgrade just to have an almost identical sound quality
The Ultras are nowhere near as comfortable as the QC35s. The padding so weak on the newer model, plus you don't have the notches to remember how far to pull out to when commuting day in day out
I actually bought my QC35s in 2014. I had a loud barracks mate. And the battery just died on me and won't charge last month. It lasted 10 years. I honestly got my money's worth so I'm going to buy these QC Ultras. I'm very impressed with Bose. I was also able to buy replaceable ear cups cheaply every few years which was great
The only thing preventing me from upgrading from my QC35s is that new Bose products don’t let you turn noise cancelling completely off. It’s such a waste of battery life having it on all the time if you use yours mostly in a home office environment like me and the lack of ambient sounds with noise cancelling on makes me feel so uneasy. If they added the option to turn it completely off like the QC35s, I would 100% upgrade.
If you often listen in a quiet environment, you might find better results from a decent set of open back headphones instead of something like this, and keep the QC35s for travel etc.
@@Simmo755 On which newer ones? I have the QC45s and still no option to turn it off, making it impossible to listen to anything outside if there's any wind (since the mics pick up the wind and fail at cancelling it properly)
@@Simmo755yeah I bought some QC45’s a few months ago and there’s no way to turn off ANC completely, it’s my biggest gripe with them and makes me want to take them back
Love that Bose kept the Ultra being able to fold to be more compact. I'll probably switch from my XM3s since the new XM5s can't fold as compactly as my XM3s
@@Voltedge89 I agree, suprised there's no battery issue with them yet. I use them for gaming. If I can get an even more realistic 3D surround, I'm all for it!
@@scottstamm7022 I use them heavily I work in a power plant sometimes I clock 40 hours a week, gone through 4 cushions, I combine them with foam earplugs when I work on 90+ DB environment. I want to buy the new one but I can't justify leaving mine to die or go to e waste. The only thing wrong with them is that they light up red when off, I don't know why they have zero issues idk why is the red light present.
I was just in Best Buy considering these. They positioned the demo unit in front of the home theater department where a sound system was just blasting music. Figured I wouldn’t be able to really demo the headphones. I put them on and instantly I couldn’t hear the music playing right behind me, even with nothing playing on the headphones. Very impressive, even for someone who used their old QC’s.
I just purchased these upgrading from Sony WH-1000XM3's that I have had since 2019. I found an open box pair at best buy for $275... I live in a VERY noisy environment above a loud bar (Sucks but the rent is right lol) and I am just blown away by the ANC on these units. When you put them on you can literally feel the world melt away. Its neat how the ANC ramps up from a neutral airy sound to full on silence when you put them on. Not even the Sony's could completely get rid of the bass from the live music going on under my feet. They blow the XM3s out of the water. I had purchased the XM5's and returned them because they didn't seem to be much of an upgrade over the XM3. I felt like the XM5's had trouble canceling out the low frequencies and at times even the fan sound from my AC, there was always a high pinched hollow sound to them. before I got the Bose I just figured that was just something that could not be filtered out. . The ANC which is the most important feature aside from the sound quality of course for me. And I am very happy with my purchase. I do feel like the Sony XM3's have more bass but the Bose have a more rich sound overall. I do miss the feature where you can put your hand over the right cup and get instant Ambiant passthrough. Although its really just a party trick which I rarely actually use but it was nice to have. I had mastered the touch controls on the XM3.
A comparison to the Sony XM4 and XM5 would be amazing, especially to see which noice cancellation works better. I'm travelling a lot, so noice cancellation is a very big deal for me (and probably also for others)
It is really smart of you guys to put the price all the way at the end. I watched the whole video being somewhat interested before finding out the price and nearly choking on my bag of .99 cent great value potato chips.
"Ultra", "max", "super" now are literally in every single product. They never heard about "with everyone super, no one will be". And for god sake, it doesn't matter how how many names you give to polyurethane, it doesn't become leather, cotton or anything else, except polyurethane. Marketing successfully achieved points to where i close this ad on 3 minute.
I bought the BOSE QC35ii headphones in 2018 and they are the best headphones I have ever had. Works flawlessly still to this day. The ear muffs are work a hit but I can replace them for $20. Will buy the QuietComfort Ultra's when these ones die.
Given their feature set, i think it's kind of justified for a premium product, sure, not the best value, but one of if not the best all around option you can get, for value you currently are better of getting an older gen product or something from sony
I had pretty instant regret with my QC45s I bought last year. I have no gripes with them and tbh they've been great since I've had them, the price was just outrageous and I justified it by saying I was treating myself. Very much not worth the price, and in hindsight I wish I wasn't part of the metrics telling Bose this price is acceptable.
When you say higher end competitors, are you including the ANC quality or just other factors like build/audio quality? Last time I was looking for a pair (years ago, admittedly) Bose seemed to be the "very expensive but the best ANC available" option
@@toonie568 uh where are these bad reviews exactly? I've had my QC45's for a year without any issues at all. When I shopped around I couldn't find any reviewer talk bad about them other than for the price.
I felt bad last year buying the QC45's for 350 bucks... Bose continues to be ridiculous with their prices and it makes me regret even more buying my current headset. I don't have any issues with it, I just hate being part of the metric telling Bose these prices are OK.
Is there a way to replace the batteries when they inevitably degrade someday? Please include this in your reviews; it's quite important when spending hundreds of dollars on something that ought to last 10+ years.
These sound great. Bass is still there especially with bass turned up in eq. And it's pretty well balanced sounding and clear without any muddiness or volume loss. My favorite feature is immersive audio which they had a demo of at best buy and it had me sold. It literally makes it sound like the music is coming from in front of me while still "immersive", and I can really notice it even more when turning my head, really felt it was coming out of the wall or my laptop or something. The one thing I dont like is they feel tighter on my head and don't quite extend far enough for me. The regular quiet comfort sounded about as good without the immersive audio, but were much more comfortable to me. Bose did a great job with immersion.
I've been a fan of the Bose over ear and quiet comfort lines for almost two decades. I've got a relatively big head and these don't feel excessively tight like other headphones in their price class. That said, keep an eye out on pricing as they'll go on sale for $100 or more off a few times a year. I've got two QC45 one at my work computer and one for my personal. The like is very good, replacing the pads is relatively easy and inexpensive. I've had one pair go bad, and got a very good discount against the current model despite being well out of warranty. Not sure about some of the color options and replacement pads years in the future, the black and beige seem to be consistent. Tempted to get the Ulta model, maybe next year.
@@stephenknight6562Are they good if you have an iPhone 13 Pro (I’ll be upgrading the phone), for Zoom me and other platforms? I need them for a modality and I cannot lose her voice. I really find a video about that. I was going to return and buy the AirPod max, but I heard they aren’t really good for that. The upgrade is needed with them.
Be very careful putting these back in the case. If you shove them in without returning the headband to the default shortest size, the sharp part of the hinge will damage the soft leather on the inside of the headband. Also the touch bar increments is finicky, so it can get really annoying if you only want a single step up or down. Also the wear detection doesn’t function well if taking off and putting them on a bunch of times within a few seconds. Basically a gimmick compared to airpods. Immersion mode is also pretty crappy compared to airpods. Sound and noise cancellation quality is great though so if those other things don’t bother you, you’ll likely love them. I returned mine after 2 days and got the regular quietcomforts.
I agree with absolutely everything you’re saying, and I have experienced everything that you’re saying. I wish they had kept the buttons from the QC 35 II’s. Still love these headphones over the Sony XM5’s
I never, ever, forget my first expensive headset from Sennheiser and now these days those would not even make it in my lot of headsets. They're everywhere, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and find a pair half on my head (falling asleep to some nice tunes is so relaxing). When I was a whee lad, I only played music loud, now I listen to the nuances.
You can tell he has never daily driven Bose QC headphones because at the 2 minute mark he mentions the "protein leather ear cups" (fake leather) not coming out easily; everyone who has ever owned a pair will tell you how you are replacing those ear cups within two years.
Literally watchign this with my bose QC25. Got these on discount when the QC35 came out... I've had these for 6 years, replaced the ear pads 3x and have literally taken naps with these things on. I wear them most of the time at work and LOOOOOOVEEE the comfort on them.
I have the Bose QC35's which I leave at my work desk and I had the Bose NC700. They are so different. The QC35's have a nice mellow sound that is pleasant at any volume whereas the NC700's sound shrill and harsh. I hated the NC700 so much that I sold them and bought the Sennheiser Momentum 4's and Holey Moley. If you want good sound, get Sennheiser. They sound absolutely incredible and are specially tuned by Sennheiser to not sound sharp. The purposefully detune the 5000-7000hz range because this is where sibilance can occur, which I seem to be quite sensitive to, so these headphones can be cranked up and still sound amazing. The bass is thick and tight, the treble is present and sparkly without being overpowering and the mids are present and clear. They really are fantastic. Not to mention 60 hours of battery life, pretty decent NC and a bunch of other industry-standard features.
@@MrBayren Well I let other people listen to them and they agreed. After I bought my Sennheisers I let my girlfriend test my NC700 before I sold them just in case she wanted to buy them but she agreed that they were not pleasant. They are shrill and harsh.
Yeah, agreed, but they compete with the apply airpod max's so comparably they are the budget option, also they are the best active noise cancelling, so they can kind of ask anything with the argument of being the best (at least regarding active noise cancelling)
what I never understood is that the NC700 also head spatial audio with motion tracking with Boses Augmented Reality initiative, they cancelled this AR Stuff and removed the feature. A little bit pissed now that they bring it back, would be nice for their customers of the NC700 to bring it back like this
I bought both of these product with my own money because i both my headphones and earbuds just broke, so here is my review of them copied from my other comment. Well then, i have bought both of these with my own money and wrote a review in another comment which i will just paste here so you can have an unbiased opinion I have had both of these for 2 weeks now and they both got some issues. *Headphones:* - When listening to anything on my phone while my pc is connected the audio gets completely messed up, like the audio gets compressed in to oblivion beyond recognition, it goes away if i disconnect my pc. - They have quite some noise when no music is playing, a lot more than my old sony wh1000xm3's, so if you want complete silence, these can't give you that. *Earbuds:* - When not listening to anything, the left earbud has some annoying static and ringing sound, it's not loud and it seems to go away when listening to music, but it's kind of annoying. - If you like to use earbuds when laying down, these quite often have their play pause activated from touching the pillow / couch. - If you want these because you are used to the shape of bose earbuds (like the original bose wireless earbuds and older) these are not the same, for me it quite often happens i have to take them out and put them back in because they don't stay in correctly, resulting in bad active noise cancelling performance. Knowing bose, a lot of these issues will probably be fixed with updates, but as of now they are not perfect. *The good:* - The active noise cancelling. Especially the earbuds are on another level, i've had people stand next to me talking to me while having music on the lowest volume my phone allows and i didn't hear anything, nothing, had no idea they were even there even though they were trying to get my attention. The active noise cancelling of the headphones is good too, but not as good, however way better than my wh1000xm3's. - Spatial audio. Actually though, i expected this to be a bit of a gimmick, but for music i actually prefer it, especially on the earbuds, using earbuds especially for a long time can get kind of straining, but the spatial audio actually alleviates most of it, it's probably not for everyone, but i'm surprised how good it is. - The audio quality. I'm used to the sony wh1000xm3's and bose quiet comfort earbuds and these are both about as good, maybe a little better. - Comfort, these are both the most comfortable earbuds and headphones i've ever owned, they are light weight, the headphones are not too tight, the cushions are better than the sony wh1000xm3 by a lot, and the earbuds a smaller and therefor less noticeable than the first gen bose quiet comfort earbuds. *Conclusion* Overall these are both good products with some annoying flaws, would i recommend you buy them right now? Maybe. If the issues don't sound like they will bother you and you just need the best active noise cancelling right now, yes, i can recommend them. Do you not need anything right now? Then wait a bit, i would check back on them in 6 months and see if all the issues are resolved, if they are by then, yes, i would recomend them.
Great unboxing and overview. Would be great when going over the frequency response curve to have recommended EQ settings in the app to get as close to the target curve as possible for that headphone/earbud. Keep up the good work!
No, but 10 min of charge can get you an hour. But I charge mine anytime they get below 50% probably not recommended but I use them daily so I like them charged up.
I’ve had 6 or 7 iPhones in the time I’ve owned my Bose headphones. Nothing lasts like them. That said: I’d be leaving the head tracking off. That stuff freaks me out a little when in headphones.
Not my experience with the first gen bose quiet comfort earbuds, they broke 4 times, yes 4 times, all just randomly, they lasted 1.5 years, 4 hours, 2 weeks and 1.4 years, all under warranty luckily, the earbuds broke 2 weeks ago and was able to get the earbuds in this video for only 70 euro extra instead
The Bose QC35 are notorious for their power switches failing. They still seem to use the same switch design on all their newer headphones too. So I don’t see how they could be considered long-lasting.
Can't use any kind of headphones like these because any kind of touch controls start going haywire when it's cold outside. The Sonys XM3/4/5 all have great ANC, but if they keep turning on transparent mode, hail the "hey google", or just straight up pause or skip my music because of phantom inputs because of the cold... eeeeh, gonna stick to getting a pair with ONLY buttons.
I wish the chapters in the video highlighted noise cancelation. The is the main feature I care about for this type of a product, everything else is secondary.
Well then, i have both of these, so here is my experience on that front, active noise cancelling is everything to me having ADHD. The earbuds are the most powerful from my experience, it is able to completely block out birds which sit right in front of my window (like 40 of them all the time) even without music, it's like you just pressed mute on those birds, also i've had people stand next to me trying to get my attention, even speaking loudly, with the music on lowest volume, i heard nothing. So a lot better than their first get earbuds. The headphones are ok, not as good as the earbuds but like 10 times better than the sony WH1000XM3.
Hope the Ultra doesn't have as sensitive a touch as the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II. Hoddi or even mosquito nets trigger the headphones to go crazy raising, lowering the volume or changing songs. Unfortunately, it cannot be switched off as with the previous generation. Shame as they sound fantastic.
I sold my XM5 and got the QC45 for a cool price of $170. I'm so much happier with these because I could actually wear them for a long time bc holy smokes the XM5s give me headaches in like an hour and a half. The smaller carrying case is also quite the treat since I could just fit it in any bag I have. I don't think I'll ever want to buy non-foldable headphones, I just don't see how trading off portability is worth it for marginal build quality improvements.
Wow at how bad the mic was and how short that section was, with the only reason I can think off is to not piss off their sponsor? Come on guys, that's not how to do a review - I think I'm going to find other channels from now on
I recently found a pair of bang & olufsen studio speakers from late 70s early 80s in the basement of my shop, left over from past owner of the building. I hooked em up to my PC and they work great. They were tucked away in the basement for the last 25+ years.
go buy real speakers and home theater like an adult...get generic headphones... youre not a teenager walking to school.........stop being a consuoooooooomer
So frustrated that they discontinued their best (and one of their most popular) earbuds - bose QC20. Amazing wired earbuds with active noise cancelling, and they worked ALL DAY for long shifts of work. Wireless versions aren’t good for daily work use - v annoying.
Interesting, I also have these headphones and earbuds, but how are they so different from the 700s? Also do you also have the issue that audio sounds like a terribly tuned fm radio (basically impossible to recognize what is playing) if you play music on your phone while the headphones are also connected to your pc?
@@MrTurbo_ if you have a windows pc the problem is likely the same as any Bluetooth headphone with a mic. For some reason if the mic is enabled at all it can sometimes make everything sound like it’s coming from a phone call. You just need to go to Settings>Sound>Advanced>recording > find the mic and then disable it. Now in your Bluetooth settings it should just say music under the headphones and all should be fixed. But if that isn’t the problem then idk lol
@@owlbjoshin5927 yeah, already tried that, but that's not it, also it happens on both Linux and windows, so idk, but I'm assuming you don't have this issue then?
My first big headphone purchase was the Sennheiser HD 280 Pros with the giant coiled cord. I freakin' loved those things, and my nephew actually replaced the pads and still uses them. Pretty wild for something I bought back in like 2004...nearly 20 years ago...holy crap d(0_0)b
This came out in 2023, it's interesting how the Bose QC35 II still is their best, as it was released in 2018. They re-reviewed it in 2023 on rtings and it got 8.0 in sound. This from 2023 on the other hand? 7.3... Sad. Oh well, glad I have the QC35 II's still!
I compared QC 35 II with QC Ultra in the shop offering audio tests of multiple headphones (Sony's offering MX5 something sounds too digitally over-processed), and the improvement in sound quality and noise cancellation over an older generation is beyond just noticeable, though if you own QC45, the only real reason for upgrading would be a better latency. It's not even funny how much closer QC Ultra are to a dedicated 1000$ aviator headphones like Bose A20 which have great noise cancellation and vastly superior sound reproduction compared to QC35 II apart from being powered by AA batteries but they are rather heavy and their noise canceling is so aggressive that it produces noise itself, while their automatic turn off feature when not detecting any sound input or suddenly cutting off low volume sounds in movies means that QC Ultra may be best noise canceling solution for normal people, unless you really need to cancel that power tool your neighbor is using during summer when you want your windows to be left open...
Don't see why I would actually enjoy immersive audio thing. Like unless it's going to replicate 7.1 or something, I don't want the audio to be different depending on my head position.
I used to have the Bose QC45 but mine were from like 6 years ago.. used them literally every single day. Constantly wore them at the gym. The cover on the earpiece just recently ripped but I still had no problem with them. Best headphones I've ever bought. But I just recently lost them... XD so I bought these instead! love them
these are more for mowing the lawn and walking around in public if you dont mind risking someone stealing them off your head. they have noise cancelling that cancels sound by producing cancelling frequencies. you shouldnt buy these if you care about audio quality, it would be a huge waste of money over other options in the same price range
I understand this is a sponsored video, but I would have really liked if there was honesty about some negative aspects of these headphones. I love Bose products and have even placed order for the QC Ultra but honestly, the microphone is not as good as it can be and bluetooth is not a reason for that. Comparing with Sony 1000XM5 will clarify how they are still very much lacking in this regard. Please don't defend this, it doesn't suit you as a tech channel.
You mentioned the microphone is bad because of bluetooth, so it would be nice to year you use them with the audio jack (provided it does both input and output). I saw this as another missed opportunity in another video as well. I do a lot of remote work, so I'm also interested in a half-decent mic to make sure my video calls don't suck.
As much as I appreciate them bringing back some of the buttons back ... I really HATE the touch surfaces and sliding my finger around for volume .... I really wish manufacturers would just stop this ... doesn't work when wet, doesn't work with gloves, doesn't work if the weather is bad, most of the time I don't even remember which surface it is .... heck .... its just overall bad design. I would much rather have a volume rocker .... why not just keep it sweet and simple? I can understand touch surfaces on a little ear-bud going inside your ears, but there is CLEARLY enough space on that headphone for a volume rocker like the old QC35s ... Jeez.
I just bought these headphones yesterday and I’ve been using them a lot since and I also have the Sony xm5 and I know without a doubt Bose is king. Xm5 is not bad but these Bose headphones are the truth . The battery life is a little better with xm5 but I don’t really care because that’s the only thing that’s better . You won’t go wrong with Bose ultra
Love my headphones! Immersion mode does give me a bit of a headache however, same as my sensitive motion sickness, has anyone else experienced this at all
Cons that make them terrible choice: - There's NO way to use them while charging (It's a total scandal in 2023/2024). So imagine if they run out of battery during the meeting you're doomed. - The earmuffs tilt opposite directions than in any other headphones, so when you rest them on your shoulders the cushions are pointed up but the sharp corners of the outer layer are irritating your skin
Immersion or Spacial audio is literally only good for gaming, why anyone would want to use it for music or TV even is so far beyond my comprehension. In music, you want the best imaging from the sources, in headphones, your ears are practically the source, so why would anyone want that to move? Just another gimmick, again, unless it's gaming, then I could definitely see a benefit.
What, no, not at all, it's garbage for gaming, it completely throws of the directionality of the sound (i have these and tried), what these do is move the sound in front of you, so it no longer sounds as much like listening to headphones, great for music, not at all for gaming
BOSE used to be the gold standard for noise cancelling headphones (they DID invent the noise cancelling aviation headphone after all), is that no longer the case?
still one of the best. You need some serious measurement tools to see what is " better" and lets be honest, if you buy them you will be happy with these for sure
One of my biggest issues with both these and my QC45s is that the includes 35mm cable doesn't have an inline mic. If i want to take a serious call,the mic quality just doesn't cut it on pretty much any wireless headphone
I have a pair of QC45’s that I bought a few months ago. I love them, but my biggest gripe with them is you can’t turn off the ANC fully! It has an aware mode but the mics stay on and will make a loud popping sound when there’s loud noises, like dropping a spoon in the sink, mowing the lawns and when taking off & landing on a flight. They make me not want to use them and I kinda wish I bought the XM4’s instead. Plenty of people complaining about it online and Bose’s solution is to not use them around loud noises. Ok. It seems like such a simple fix that can be done easily with software and would make me want to use them way more.
Hm, i have these and also the earbuds and for me when dropping things or with other loud noises it perfectly lowers the volume of those loud sounds, you do need to enable a setting for that to work well though. But working on cars these earbuds are all the ear protection i use
@@MrTurbo_ yeah unfortunately mine don’t. It seems as though the louder noises overwhelm the mic and cause it to make a loud pop noise through the headphones. Have gone through every setting, no updates available etc. It’s a real shame because they’re great
The fact that they're calling two features that every headphone has immersive audio is hilarious. Now you can have noise canceling and music at the same time all new for 2024. Pretty sure that's been a future on their competitors products for over 20 years as well as their own products. The QC15s had immersive audio
You're not a true Bose QuietComfort owner unless you have at least one extra backup set of earpads for emergencies. Those things are as delicate as tissue paper.
Can they please add a 2.4ghz option, so we can use these things wirelessly for gaming too :( So annoying have to use the cable else you have the insane bluetooth delay.
