Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, Black

These are great headphones with a couple of problems. I've compared these side-by-side with the Sony WH-1000XM3 and Bose QC35 II so when I list something as a positive or negative, this is subjective and compared to the others.Positive -* Good sound (see note 1)* Good active noise cancelling* Very comfortable (see note 2)* Fantastic performance on calls* Good battery life and fast charging* Useful alerts such as alerts letting you know how many hours left on the battery* Can connect to multiple devices and switch between them from the appNegative:* App makes you register to use it* Can't use all the features or update unless you register with the app* Issues when connected to multiple devices AT THE SAME TIME (see note 3)Notes1 - Sound. If you have spent this much money on wired headphones, know what flac is and use a dedicated source or DAC then these are not going to blow you away on sound, but compared to the competition they are great. I know so many reviews say the XM3s sound better but they really don't, the XM3 has a very heavy bass which ruins the mids, not just that, it's not even nice bass. The Bose 700 bass isn't missing, there is still plenty of it but it's tighter and clean and doesn't destroy the vocals.The sound isn't going to blow you away, it's comfortable without being boring, doesn't really suffer from feeding it poorly mastered recordings over Spotify either. They are the best sound from an ANC headphone I have heard so far.They sound similar but better than the QC35s, like there is better separation and imaging.The Sony's really shined when I used them with the Walkman connected via LDAC, but my main use case is connected to my iPhone or iPad and the Bose won there.2 - Comfort. This is subjective, people complain that they clamp, I have a big head and don't agree but you do need to extend them down more than you expect to get a comfortable fit. I can wear them for hours with no problems other than getting warm like all closed backed headphones do. The band at the top doesn't press down and I have my hair shaved short. As for getting hot, they aren't as bad as the Sony's but they feel warmer than the QC35s.3 - The App. This is the biggest disappointment but also another winning point for Bose, you can connect these headphones to everything then just turn them off in the app, disable in the app to disconnect and enable the other devices on to connect to them. But... if you connect to two devices at once, for example, iPad and iPhone, you can listen to music on the iPad and if your phone rings it will switch on it's own. The problem is that you get a skip in your music often, this isn't a one off, you can read about it everywhere, I hope Bose fix this because it's annoying, but only having it connect to a single device at once fixes it.I was especially impressed with the Bose 700 letting me know how long I had left on the battery in hours, an actually useful alert, they also tell you what devices you are connected to, the Sony's don't do that.

I purchased these headphones in Dec 2021 so have had these headphones for about 10 months or so at this stage so I think that’s enough time to give a fair review.Sound:My unscientific subjective opinion is that they are reasonably flat sounding out of the box.This headphone sound profile can be tweaked however through the BOSE music app to suit individual preferences.I tend to boost the bass very slightly for rock / pop listening.Once you make a change to the sound profile/EQ, the headphones ‘remember’ it, which is great.The clarity of the sound and separation is pretty good on these headphones too. But like all headphones in this category they will add some ‘colour’ . I have previously used recording studio standard headphones such as Beyerdynamics DT100, DT150 and personally have owned a few pairs of reference class AKG over ear headphones too. In comparison to the professional style headphones the Bose 700s do not have as clear, flat or separated soundstage. I don’t personally see this as a negative point however because mixing music or sound for film is not the intended use case for the Bose 700s. Reference class headphones are also sometimes accused of being responsible for ear fatigue over extended listening periods.Style:This is probably a personal thing, but I love the style of these headphones. From afar and close up they look sleek and stylish. The headphones cups are quite slim too so you don’t end up looking as much like a cyberman from doctor who as some other pairs will make you.Durability:I have occasionally worn the headphones outside walking about but I predominantly use these in an inside setting, but so far the headphones have lasted really well.The finish on both the headband and cups has remained as good as new. The synthetic cups still look as good as new.The slide mechanism for the cups still feels smooth and firm too.Comfort:I tend to wear the headphones for several hours at a time and they remain really comfortable. They feel secure on the head but are not too tight. The material on the cups and headband feels very smooth and soft and remains comfortable after extended periods.Noise Cancellation:I think some people expect active noise cancellation to work like earplugs or ear defenders and get disappointed when they try out active noise cancelling products. If you are expecting these headphones to completely block out or cancel out surrounding sounds you will be disappointed. If you understand the limitations of noise cancellation (at least in its current form) then you will not be disappointed with these headphones. They do a good job reducing wind, engine, plane noise etc. In an office environment they attenuate sound to a level that I find easier to concentrate with, especially if you have music / audio playing at the same time.Mic:I use these headphones every day at work on Teams calls. The microphone on these headphones is clear and the noise cancellation works well to block out environmental sounds in your vicinity.Connectivity:These headphones connect via Bluetooth and can have two devices connected simultaneously. I usually have these connected to my computer and my phone. If I am listening to music on my laptop and receive a call on my phone, the headphones will automatically switch to the phone as impute when I accept the call.Overall these are a pretty great pair of headphones. They are well worth the money especially if you can get them for an offer. I have seen them on hear for sub £170!