Are you in the market for good noise-cancelling headphones? If yes, then you’ve come to the right place. Noise-cancelling can make a huge difference to the experience during long commutes and flights. They help you to just tune out outside world, focusing on just your music. QuiteComfort 35 ii are one of the best active noise-cancelling headphones currently available, with the added benefit of Google Assistant integration.
Without further ado, let’s get to it:
Design and Styling
The Bose QuiteComfort 35 ii had one of the best designs that I’ve seen I headphones. The design looks simple, though very elegant. The headphones definitely get the Bose DNA. They come in two colors, black and silver. Both look extremely good, though I prefer the silver one, it just looks more modern and cleaner.
The swiveling cups are extremely sturdy. They make storing the QC 35 ii very easy. The band is made up of glass-filled nylon covered with leather, which feel premium to touch and light to wear. The ear-cup cushions are made of the same material as the headband. They have R and L printed on the inner side, so you’ll never get them on the wrong side.
They come in a hard-protective case, which is black in color irrespective of the device color.
Comfort
Bose has marketed these headphones for people who commute regularly, and they keep the standards in comfort extremely high. After wearing these headphones on many long flights and bus journeys, I would definitely say that these are the best pair that I’ve ever worn. Even after wearing them for 3 hours straight, I never felt uncomfortable or fatigued. Though, I have to say that the pair are a little bit uncomfortable to wear while wearing glasses. The glasses always lead to a lot of sound leakage. The headband is feels very light, almost like it wasn’t there.
Sound and Performance
As with all Bose products, the QuiteComfort 35 ii sounds good. The soundstage is very well-balanced, with just the required amount of base to give much needed depth to music. The mid-tones sound clear and the treble is crisp. Even at high volumes, the treble does not become very shrill and ear-piercing. When listening to music, with the noise-cancelling on, you feel like you’re in a live concert. The details are extremely good, and instrument isolation is good. I could easily hear the faintest of the sounds in any music.
The noise-cancelling capability of the pair, as I’ve said already, are class leading. When you turn the noise-cancelling on, you are just disconnected from the outside world, and can focus on your music. This is a great feature to be used in places like cafes, airports, in flights, etc. But, you do feel a slight pressure of the system when you turn on the noise-cancelling, but not much to actually disturb you.
If you are someone who likes to listen to music at high volumes, you may be at a disadvantage, as the QC 35 ii has a lot of sound leakage at medium to high volumes. The person sitting next to you in a flight would easily know what you’re listening to.
A nice addition to the QuiteComfort 35 ii, when compared to the QC 35, is the dedicated Google Assistant button, which can be remapped as per your preference. The button works well with Android phones, and can do most tasks without you picking up the phone. It can easily be remapped to do other tasks like controlling the level of noise-cancelling from the Bose Connect app. Sadly, the button does not work with Apple’s Siri, but you can open Siri using the play/pause button.
Talking about the Bose Connect app, it really brings up the full potential of the QC 35 ii. The app can be used for many things like naming the pair, remapping the Google Assistant button, and upgrading the firmware. Yeah, you heard it right, you can update the firmware of the headphones. This enables Bose to bring new features to the QuiteComfort 35 ii.
A nifty feature of the pair is that whenever a call comes, the noise-cancelling is automatically reduced so that you hear your voice. This truly helps in not shouting while talking, which I do almost all the time while wearing headphones, but not while using the QC 35 ii.
Verdict
The Bose QuiteComfort 35 ii is a great pair of headphones, with the best-in-class active noise-cancelling and good sound reproduction. They are a must-have for anyone who travels in planes a lot. They are extremely light-weight and comfortable. The pair do come at a premium at $349, but in my opinion that price is justified with the sound quality and noise-cancelling capabilities.
