Most of the wireless headphones with active noise cancellation we've tested have been mediocre at best. Some feature solid wireless audio performance, but few match it with quality noise cancellation. That Bose, the leader in noise-canceling headphones for some time, was waiting to produce a wireless model, was telling—it seemed it was perhaps too expensive to produce quality versions of both features in one package, or too draining on battery life.
But Bose's latest headphone pair, the QuietComfort 35, delivers the top-of-the-line noise cancellation the company is known for and, finally, the Bluetooth audio it has honed with its SoundLink lineup. It'll cost you around $350, a $50 increase over the wired QuietComfort 25. Is it worth it? In a word: Yes. The QC 35 is our Editor's' Choice award winner. Read on, to find out why.
Available in black or silver models, the QuietComfort 35 has the modern look and feel of recent Bose Bluetooth headphones like the SoundLink Around-Ear II. That means a matte finish and very little in the way of flashy design accents. As should be expected from the product name, the QC 35 is comfortable, with plush padding in the earpads and on the underside of the headband.
The right earcup houses all of the controls on the outside panel, including a Power/Pairing switch, a multifunction button (for playback, call management, and track navigation), and dedicated volume controls (which work in conjunction with your device's master volume levels). There are also LED indicators for battery life and Bluetooth status next to this control panel, as well as a connection port for the included micro USB charging cable.
An audio cable is included to optionally let you use the QC 35 as wired headphones. It connects to the left earcup, but like the QC 25 it lacks an inline remote control/mic. This means you can only field calls when you're paired with your device, and you have to control playback on the device itself when in wired audio mode. Dual microphones on the headphones themselves combine for better call clarity than you get from a single inline mic (they cut down on wind and ambient background noise), so at least there's an upside to the onboard-only mic system.
Pairing is a simple and quick process. It can be done via your device's Bluetooth menu, or simply tapping to pair with NFC. Bose estimates the QC 35 has a battery life of roughly 20 hours (in Bluetooth mode) or 40 hours (in wired listening mode), but your results will also vary with your volume levels. When the battery finally dies, you can still listen passively via the cable, but the active noise cancellation and digital signal processing (DSP) will not function.
Bose's free Connect app for Android and iOS also allows for easy switching between Bluetooth devices. This is useful if you receive a call on your phone but are streaming music from your tablet. Robotic vocal prompts tell you how much battery life you have and what device you're connected to just after powering up. You can disable this in the Connect app, and customize the auto power settings. In addition to the aforementioned cables, the QC 35 ships with an airline jack adapter and an excellent zip-up hardshell case that the headphones fold down into for easy stowing.
First, let's discuss the noise cancellation. Bose invented active noise cancellation as we know it, and has always been a step ahead of the competition with every new QuietComfort release, even if the improvements were only incremental at times. The QC 35 is the most effective noise cancellation you will find in a commercially available headphone pair, but it helps to understand the limits of noise cancellation circuitry.
For instance, the QC 35 has no problem eliminating powerful, constant sounds like the rumble of an airplane, a train, or the whir of an air conditioning unit. But if you have intermittent noise around you—say, a coworker with a very loud, arrhythmic laugh, the QC 35 will likely let a decent amount of that sound through.
That said, recent QC models have had more success in tamping down the human voice; if someone is whispering or talking in a moderate tone nearby, the QC 35 will likely do a solid job of eliminating most of the sound. If you want top-of-the-line noise cancellation, this is it.
For those who care about the audio experience just as much as noise cancellation, this is an area Bose has improved upon greatly in recent years. The QC 35's sound signature is still not going to be in line with what purists and audiophiles are after—this is not a flat response-style, critical-listening headphone pair.
The aforementioned DSP can sound like it's squashing dynamics here and there, and the EQ sculpting is noticeable—the highs are tweaked, as are the lower frequencies. All of this is activated to varying degrees depending on the frequency content of the song and the volume level.
That said, Bose does a fine job of balancing things out. For instance, the Active EQ, as Bose refers to it, really boosts the bass when you listen at low volume levels. There's some solid logic to this: Perception of bass response will often increase with volume level, so at a low volume, you hear less of the bass guitar line or kick drum thump. Bose addresses this automatically, and while audiophiles may want more say in the matter, it's a feature plenty of listeners will enjoy.
If you don't need the wireless audio and really just want top-notch noise cancellation, Bose still sells its excellent QuietComfort 25 headphones, and they'll cost you $50 less. However, in the realm of noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones, you simply can't do better than this. The QuietComfort 35 delivers industry-leading noise cancellation and solid Bluetooth audio, and wins our Editors' Choice award in the process.
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