Bose's new Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are based on the legendary QuietComfort series

[Shawn Knight]

In brief: In the music department, Bose said the headset has been engineered with proprietary active equalization meaning they can avoid boosted bass, vocals, and treble that create listener fatigue over time. Instead, they opt for clear, natural and balanced reproduction.

Bose introduced on Wednesday a new set of over-ear headphones built off the legendary performance of the QuietComfort series.

The wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 feature a staggering eight microphones to assist with noise cancellation and improve voice pickup. Bose said they’re designed to “transform the most demanding environments into private sanctuaries for listening” and “transform the same public spaces into private rooms for talking with friends, family and virtual personal assistants."

Capacitive touch is used for common tasks like answering and ending calls, adjusting volume and pausing, playing or skipping tracks. You also get three physical buttons – one for turning the unit on and off, another to access noise cancellation levels and a third to activate your virtual personal assistant of choice – either Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant.

Bose’s latest offers up to 20 hours of battery life for all-day use and can fold flat with a twist of the ear cups, allowing them to store neatly in a hard case. They’ll be offered in your choice of black or silver and priced at $399.95 when they launch on June 30. Interested parties can pre-order the cans starting today.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/80290-bose-new-noise-cancelling-headphones-700-based-legendary.html

 

[VitalyT]

Wow! I have my Bose QuietComfort 35 II (the predecessor) on as I read this article. It was one of the best purchases I made last year. They have the best noise cancellation on the market, excellent sound and overall quality. And they also feature 20 hours of battery life.

Whether the new ones will be an improvement - remains to be seen.

 

[ShagnWagn]

"they can avoid boosted bass, vocals, and treble"

Bose's motto for several decades now. They do not focus on accurate audio reproduction. They make it sound terrible on purpose, and jack the price up for the privilege of their name. lol

I won QC3 headphones 10 years ago. They are real nice, but not $250+ nice. These new ones are butt ugly to me. I wonder if they would take care of the guy here at work's incessant coughing problem. He coughs very loudly (echoes) about every 10 seconds - all day. every day. I've worked here by him for almost 4 years. If you do the math, I have had to hear his ear blasting cough 2 MILLION times. And he could care less about anyone else around him.

 

[mctommy]

Best travel/airplane headphones for noise cancelling: QC35. They are light, block out the noise, and the sound is good (not excellent). I might have to get these to add to my collection of headphones.

 

[EClyde]

What would tech writer's do if the could not use the word "legendary"

 

[Buhaj]

Seems like everybody is forgetting the Sony WH1000XM3. Don't they have even better noise cancelling?

 

[Fearghast]

Seems like everybody is forgetting the Sony WH1000XM3. Don't they have even better noise cancelling?

Sure they are better sounding and have better ANC, but their mics are unusable for handsfree (unlike Bose) and build quality of Sony simply sucks.
Still Sony or Bose cost around 300$, but they sound like 100$ headphones.

 

[BabyFaceLee]

Seems like everybody is forgetting the Sony WH1000XM3. Don't they have even better noise cancelling?

I think the Mk4 versions will probably arrive in August so if they improve their mics they would be better than the Bose QC35 on all fronts.

 

[Fearghast]

Seems like everybody is forgetting the Sony WH1000XM3. Don't they have even better noise cancelling?

I think the Mk4 versions will probably arrive in August so if they improve their mics they would be better than the Bose QC35 on all fronts.

TBH I do not think MK4 is coming this year. Sony is surprisingly silent this time - 2020 or even 2021 would be my guess.
Not like there are any ANC headphones that are better sounding ... sadly.

 

[Bats Dude]

There is NOT a headphone on the planet worth that kind of money! Just why does this site feel that everyone out here in the REAL world has unlimited wealth? WE DO NOT!

 

[Fearghast]

There is NOT a headphone on the planet worth that kind of money! Just why does this site feel that everyone out here in the REAL world has unlimited wealth? WE DO NOT!

There is plenty of headphones worth even more thatn that.
You can't tell the difference? That's fine.

 

[EClyde]

There is plenty of headphones worth even more thatn that.
You can't tell the difference? That's fine.

Worth? Nope

 

[brucek]

I have had to hear his ear blasting cough 2 MILLION times. And he could care less about anyone else around him.

Off topic, but in addition to feeling sorry for you, I couldn't also but help to feel sorry for this poor chap. No one coughs 2 million times for fun and it seems fair to assume his medical issue goes well beyond failing to clear his throat in the morning. Assuming he is in the location your mutual employer has required him to be in, maybe this is an issue to take up with HR?

 

[brucek]

There is NOT a headphone on the planet worth that kind of money! Just why does this site feel that everyone out here in the REAL world has unlimited wealth? WE DO NOT!

The headphones were priced by Bose, not this site. Bose presumably has reason to believe they will sell at that price (meaning, the already planned sale prices they will soon enough be discounted to.)

If they are wrong it is them and their investors who will pay for it. Based on how many of the previous model I've seen, also not cheap, they're probably not wrong though.

For what it's worth the previous model were either the highest, or one of the highest, rated pairs on rtings.com, and have been well covered in "what headphones should I buy?" type articles. Techspot is not crazy thinking there may be reader interest.

Either way, flagship products like this are good for everyone. Those with disposable income get to enjoy the latest tech now, and also are funding more than their fair share of the R&D that will show up in much more affordable mainstream products in the near future.

 

[mctommy]

There is NOT a headphone on the planet worth that kind of money! Just why does this site feel that everyone out here in the REAL world has unlimited wealth? WE DO NOT!

Why the need for generalization. Some of us do have money to spend on this and we don't have unlimited wealth. Heck, there are headphones twice as expensive as these and there are still buyers. At the end of the day, this is a technology site and they are reporting on an expensive piece of technology.

I mean there was over 2k people on spent $200 on these ugly headphones that are behind production and dev by 2-3 years: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sound-world-s-most-comfortable-smart-headphones#/

 

[ShagnWagn]

Off topic, but in addition to feeling sorry for you, I couldn't also but help to feel sorry for this poor chap. No one coughs 2 million times for fun and it seems fair to assume his medical issue goes well beyond failing to clear his throat in the morning. Assuming he is in the location your mutual employer has required him to be in, maybe this is an issue to take up with HR?

I consider this somewhat on topic because I brought it up questioning if these headphones would help.

Thank you. I do feel sorry for him, but he could care less for anyone else. Supposedly the one doctor he tried simply said "there is nothing I can do". He is also a major a-hole which makes it hard to have mercy upon him. 2 million times is just what I've had to endure during working hours. I imagine it continues when he leaves the office, which would mean a million coughs every year. I wonder if it's while he sleeps, which would be 1.5 million coughs a year? It can't be good on his heart. Everyone around him has to wear headphones, which makes talking/hearing over the walls with each other difficult. There is a loss of productivity, which at least for me has cost the company well over $100,000. It is difficult to concentrate. I have spoke with management, but they quickly change the subject. Yes, perhaps I should go to HR? I have to turn my headphones up into the "warning - hearing damage" red bar to not hear him, so this is also a health issue for me. I have constant ringing in my ears since working here. Hmm. At a minimum maybe HR could expense a set of headphones that would help more than my Bose? But that will not help the lack of communication between teams.

If this were me, I would scour the country asking multiple doctors. At a minimum I would request being put into a room away from others.