Search on the phrase ‘Bose QC35 Review’ and you will be shown thousands of positive reviews
and videos. Now the successor has come along, so will it continue carrying the crown or will it
stumble?
The Good
5* Noise Cancelling
There is a reason why Bose are known for noise cancelling technology. They are the best. These
are no exception, with 3 different gradients; High / Low / Off there is a setting to suit every
situation. Walking to work with the setting on High means I can get lost in the music I'm listening
too but once I arrive at work I can switch them to Low or Off depending on how much I need to
hear what my co-workers are saying. I've found that re-mapping the Google Assistant button
(more on this later) to toggle the noise cancelling settings is a dream. Its super quick to do and
doesn't involve the hassle of having to get you phone out to use their app.
Comfort
Wearing headphones of any sort for a long time will put strain on your ears. Ive found previous
pairs of over-ear headphones I've owned to warm up my ears and make it uncomfortable to wear
after a sustain period. However, so far with theses Ive had no problems at all. The longest Ive
worn them in a session is 4 hours and they were incredibly comfy without any irritation. I think this
is partly down to the shape of the ear cup and the padding but mainly I think its because of their
weight. They are incredibly light due to their plastic construction, yet still feel a premium product.
Battery
Like anything theses days which promises to be wireless and light, you always think that where
they’ve cut corners is on the battery life. Bose promise up to 20 hours and so far I’d agree with
that figure. Im only charging them around once a week and I use them for a few hours each day.
Plus with the addition of a quick charge feature where 15 Mins will give you 2.5 hours, I think for
the weight and compared to rivals its an excellent offering.
The Bad
The App
The app is not terrible but its not standout either. It has some good features like being able to
update the software of the headphones and track certain models if you cant remember where you
put them. However compared to it’s competitors it’s missing some features, the main one is an
EQ. It would be great if you could tailor the sound style to your current activity, for example having
a Movie mode or Music Genre specific settings. Since this probably only requires an update to the
app I'm hopeful we will it soon.
Google Assistant
This a Marmite feature, either you will love it or you won’t. Personally I don't use Google Assistant
enough yet to find this a hugely beneficial part, however now that it is only a simple press away
maybe I will. It also means if you use another assistant like Alexa or Siri you wont be able to use
them as Google have exclusive rights. I don't see this being a huge factor for most people but its
still something to bare in mind especially if you’re immersed in the Apple ecosystem.
USB-C Or Lack Of
This isn’t really a bad point, its more of personal preference. I would have preferred that since this
was a newly released product and its quite obvious now that USB-C is the future standard, that
they changed the charging connector. This would be a future proofing feature as within the next 2
years nearly everything you buy will be USB-C I believe so having to find an ‘old’ Micro-USB
cable will be annoying.
Verdict
The mark ii’s are evolution rather than revolution. This is certainly no bad thing, the platform
before were outstanding and these continue to be. The sound quality is superb, coupled with the
best in class noise cancelling technology and you really do feel like you can lose yourself in the
music. Overall the bad points are really just small niggles and nothing that would put me off
buying this product. Whereas the good points are each good enough to justify the product on
their own.
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