Design and features:This model has controls for music player play/pause, next/prev track, call connect/disconnect, volume, noise cancellation/ambient sound monitoring, and voice control activation. It supports digital voice assistants when used with Bluetooth devices that have those capabilities. The free Bose Music app download for Apple and Android mobile devices adds additional features and software updates.
Sound quality:We found the QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling provides excellent active noise reduction and delivers sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can best be summarized as somewhat bassy and grainy and a bit etched. With the noise cancelling mode set to Quiet and the EQ set to flat (the default setting) in the Bose Music app, the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is somewhat prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is a bit thin, etched (a bit more sharply outlined then it should be), and congested (think sonic traffic jam), somewhat grainy, and a touch hazy. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended, but is a somewhat prominent and a bit sizzly (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer have a sound reminiscent of bacon frying) and smeared. The sound also has a good sense of liveliness and is somewhat open--sound-wise it almost seems like you don't have anything plugging up your ears. It also does a decent job of recovering the room ambience of recordings. These headphones provide excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. A faint rushing sound is audible when there is no audio program material to mask it.
Comfort and Fit:We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears.
As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use.
Large
Users with larger heads might find that the headband does not have enough adjustment range to allow the ear cups to rest properly over the ears and/or that the headband presses uncomfortably on the top of the head.
Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feel cramped, or that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the ear pad seal and reduce the bass response and/or noise reduction capabilities of the headphone.
Stability
Some users may find that when they lean far forward the headphones feel unstable and shift forward, possibly to the point of falling off.
Other noise
When wearing this model while walking the muffled vibrations from each foot step can be heard slightly through the headphones regardless of whether or not the headphones are in noise cancelling mode.
When the audio cord is used the sound of it rubbing on clothing may be faintly heard through the headphones.
