Bose QC35 Noise Cancelling Headphones

Technology and Internet
#1

I got my pair yesterday, and was lucky enough to trade in my QC25s. I’ve had them a day and given them a fair workout. I thought I would share my thoughts and experience so far.

For a start: I don’t think they are worth $499. Don’t pay full RRP. There have already been deals, watch Ozbargain and keep your eye on your favourite retailer. When I add up how much I paid for my QC25 ($364) plus what I paid to trade in ($120) well I still probably paid two much, but obviously I’m still thankful I didn’t have to sell the QC25s which I would not have sold for $364. I reckon 449 is a much fairer price, and as the model gets older even less. So keep your eye out.

They come in a nice box and a similar case to the QC25, though for some reason there is no imprint of the headphones on the inside to show you how to fold them up so they fit in nicely. I actually found that really useful with the QC25, and I miss it here.

The included cable (which doesn’t have remote buttons or a mic) is a bit wimpy compared to the QC25, but it is shorter, I always found the QC25 one too long for if you wanted to walk and use the headphones. I’m guessing they assume you won’t use the cable much due to the Bluetooth, but come on guys these are ostensibly $500 headphones. A cable costs nothing, so give us something befitting of the product.

I had to charge them up when I unpacked them at my desk at work after buying them at lunch time yesterday. This took about an hour and a half, so they were pretty flat. They come with a Micro USB but I didn’t even unpack it, I’ve got numerous Micro USB’s. I charged the with my ipad charger.

The power switch is in the same spot as the QC25. It’s got three positions: Off/on/Bluetooth. The Bluetooth Position is spring loaded so you kind of squeeze the switch over to start the pairing process, or, later, to switch between paired devices. When you turn it on a voice tells you how much battery you have left, in 10% increments.

You can (and should) install the Bose Connect app on which ever devices you plan to use, it’s available for iOS and Android. Dunno about Windows Phone. You don’t have to use it, but it’s very handy. It lets you manage what devices are paired with the headphones (up to 8) and also set an auto off time. It even shows you the date of manufacturer of your pair (mine was 18/4/16). It will update firmware etc. In fact I just got a firmware update as I’m typing this to 1.0.5, will have to try and find out if that does anything useful.

When you are wearing them and you turn them on it tells you what device you are paired to. It can actually communicate with two devices at once, so for instance I’ve got my iphone 6 and my Nexus 5X. It tells me “connected to Nathan’s Iphone, connected to Nexus 5X”. I can play music from one, and switch to the other. If I’m listening to the nexus, and the iphone rings, I can answer the call.

If you have more than two devices paired, you can use the button on the side to switch to one of the other non active devices, or you can actually go into the Bose app and switch from there. As long as bluetooth is active on the other device, the switch should be instant. The voice will confirm the switch. So far I’ve paired them to my iphone, ipad, Nexus, and my Mac. The Mac was the most fiddly, but I’ve always had problems pairing stuff to it and I’m not blaming the headphones. I’m yet to try something like our Apple TV 4, but I believe that should work.

Noise Cancelling: I reckon they are better than the QC25. I stood in front of our rangehood with it on max power (and it’s very noisy) and I simply couldn’t hear it with music playing. It’s fantastic on the train as well, blocking out people on noisy phone calls. Suck on that, annoying commuters!

Sound Reproduction: pretty similar to the QC25. You either love them or hate them. To be perfectly frank the QC25 just as headphones weren’t the best I’d ever had for listening to music etc. I had some Klipsch headphones which I thought sounded better. But, they didn’t have noise cancelling, and also they made my ears sore after an hour or so of wearing them, and they weren’t wireless. The QC25/35 fixed all these problems.

All in all I’m very happy considering the deal I got, and am now prepared for whatever Apple does later in the year.

2 Likes
#2

Nice write up, Mitty. Now I just have to wait for someone to write words about the B&O Play H5s, and I’ll be all set.

I, for one, welcome our new Bluetooth-headset overlords.

#3

I like the idea of these, but I hate the over ear headphones and I need noise cancelling so the B&O isn’t an option. Hoping that we get noise cancelling wireless in ear similar to the QC20i although I think it may be a long way away.

#4

Bose QC30s, out in September, might be right up your alley.

#5

I’ll be picking up a pair of QC35s in the next few days. The 25s are fantastic headphones but I hate the over-long cable (I’m always getting it caught on train seats, cafe tables, or my own arm), so I’m really looking forward to cutting it out.

#6

Sadly, I’m not going to be in the market for QC35s until my next overseas flight. I hardly ever use them at home, and never on public transport.

What happens when the battery runs out? You have to plug them in to use, but there’s no noise-cancelling, right? And does it sound a lot different when you’re not using noise-cancelling, like the QC25s do?

#7

So far given my very short commute, I haven’t even hit 90% since I’ve had them. I reckon the battery is gonna last me ages. And @mrjesseross you are correct, that cord was way too long. There are aftermarket shorter ones on ebay, I’ve actually ordered one to use with these because I hate the included one so much.

Another thing to note: on the QC25 the headphone socket was recessed so that only a very thin plug would go in the hole, but on the QC35 it’s flush with the surface so any aftermarket cable you buy will work, but remember the plug is only 2.5mm on the headphone side, not 3.5mm.

@bennyling Re using them without batteries, yep, no noise cancelling. The sound seems fine however. But given how often it tells you how much battery is left, I’m guessing most people will recharge well before that ever happens.

#8

Thanks Bennyling. Thats exactly what I am after.

#9

Day to day that’s probably fine but at an estimated 20hrs battery life that’d only just be enough to get you through numerous airports and 17hrs across the Pacific. Can you still use them while connected to the micro usb for charging?

I love my Bose A20 and get around 50 flight hours out of a set of AAs but they’re overly bulky and unnecessary unless you’re up the pointy end of the plane so I’m very tempted by the QC30s!

#10

Just tried. Noise cancelling and Bluetooth don’t operate whilst charging. A full charge can take around 2 hours apparently so I guess in my case I would use either in seat power or a power brick to charge them whilst transiting on a really long trip, but then again I’m not planning on any really long trips any time soon. But I guess for regular long haul travellers, it might be a concern.

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#11

So after buying myself a pair on Saturday (got them for $448 thanks to Bose price-matching online reseller prices), I just took them out for a spin on the train to work.

To my ears, the noise cancelling is as good, if not better than the QC25s. The fit also seems somewhat tighter, they’re less prone to slipping backwards on my head. Naturally, they sound amazing. I had my phone on shuffle this morning, so went through a mix including 1970s rock, 1990s Britpop, 2010s indie, industrial and Finnish big-band/hip-hop (an interesting experience, that one), and they all sounded great. No issues with bass on the industrial stuff, which is nice.

The lack of cable is going to take some getting used to. I felt like something was missing as I put them on, and it felt wrong to be hitting play on my iPhone without anything plugged in. I have a tendency to snag the cable on train seats, so when I get on the train I always go to grab it, but today there was nothing to grab. Made the process much less awkward. I also didn’t have to remember not to sit on the cable and yank it out of the socket. For me, that alone is worth the price.

I’ll note that I have encountered an interesting BT issue. It seems that when my iPhone bounces around in my pocket it does something to the signal which causes cutouts in the audio. I can also cause the glitches just by spinning the phone around in my hand. I have a feeling this is just down to my iPhone being a bit shit (it’s having serious battery issues at the moment and I’m taking it to the store later this week) rather than there being something wrong with the headphones’ BT capabilities, as I’ve not read anything about the issue anywhere else. It’s something I’ll be looking out for over the next few days.

My own phone’s bugginess aside, I really couldn’t be happier with my purchase. Terrific headphones.

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#12

I’ve noticed that I get dropouts from my phone when I’m walking, but I had a thought and disconnected my ipad which was also connected and in my backpack. Suddenly, no dropouts. If you have another device connected as well, try disconnecting it (just use the Bose App to do so) and see if that makes any difference.

I do wonder, when Bluetooth headphones become more prevalent (as will surely happen if the next iphone drops the headphone socket) what that will do to reception quality on public transport and out and about, etc. There must be some point of failure where too many devices in the one vicinity means none of them will work.

#13

The only other device I’ve paired with is my iMac, so I don’t think this is the case… However, I do live next to the station so maybe it’s just within BT range. Doubtful, but I’ll see what happens tomorrow. :slight_smile:

#14

Here’s a deal to get them cheaply at Myer. Trade in ANY headphones, get em for $424. Find the cheapest crappiest Earbuds you can dig out of your spare parts drawer, we all have them :wink:

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#15

Sadly, Bose has the patents for the best noise cancelling, but if you want sound quality, the best I’ve heard so far were the Sony “h.ear on” model which is good enough to fool someone into thinking they are listening to high-quality, ordinary wired headphones. But the noise cancelling is only moderate, cutting out low frequency sounds for the most part. I don’t know if they are available in Australia though.

#16

Can I ask you for more details on the trade in Mitty?
Is the deal still on?

#17

Presumably. I’d heard that people on Whirlpool were doing it, but only for QC25. Bought after Feb 1. I had bought mine back in May last year… But gotten them replace on January 30, at the Bose Store, when one side stopped working (a common fault apparently in the early QC25’s). I hadn’t even considered I might be eligible, but all the talk about the new model made me figure I might as well go in and ask and I had nothing to lose. So I did and they let me upgrade for $120. It all depends how long you’ve had your QC25’s I guess, and who you get in the Bose store. I didn’t lie and told them the entire story. It was no problem for them at all. Stellar service in my opinion, but I guess like anything YMMV. It can’t hurt to ask. Best chance of success if you have the box and all the guff from the QC25’s (I did).

#18

Great, thanks for the detailed response Mitty, i’ll make my way to a Bose store