Bose 700 Over the Ear ANC Headphones
[Tl;dr: These are great travel headphones for when you want really good noise cancelation. The sound quality is pretty good, but not what I want for a pure music headphone. They continue to be my go-to plane headphone, but I very rarely reach for them in any other context; they live in their case under my computer desk when they’re not in a suitcase.]
Scores:
Cost-agnostic: 7 out of 10 Denalis
Cost-sensitive: 9 out of 10 Denalis
Intro. The Bose 700 is Bose’s current flagship consumer headphone and has been for at least the last couple of years. I was actually really surprised to discover that I hadn’t ever reviewed these, so this is part of a series where I go back to old standbys that I apparently failed to review early on.
These are probably my … tenth pair of Bose headphones? I’ve had the QC15s, QC25s, demoed a pair of QC45s for a month, and have had a few of their wireless earbuds (Soundsport Pulse Wireless, which I loved), and a variety of wired earbuds over the years (particularly the SoundSport line, which I also loved). I’m mostly a fan of Bose’s mostly-neutral sound profile, and they were the first company that I experienced with really good active noise cancelling (“ANC”) that didn’t produce so much overpressure that it made me uncomfortable after a few hours. These 700s were the first noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones I’ve kept long-term.
Sound. These aren’t audiophile-grade headphones, but they’re not really supposed to be. Their niche is decent sound and really good noise cancelation for the consumer market. [Note: I mostly only use these with the ANC turned on all the way, so my review of their sound is based on that experience. Most testing was done with an iPhone 15 and Apple Music, with locally-stored CD-quality files (in Apple’s proprietary format), though some was also done using locally-stored Amazon Prime TV shows or using Delta’s in-flight infotainment system.]
Standard disclaimer from other Bluetooth reviews: It's still Bluetooth so you're always getting a lossy signal and it gets more complicated when you start using the on-board mic for phone calls. Unlike a lot of Bluetooth-enabled headphones, these do have a wired option and that eliminates this downside if you don’t mind having a cord attached.
Treble: The treble on these isn’t particularly noteworthy or dynamic, but it’s perfectly acceptable. Brass fanfare on Brasstrack’s “Intro” is nice and forward without being harsh, and the bright high strings on Yo-Yo Ma’s rendition of “1B” are clean and crisp. They even do pretty well with the high synth warbles on Sylvan Esso’s “Coffee,” and Miles Davis’ muted trumpet on “Will o’ the Wisp” is genuinely nice.
Mid-range: The midrange is fine, if not particularly crisp or dynamic. You can still hear the claps on “Paradise Circus” by Massive Attack, but they’re a little buried in the mix through the 700s compared to a lot of headphones in this general range. Both male and female voices are reproduced reasonably faithfully, though Christine Hoberg’s voice isn’t quite as elevated or forward on Flight Facilities’ “Clair De Lune” as I would prefer. Tracey Thorn’s vocals on “Hunter Gets Captured by the Game” are lovely and present.
Bass: The bass is nothing to write home about, but is also generally fine. (No doubt you’re noticing a pattern by now). You can hear most of the notes on “Paradise Circus” by Massive Attack, even if the attack isn’t particularly pronounced or crisp and some of the faster notes get a tiny bit muddled or spluttery. “Superpredators” is reasonably clear, if a tiny bit sloppy when the woofers are trying to reproduce too many bass frequencies at once. You do lose a bit of the bass line on Janet Jackson’s “Got ‘Til it’s Gone”, but that’s a pretty common complaint for me with most headphones. They do manage to convey the heavy atmosphere of Andy Stott’s “Violence,” which isn’t a trivial thing.
Overall: These are fine consumer/prosumer-grade headphones. The soundstage isn’t particularly wide (even on a track like DMB’s “So Much to Say” that normally feels very wide and seperated), and the dynamic range isn’t great (the slow crescendo in Glass Animals’ “It’s All So Incredible Loud” isn’t that noticeable). That said, I’m not sure you’re ever going to get particularly great sound while using ANC in a loud environment like a plane, and that’s not the purpose of a pair of headphones like this.
Noise canceling. The ANC on these is definitely the standout feature (and the reason I still own these). The background noise is substantially reduced and the headphones don’t generate the kind of overpressure that I associate with many other noise-canceling systems. They don’t have the same high sampling rate as headphones like the AirPods Max or Pro2, so they’re a little more susceptible to new noises (or brief noises like someone snapping or a car backfiring), but their ability to cancel out steady, baseline noises is unparalleled even compared to much more expensive ANC headsets I’ve used. The AirPods Pro2 are a surprisingly close in terms of background elimination, but there is a reason I throw the Bose in my bag whenever I’m getting on a plane.
Spatial audio. Nope!
Controls. The controls on the Bose are not unintuitive, but they are different than most of my other headphones. I think I’d internalize them pretty well if I used them more frequently, but given how little I’ve been traveling over the last four or five years, I have to spend a little time on each flight remembering how they work.
Basically, the front half of the right ear cup (but not the bridge) is touch sensitive. Swiping up and down increases or decreases volume, a swipe forward or backward skips tracks forward and backwards, a double tap pauses or plays, and a press and hold announces the battery level. This is mostly fine, as long as you put the headphones on the right way (remember: the buttons go on the back of the headphones!). There’s an on/off button on the back of the right ear cup which you press once to turn off and off, or hold to set Bluetooth pairing, and a button on the back of the left ear cup that turns ANC on 100%, 50%, or off.
They’re just different enough from the Beats Studio Wireless that I use every day when walking Denali that they throw me off each time I used them, I’ll hold the power button to turn them on (as I would on the Beats) and will inadvertently enter pairing mode, or I’ll try to press and hold to trigger Siri and instead will get battery levels, etc. I’d always prefer physical buttons for audio control, but these are still fine.
So overall, the controls are mostly not bad, just not what I expect in the year of our Lord Steven Jobs 2023.
Connectivity. Bluetooth or corded. Pairing isn’t as slick as AirPods, but honestly nothing really ever will be. They connect easily to my various iOS devices, Apple laptops, and PC laptop/tablets and I never had a problem getting them connected. They will connect to two devices at once, which is nice when swapping between music on my phone and a movie on a tablet. My only complaint is an infrequent but annoying one second audio cutout when connected to a Samsung Tab A, but I honestly don’t know if that’s an issue with the headphones, the tablet, or the combination of the two.
Weirdly, I really love that these have an optional 1/8” audio cable. Paired with an adapter, they’re great for using in-flight infotainment systems, which as far as I can tell you can’t do at all with the AirPods Max without a Bluetooth adapter.
Charging is accomplished using a USB-C cable, This is nice, and I would like Apple to get their act together and adopt the USB-C standard for things other than iPads and the new iPhone.
Bose says that these can run up to 20 hours on a single charge, and that seems about right. After about 14 hours of flight I was down to around 10% charge, but these are also a few years old and I tend to charge to 100% more than is probably good for the battery.
Comfort. This is one of Bose’s strong suits. When I first got these I was worried that the clamping force was too weak and that they’d slide around or slide off my head during use, but I’ve never had a problem. That might be in part due to how light they are; there’s not a lot of inertia when you move your head around with them on, unlike say the AirPods Max (which are really quite heavy). These are comfortable for long periods, even when wearing glasses that have a tendency to cut into my temples a little with headphones on. The cups individually slide up and down on the U-shaped central bridge, which gives you a lot of control over their positioning, though they do need to be slid all the way up in order to fit in the provided case, which means every time I take them out there’s a little bit of futzing around to get them comfortably sitting on my ears.
Construction. These feel light and relatively cheap, but they appear to be solidly constructed. I’ve definitely dropped and stepped on them over the years, and they’re still in great operational condition. Basically made entirely out of plastic, with what I’m pretty sure is pleather ear cups with decent foam inside.
The included carrying case is really well done, too. There's a compartment for the various bits and bobs (USB-C charging case, audio cable, etc., and enough room for an Apple dongle or plane converter too). The fit is tight but not overly so, and the case is slim enough that it slips into my carry-on or a seatback pouch easily.
Appearance. I think they’re stylish. I went with the silver option, which is nice, clean, and modern-looking, if not quite as visually striking as the AirPods Max. They’re distinctive enough that other headphone nerds will 100% recognize them out in public, for better or worse.
[ignore the two weeks of unrestrained beard growth. I've been on vacation.]
Comparisons. There are definitely a lot of decent ANC options on the market these days, and the Bose’s competitors run the gamut from less than $100 to thousands of dollars, with the introduction of some of the audiophile manufacturers’ Bluetooth and ANC options. Of the things I’ve spent a lot of time with, I think the most reasonable comparisons are the AirPods Max and Pro2, the Beats Studio Wireless, and Bose’s own QC15/25/45 line.
The 700s beat the Beats pretty handily, both in terms of sound quality and ANC. These are just a better product all around, especially if you’re looking at both at MSRP. If you’re looking at the prices you’re actually paying these days for both … yeah, the 700s are still just better. I have and use the Beats because they’re cheap enough to replace that if I break them in the gym or if they get wet while I’m walking Denali, I won’t be heartbroken. For anything where I care about sound quality or actually really want noise cancelation, I’d grab the 700s every time.
The AirPods are a much closer comparison to me. Both sets of AirPods have better sound quality than the 700s for almost every application, but I think the 700s edge out both in terms of pure cancelation of steady background noise (though the Airpods easily beat the 700s in terms of canceling brief, intermittent noises with their frankly ridiculous sample rates). The Pro2 are pretty comparable in price (you can get both for around $250 most of the time). In the vast majority of situations, I’d go with the Pro2. They’re just such damned. Good. Headphones. And so much more versatile; they’re in my pocket 95% of the time when I’m out of my house, and within arm’s reach almost all of the time when I’m in it. That said, specifically when on an airplane, the 700s edge the Pro2 out. The slightly better noise canceling, the fact that other people on the plane know that I’m clearly wearing headphones, and the ability to hardwire to the plane’s system … it’s enough to make the 700s the plain (plane ?) winner. I currently have the Max sitting on the shelf next to me on the plane and I’ve been swapping back and forth, and I keep coming back to the 700s. Again, the sound quality is still better on the Max (and for extra $200 or so, it should be), but I think the baseline ANC is better on the 700s.
As for the other Bose: there’s a reason that I packed these instead of the QC25s sitting in my closet, and why I’ve done so every time I flown since I bought them. I think the QC15s and QC25s have slightly better noise cancelation, but both are wired-only and on a plane, Bluetooth is just a really convenient option to have. I was … deeply unimpressed with the QC45s I tried a few years ago. They packed a little smaller (having a folding bridge), but these are just better headphones and in the same general price range. Probably time to find a new home for the QC25s …
Value. At MSRP, these are $299 which is more than the AirPods Pro 2 at MSRP ($250, $220 on sale most of the time). I think the Pro2 are a better headphone, most of the time and in most circumstances. That said, I’ve maintained all along that the Pro2 are an incredible value and not a fair metric for most headphones to be judged against. These are good headphones, and very well suited for a specific purpose. If I broke them, I’d definitely replace them (that is, if Bose didn’t swap them out for free, which they’ve done for a number of pairs of their headphones over the years). Consider the fact that they’re almost always available on sale given their sheer volume of production, and I think they’re a really decent value.
Overall. These are my go-to plane headphones for a reason, and they continue to be so despite some really strong offerings in this market in the last few years. I’ll use them anytime I’m on a plane, but pretty much no other contexts given the kinds of headphones I have kicking around.
#reviews #headphones #apple #anc #bluetooth #spatialaudio #onear #bose #travel #2023
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