Bose QuietComfort 35 II
Noise cancellation meets Google smarts
You can press and hold a button to interact with Google without yelling “OK Google”
£329.95 FROM Bose, bose.co.uk features Google Assistant, noise cancellation, Bluetooth, 20-hour battery life, companion app
Bose already has a pair of wireless headphones that come with active noise
cancellation. They’re the impressive QuietComfort 35, but it has now updated its flagship headphones with support for Google Assistant.
You can press and hold a button to interact with Google without yelling, “OK Google”. The headphones will also read notifications to you so you don’t have to dig out your phone. Unfortunately, other useful features like autoplay/pause and instant mute are absent.
The use of plastic is disappointing, but the headphones feel solid. They also come with a hard case for packing away, which is nicer than the pouches many headphone makers opt to include. The lightweight plastic also helps to keep the overall weight down, and we were impressed by how comfortable the headphones were for extended use.
The controls are simple and effective: you have a power and pairing slider on the right earcup, as well as buttons for volume adjustment and playback. The left earcup houses just one button for Google Assistant, though you can remap what that button does when pressed by using Bose’s mobile app.
The companion app – which remaps the Google Assistant button, updates firmware and more – works pretty well. Using Google Assistant alongside the headphones works similarly to Google Home. You can ask it to add reminders, plus read headlines and notifications. The accuracy and speed of Google Assistant was impressive, and the headphones were able to pick up our voice even in the middle of a busy coffee shop.
While the addition of Google Assistant is nice, the noise cancellation, balanced sound, and comfort are the key highlights. Where the headphones fall short, though, is with simple things like pausing when you take them off. There’s also no instant-mute. That said, the noise cancellation is superb, although there’s some pressure with it turned on, but it wasn’t bad. The pads do a great job of blocking out ambient noise, even when noise cancellation is switched off.
The great and the good
Sound quality is good, but not class leading. While tonal balance is relatively neutral with a slight mid-bass bump, the sound is a little soft when compared to competitors. This means that dynamic range is a bit limited and makes for a slightly dull presentation. Resolution is good rather than great, and the sound stage is about average. Battery life is rated at 20 hours with noise cancellation turned on and listening at moderate volumes.
The impressive battery life, good noise cancellation and useful smart assistant make the 35 II a good choice, albeit one that lacks standout audio and a few ease-of-use features.