A perennial contender as far as
noise-cancelling headphones go, the
QuietComfort 35 II (henceforth QC
35II) are the latest off erings from Bose.
These pair alcantara with plastic for
excellent comfort and bring back all
the noise-cancelling goodness of the
previous version.
What’s new, is
the ability to cycle
between active
noise-cancelling
levels from a button
on the back of the
left ear cup. Dubbed
the “Action” button,
this can also be set to
let you call up either
Google Assistant or
Alexa, so you can have control of all
your smart devices at a touch. Bose’s
MusicShare feature also makes a
reappearance, so you can wirelessly
share your music with a friend if he’s
also using a pair of Bose headphones
using the Bose Connect app.
That’s also where you’ll nd the last
eight devices paired to the headphones.
The QC 35 II will automatically connect
to the two most recently paired devices,
but you can obviously only play audio
from one device at a time. Still, having
such a list is incredibly convenient when
switching between sources.
Not much has changed from a
listening perspective either. The QC 35 II
plays well regardless of your preferred
genre of music, though we did nd the
sweet spot of performance
to be in the midrange. For
example, on a recording of
Live and Let Die by Guns
N’ Roses, the headphones
delivered good energy with
the drums and bass work
rendered with good body
and clarity.
Moving to Technologic by
Daft Punk gave the QC35 II a
chance to show off its ability
to handle faster moving pieces, as well
as its imaging capabilities. With this,
the headphone did well to keep good
separation between the vocals and the
layers of eff ects in the track.
Finishing off with Queen’s Bohemian
Rhapsody, we were again impressed by
the QC35 II’s delivery. The headphones
delivered the vocals of the band well
forward of the backing instruments,
with perhaps the widest soundstage
of the bunch.
TEST
Being able to store the last
eight paired devices makes
for faster pairing.
Not a big upgrade from the
previous version.
There’snowa dedicatedbutton to
callupyoursmartassistant.
ATA GLANCE
FREQUENCY
RESPONSE
20Hz-20kHz
BATTERYLIFE
20 hours(Wireless
andANCenabled)
QUICKCHARGE
2.5hours
after 15 minutes
WEIGHT
240g
PRICE
$529
Music share is a great way
to tune in together.
BOSE QUIETCOMFORT 35 II
48 HWM | AUGUST 2019