Bose QuietComfort 35 II Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones— Wireless, Over Ear Headphones with Built in Microphone and Alexa Voice Control, Silver

I give it five stars. My wife hates them she would give it 1. I put them on and that’s it. I can’t hear her any more.

Around the holidays, I decided to treat myself to a pair of high quality headphones. I live in the central area of a major US city, and to be frank the noise pollution was driving me a little crazy. I was interested in a pair of headphones that would give me some peace and quiet, so I spent a lot of time looking at ANC (active noise-Cancelling) options and the Sony WH1000MX3 and Bose QuietComfort 35 II were easily the top picks among reviews.However, there were a lot of different opinions about which was better. The split was about 50/50 between the Sony and Bose, so I was pretty torn. Even though they were heavily discounted for the holidays ($280 each), that's a lot of money considering I generally never spend more than $50 for headphones. So I bought them both as an experiment, with the plan to return one after I made a decision.Let me get this out of the way now, because I'm going to get pretty detailed below. Ultimately, I understand why there's such a debate about whether the Sony or Bose is better. They are both fantastic headphones. I loved them so much that I made the probably financially irresponsible decision to keep them both! They were both so good, but better than the other in completely unique ways. For that reason, there was no dealbreaker for me that makes one superior than the other -- It really comes down completely to personal preference and that's why there is so much debate.The TL;DR of this review is that you should buy the Sony if you value sound quality most, and don't plan to wear them for long periods of time (i.e. over 5-6 hours per session). You should buy the Bose if you value comfort the most, and if you're planning to use them for phone calls.If you're interested in a bit more detail, I'll give my opinions on these aspects: ANC, Sound, Comfort, VersatilityANCThe noise-cancelling on both of these is phenomenal. I had assumed Bose would do better at this since it's what they're known for, but I'm surprised to say the Sony's ANC is slightly better. It does a bit better blocking out non-drone sounds (i.e. people talking, sharp noises, etc) compared to the Bose. With that said, they both are practically equal and I don't think the Sony ANC is so much better than the Bose that it would justify buying them on that factor alone. When wearing either pair, I sometimes feel like a spaceman walking around my apartment because everything is so quiet.SOUNDThis is a clear winner for Sony. No questions asked, the sound is clearer, crisper, and deeper. This is especially noticeable when watching movies/TV shows or playing video games. With the Sony, I feel like I can hear each individual sound clearly, whereas with the Bose everything is a little more muddled together. With that being said, the Bose sound is perfectly acceptable and even 'good'. It's just that for a $300 pair of headphones I'd expect a more premium quality where I am amazed at how clear the sound is. The Sony does that; the Bose are a tier below.COMFORTHands down, the Bose are better. I can literally wear them for 14 hours and they don't bother me except for needing to give my ears a little air every once in a while. I have never, ever worn a pair of headphones this comfortable before. I'm especially grateful for this comfort now that I'm working from home all day because of COVID-19. The Sony headphones are a bit heavier and clamp on your head a little bit more tightly. They also press down on your ears, whereas the Bose are deep enough that my ears don't even touch the inside of the cans. The Sony are still definitely comfortable, but a tier below the Bose. I can still wear them for about 6 hours before they bother me, so if you don't wear headphones that long it might not be a problem for you.VERSATILITYThis is just a catch-all for all the other aspects of the headphones. Nothing here I would consider a selling point strong enough for most people to make a final decision, but if you have specific needs then this might be helpful.1. I like the physical buttons on the Bose more than the touch buttons on the Sony. They just work better, and I make mistakes with them less often.2. Sony has better technology. They use USB-C so the headphones charge faster than the Bose mini-hdmi. They also have better bluetooth connection technology, which lets a higher bitrate of audio transfer wirelessly. Without getting too technical, I think this is a major reason why the sound quality on the Sony is better.3. Bose is better if you want to connect to multiple devices. Bose can connect to two devices simultaneously, but Sony can connect to only 1 device at a time. For example, if I am listening to music on my computer and I get a phone call, if I'm wearing the Bose, I can answer and talk on the call through my headset, and when I hang up music will resume. With the Sony, I'd either have to disconnect from my computer, then reconnect to my phone before the call ended, or take off the headphones completely and answer the phone separately.4. Sony looks a little more stylish and futuristic. The Bose look like an ordinary pair of headphones. Build quality is identical thoughCONCLUSION5 months after buying these, do I regret keeping them both? NO! They are absolutely worth the money if you have it. Generally, I find that I wear the Bose throughout the day as I'm working from home. They're really comfortable to wear all day long, if I get a call from a co-worker I don't need to take them off, and I'm just listening to music as background noise while I work so sound quality isn't important. After dinner, it's always the Sony. When I'm focusing on a new album, watching a movie, or playing a video game, I really value how good the sound is. And generally I only wear them for 3-4 hours at this point so discomfort is never an issue.If you twist my arm about it and made me pick only one pair to own the rest of my life? I'd probably take the Bose just because I wear them so much while working from home. But that's not a fair metric, and each individual will have a different primary purpose for these and that should be your guiding principal when making the choice.Good luck! (longest review over)

After doing a lot of research, it ultimately came down to the Bose QC 35 and Sony 1000XM2. I tried them both for several days but in the end, the Bose QC 35 was my choice, which wasn't an easy one to make. You can't go wrong with either pair as they are both very nice headphones. The final decision for me was whether I wanted a little better quality (Sony) or better fit/comfort (Bose). I chose comfort and the Bose 1000XM2. Here are some other things I noticed...SOUND QUALITY:No question at all, the Sony 1000Xm2 are better sounding headphones. Don't get me wrong, the Bose are still very good. However, I really liked and preferred the bass response of the Sony over the Bose. Bose are the brighter sounding headphones but the biggest difference was how they sound with bass, which Sony does better.FIT / COMFORT:The Bose gets the edge on fit/comfort. They are VERY comfortable and light! The Sony 1000xm2 are fine but they fit a bit more snug than Bose. At first, I actually preferred the Sony fit. However, after having them on for an hour or longer, that's where I noticed the biggest difference... ear fatigue. Much less ear fatigue with the Bose. That all being said, what is more comfortable to me might be less comfortable to you. You just have to try them on, ideally for extended periods of time. I bought these particularly when I fly where I plan to wear them for hours at a time. Even though I prefer the sound quality of the Sony, I just couldn't get over the incredibly comfortable fit of the Bose.BLUETOOTH CONNECTIVITY:Both do a fine job here but the Bose were the more reliable in establishing a connection without having to fiddle around with settings. When comparing the Sony and the Bose, I often went back and forth trying when trying out the headphones. Every time that I went back to the Bose, it was fast and easy. With the Sony pair, I had to go into my Bluetooth settings a few times in order to get a connection. It really wasn't a big deal but the Bose gets the edge here because it is painless and works more reliably.DURABILITY:I won't give either pair the edge here because I only had them for a week BUT do keep in mind that the Sony 1000xm1 had issues with the headband cracking. Because Sony hasn't clearly stated whether they resolved the issue with the xm2's, it's anyone's guess. This alone probably wouldn't keep me from going with the XM2's but it is something to consider.CONTROLS:I like them both and consider this a toss up. With the Sony pair, you just swipe the headphones to control the music and volume while the Bose has hard buttons. At first, I definitely preferred the hard buttons that are on the Bose. However, after getting used to swiping on the Sony's, I found it easy enough to do. Which do I prefer? Probably the hard buttons because they are a bit more reliable than the swiping. This is very subjective though and I could see some preferring the swiping while others preferring the hard buttons. It just depends on what you like. For me, I found both to work fine. The Sony does have a feature where you can put you hand over the right headphone and it will allow you to hear outside noise without having to take them off. Cool feature? Maybe for some but for me, I didn't see any use for it. If someone approaches me while wearing big headphones like these, I'm going to take them off my head rather than keeping them on with my hand cupping the right headphone. It just seems a bit rude not to do so.FEATURES:They both have their pluses and minuses here. It really depends on what is most important to you. I really like how the Sony 1000XM2 allows you to customize the sound (including equalizer). It also has the ability to modify you settings depending on where you are listening to them by simply pressing a button. I don't really no what impact that has though because I only tried this a couple of times. The fact of the matter is that Sony provides a bit more customization which I like! The Bose has google assistant which I found to be a cool feature. I could live without this but it is a nice feature. The feature that I found VERY useful on the Bose is the ability to play text messages through the headphones. I was on a flight recently where we were waiting for our turn to take off. While listening to my music, I was notified that I had a text message. Instead of having to reach for my phone (Sony) the Bose pair allowed me to just push the action button to hear the text. I found this awesome. Sony does not have this feature. What headphones gets the edge? For me, it's another toss up. I really like the customization of the Sony but the Bose are very cool with being able to read my text messages (and google assistant).LOOKS:They both look great! I had the gold/beige Sony's and the silver Bose. I might give a slight edge to Bose as I like the silver look and the Bose logo on each headphone. However, this is very subjective.SUMMARY:This is one of those times where you just can't go wrong with either pair. They both have their pros and cons but in the end, for me, I prefer the Bose QC 35 by a very small margin.

I bought this set 5 years ago and I use them every minute I am not working or sleeping. They are still going strong!

These are by far the best headphones I have ever owned. Battery life is excellent. Connecting to wireless devices is easy and they work great taking phone calls. Sound is very clear and the noise cancelling is exceptional. Also quick to get a full charge. Although i was hesitant at the price, that are worth it.