People who waited for Cyber Monday instead of jumping on Black Friday deals made the right choice, especially if they wanted Bose headphones. The QuietComfort model went down from its usual price of $349 to $199 on Black Friday and now, for the last few hours of Cyber Monday, it’s down to a new record low $179 on Amazon. This is a 49% discount and it’s the lowest price these premium noise-canceling headphones have ever been.
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Active and passive noise cancellation
The QuietComfort headphones use both active electronic noise cancellation and passive sound isolation through their design to block out noise from the outside world which makes them better than either method alone. The active system uses microphones to pick up sounds in the environment and creates sound waves that cancel out incoming noise before it reaches your ears and it works very well on steady sounds like airplane engines, HVAC systems, and traffic rumble.
The soft cushions that go over your ears make a physical seal that blocks higher-frequency sounds by simply damping the material and it catches the irregular noises like conversations and keyboard clatter that active cancellation sometimes misses. This two-pronged approach creates a level of silence that makes you aware of how much background noise you usually put up with, and it turns loud places into peaceful places to listen.
The Quiet and Aware modes let you choose how much outside noise gets into your bubble and with the press of a button, you can go from being completely alone to being fully aware of your surroundings. When you want to really get into your music or podcasts, turn on Quiet mode to block out all the noise, and when you want to hear announcements, conversations, or traffic without taking off your headphones, turn on Aware mode.
The battery lasts for 24 hours of continuous playback on a single charge which is enough for several cross-country flights or several weeks of daily commuting without needing to be charged again. This runtime is longer than most other high-end headphones, which only last about 20 hours. This means you can travel without having to bring a charging cable for weekend trips. The quick charge feature lets you listen for 2.5 hours after just 15 minutes of being plugged into USB-C power so even if you forget to charge it overnight, a quick morning boost will get you through the day.
The high-fidelity audio reproduction makes complex recordings sound clear and shows how the instruments are separated and where they are in the mix. You’ll be able to hear the small breath between vocal phrases, the fading of cymbal strikes, and the texture of bass notes that cheaper headphones turn into a muddy low-end rumble. You can change the bass, midrange, and treble response to fit your tastes or make up for how you hear things with the Bose Music app. This gives you more control than fixed-tuning headphones.
The memory foam ear cushions on the comfort design headphones spread pressure evenly around your ears instead of making hot spots, and the padded headband stops the crown-of-head soreness that happens with headphones with thin bands. The adjustable arms move smoothly to fit heads of different sizes without making clicking noises that cause pressure points and the ear cups also rotate to lay flat for easy storage in the included carrying case.
The included 3.5mm audio cable lets you connect the headphones to a wired connection which means you can keep using them even when the battery is dead. It also gives you a backup connection option for devices that don’t have Bluetooth or in situations where wireless interference causes problems. When connected this way, the inline microphone on the cable lets you make phone calls, so it works in both wired and wireless modes.
This price of $179 is $170 less than the usual retail price and $20 less than what these headphones sold for on Black Friday. This Cyber Monday price is the best value these headphones have ever offered since they came out.
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