Bose Headphones 700: Ups the ante in noise cancellation

Bose was once the undisputed king of active noise cancellation (ANC) headphones and its famed 'QuietComfort' series was known to be the best for muffling airplane engine noise.

Now, it is attempting to up the ante with its new Headphones 700 as competition from Sony's 1000X series has toughened.

The company's 'QuietComfort35 II' headphones had set quite a high benchmark for ANC lovers. The Bose Headphones 700, however, isn't a successor to the QC35 II.

The new model, launched for Rs 34,500 in India, is a blend of a chic looking headphones with a modern design, better noise cancellation and easier touch controls.We used the headphones for few days and let us see if it is worth your buck.

Take a look at the Headphones 700 and you'll know it is radically different from QuietComfort's design language. This one sports a slimmed down headband made out of stainless steel with almost no visible screws, seams and joints.

The headband meets the cans on the outside to snugly adjust the fit.

However, the folding hinge is absent this time which can be uncomfortable for long-haul travel.This pair looked and felt more durable than the QC35 II. Given the metal headband, the device is slightly heavier than QC35 II.There's an option to rotate the cans flat for easy storage.

Bose provides a sturdy carry case with a leather finish along with the headphones that make sure the headphones, when packed, remain handy and sleek.

Talking about comfort, there's foam cushioning between your head and the headband. This element makes sure that the headphones are comfortable to wear even for long metro commutes or airplane travel.

The earcups are also padded and are comfortable for prolonged use. The cans can be slightly swivelled for a better fit and this pair should fit both large and small heads equally well.

The cans are made out of plastic which can be a bummer for some.Bose has done away with physical buttons for music control. Instead, the front half of the right earcup has a touchpad and has the capacity to detect your index finger's taps for better control that gets easier with time. Thankfully, there's a Type-C port to charge the headphones.

The headphones has the power/Bluetooth keys that work as intended. There's a dedicated voice assistant button that activates Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri as well.

When it comes to sound quality, the Bose Headphones 700 is impressive. What this pair offers is among the best active noise cancellation headphones. Both instruments and vocals sounded excellent.

However, the quality may not be enough for serious audiophiles.The device sounds significantly better than the Bose QC 35 II, thanks to new drivers.The headphones' noise cancellation also has a nifty addition that lets you manually adjust the level of cancellation from zero to 1.

This comes in handy for those who despise absolute noise cancellation and this addition gives control.The device supports up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge which is fairly good considering the sound quality.Then there's the Bose mobile app where you can fiddle through the settings while managing the device.

One of the high points of the device is making voice calls. The snug fitting and more number of microphones let the 700 work better at isolating voice from background noise while making calls.

Conclusion: The Bose Headphones 700 is a gem when it comes to active noise cancellation. The ability to pair the headphones with two devices at a time is what we appreciate it for.

Those looking for a pair of new ANC headphones should spend money on this complete package.

(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be reached at krishna.s@.in)

( With inputs from IANS )