Bose QC 35 headphones are considered by many as market leaders. The provide excellent comfort and effective noise cancelling.
The noise cancelling excels with continuous noises, such as engines. Making frequent travellers an ideal target market. The constant drone of an engine is fatiguing. Use of noise cancelling headphones, you are able to arrive more refreshed.
The good
My last flight was on a 2 prop to Tassie. The headphones did not cancel out the noise completely. But, when I took them off, it was immediately clear the difference. The engine noise was atrocious. During the flight, I could hear the engine drone. This was easily overcome by the music I was listening to. I found that with the noise cancelling, music volume could be lower.
The noise cancelling does produce pressure against the ear. This is likely due to the speakers working to cancel out the external sound waves. Some people report this being uncomfortable, it was not something that bothered me.
I’;m not an audiophile by any stretch and stream my music from Spotify. For the most part, my music taste is rather heavy. Amon Amarth, Slayer and Evocation frequent my playlists. I cannot fault the sound quality, I found the bass good and clear.
The QC 35’;s are my first pair of wireless headphones. A major concern I had was the battery life. Bose states 20 hours, which I thought was bullshit. I was wrong on that mark. The 20-hour claim appears to be holding true.
The headphones are comfortable, even after 3 hours of continuous use. Glasses don’;t impact comfort or effectiveness of the noise cancelling.
The not so good
When the engines went full pelt during takeoff, the noise cancelling got overloaded. There was a popping sound through the speakers. This only happened during takeoff. If that’;s the only time I hear that popping on a 20-hour flight, I don’;t care.
While in Sydney, I noticed that while walking the headphones would cut in and out. This I did find annoying. My phone was in my pocket, close to the headphones. I’;m not sure if it’;s interference or something else, but it was annoying. I’;m hoping that this is something that can be improved. Especially with companies pushing wireless headphones.
Overall
I’;m happy with the headphones, they have some faults. However, they make flights better and music sounds good through them. I was worried about wireless headphones, and it seems that there are issues to be ironed out. In saying that, the reason I purchased these was flight comfort. Frankly, the bloody nailed that part.
