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

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)

Disclaimer: I'm no audio technician, just a guy who likes watching movies and listening to music, so take my description of the sound however you'd like.Comfort: These are way more comfortable than I anticipated them being. I have very narrow ear canals, so even the smallest in-ear headphones make my ears hurt after about 45 minutes. I travel a lot, so I need more than 45 minutes of comfort. So far, the longest I've worn these is just shy of 8 hours, and my ears felt fine once I took them off. I have fairly large ears, and the pads don't sit on my ears at all, and even the spots that make contact during wear don't get irritated. The band does leave an impression on the top of my head (I keep my head shaved/close to shaved), but that must be inevitable because I don't notice the weight of these on my head. All-in-all, these are SUPER comfortable, and I'd be surprised if you weren't pleased with how they feel after extended listening.Features: The app isn't buggy like I expected, since Bose isn't an app company. It worked fine for setup purposes, but I haven't used it since. The action button on the left side is nice, especially because it actually works. I don't use it for Google assistant, but I do use it to adjust the level of ANC, and it works just fine. I personally like the button layout on the right side - very intuitive, easy to find/feel, easy to use. My wife wore these for a bit and disagreed, saying there isn't enough distinction between the buttons and she seemed to hit the wrong ones. I can't tell Bose enough how much I appreciate having clear and concise VOICE PROMPTS for setup/connection/etc. It's so nice being able to keep these on my head while switching between devices, and nice having these tell me I have an incoming phone call. I have them paired with both my iPhone and my Surfacebook 2, and they give me ZERO issues being connected to both devices at all times. When I turn them on, they tell me that they're connected to both devices; when I have a call coming in, it pauses the music on my computer to announce it, and if I ignore the call it starts the music back up. I can't get enough o that considering the fact that my last headphones were very buggy when connected to two active devices. The ANC is phenomenal; even on high, I can hear just enough environmental noise to keep me aware of where people are around me, but it absolutely doesn't interfere with the audio. I keep it on high at all times, so I can't vouch for the efficiency of the low/med settings. The battery life is nice - I've used them for about 12 hours spread over 3 days and the lowest battery level was 60% (which it announces when you turn them on; seriously, can't get enough of audible prompts).Sound: I listen to all sorts of music, with the exception of 80s hairband rock, and everything I've listened to sounds great so far. Enough bass to keep me happy when listening to hip hop/rap, but the vocals shine brightly when listening to everything else (r&b/reggae/country). I've only watched about 10 minutes worth of a movie with them on, so I won't vouch for how they fare in that arena, but I'll update my review after I get more movie time with them under my belt.Accessories: I haven't used the cable because it's 2018 and I'm not a caveman. I'm also no sound expert, and these sound quite nice via Bluetooth, so I don't foresee myself ever using it. The case is nice - it's hard enough that I don't fear for their safety when in my bag, and not big enough that I have to adjust how I pack stuff in my bag.All-in-all, I would consider these perfect for everyone except people who use words like "lows" and "mids" in headphone reviews. For schmucks like me, the sound is perfect, the comfort is perfect, and they're nice enough to make me forget I paid $350 for headphones.