Bose looks to solve the frustration of making voice calls with headphones Bose is nearing the release of its first new pair of noise-canceling headphones in years. Shipping on June 30th, the $399.95 Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 have an all-new design on the outside, new audio drivers inside, and finally mark the company’s switch over to USB-C charging. And some would say these are overdue: last year’s Sony 1000XM3 headphones managed to best Bose’s QuietComfort 35 II headphones at noise cancellation and battery life for the same $349.99 price. But there are valid reasons why people still plop down hundreds of dollars for the QC35 IIs at airport gadget shops even today.
They can pair with two devices simultaneously — a convenience Sony still doesn’t provide — and I’d argue they remain more comfortable for long-haul flights thanks to their airy weight. As it turns out, the NCH 700s aren’t replacing the QC35s, but will be offered as a step up from them. Bose claims that noise cancellation and audio output are both improved to some degree in the new headphones. That said, the real story is voice. Voice calls are a painful weakness of many headphones and earbuds that are otherwise exceptional. AirPods seem to be the exception to this rule since their microphone stems are pointed at your mouth. But with most others, whenever I call someone wearing them, the other person immediately knows — because the call quality is abysmal. I either end up clumsily moving the call back to my phone or just calling back later. I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences, and it’s here that Bose is determined to make the NCH 700s stand out.
The headphones feature a new microphone system that includes eight mics total. Six of them work to deliver Bose’s signature noise cancellation when you’re listening to music, podcasts, or other audio. But two new mics work jointly with two mics from that array to optimize voice pickup and better isolate you. “All four voice pickup mics — two on each ear cup — aim two beams to pick up your voice,” a company rep told me. The end result is that you sound far better to people on the other line — but also to Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa. (These headphones support all three.) The system can track and reject the most disruptive nearby noises around you like a bus on the street, a passing train, or a blender in another room. And it can adapt if you move or if the annoying sound source does.
Bose demonstrated its voice quality advancements by calling an on-camera employee across the street at Starbucks. To start, he wore the QC35s, and background noise was basically overwhelming whenever he spoke to us through the headphones. But then he swapped to the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, and everything — the music Starbucks was playing, nearby talkers, and coffee grinders — faded away. When the Bose employee spoke, you could faintly still hear background
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