Bose is known for being the leaders in noise-cancelling technology, and have named their new headphones the “Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700”. Although that seems long and cumbersome it still feels like a stamp of authority for any other company wanting to take a shot at the title.
Unlike the name, the new slim and modern design of these headphones feels minimalistic but it does so while hiding the many features that the headphones offer, Bose want you to think of these as “Smart Headphones” and there are plenty of reasons why that is a reality.
The height adjustment on the sides of the headphones slide up and down with ease and the plastics used in the build are surprisingly flexible, you can bend them almost all the way out without feeling like you are going to damage them. This is going to cut down on bag space when you are travelling as the headphones sit flat in the protective bag supplied giving your a large but thin case to take with you, it should slide nicely into a backpack or laptop bag.
Probably the best design surprisingly is the inclusion of a large L and R printed on the inner headphone making it easy to determine which way they go. How many times have you fumbled around in low lighting trying to work out which is which because the manufacturer hides the simple two-letter instructions? It takes a lot of skill to put giant letters on a product without making them look cheap, Bose nailed it.
The soft padding in the top of the headphones lets you wear them for long periods of time without getting that sore indentation across the top of your skull. It’s like they took a list of everything wrong with headphones and just made a fix for it.
There are 3 main buttons that control the power/Bluetooth connection, the noise cancellation level and the last operates the virtual assistant that you can select on your device like Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa or Apple’s Siri. These are all great features, but pretty standard for a high-end headphone line like these, the real standout is the touch capability.
The right side ear cup around the company logo is a touchpad that allows you to skip back and forth tracks, change your volume and take phone calls. It all works seamlessly and during my experience, it was easy to use and had no false presses or unwanted actions.
The name says it all with this model, it’s all about the Noise Cancellation and with the Bose 700s there are now 11 levels of noise cancellation. Part of me wonders if that is a homage to the comedy mockumentary “Spinal Tap” and the 11 levels of volume. Each level of noise cancellation adjusts just how much of the outside world you can hear, the lowest level can give the impression that the headphones aren’t even on your head.
The sound is as pure Bose as you can get. Flat tones with not too much of anything, just a nice clear audio image imprinted directly onto your brain. There are options to do nothing with the sound and let the headphones automatically adjust to the sounds you are listening to, or use the app to manually change the equaliser to your preferred listening experience.
I found the 20-hour battery life monitor on the app to be extremely accurate. Some headphones brands drop out without warning or tell you you have 20% battery then die. These were spot on down to the minute and when you are using a product like this for a long time that sort of information is really important.
In the box comes a USB C to USB 3 charging cable plus a 2.5mm to 3.5mm headphone jack, I assume the smaller sizes were to add to the minimalistic design, and while I was glad to see USB C the 2.5mm headphone jack still annoys me because it means I have to use the cable that comes with it and if anything happens to it I’ll need to get another one, rather than just use one of the many 3.5 to 3.5 cables I have lying around the house. I know these are bluetooth so I’d mostly be using them in that mode, but sometimes you just want to cable it, like if I’m playing the Nintendo Switch or running audio out of my Blue Yeti Microphone.
These are great headphones that deliver quality sound, the minimalistic design will suit many different types of people and the 3 colour choices of Matte Black, Silver or while and gold will add a personal touch to your purchase. A purchase that doesn’t come cheap depending on where you are getting them. Some stores have them listed at $549 on sale, while others at $495 standard so shop around for the best deal.
