Bose QuietComfort 35 II Review 2023

This review has been written by:
Rachel Simms
Senior Editor (Sound Technolgy & Gadgets)

The Summary

Bose’s QuietComfort 35 has received a lot of praise for its sound quality, noise cancellation and how comfortable it is. ‘Comfort’ is in its product name; it would have been quite awkward if these were not comfortable.

Taking that winning formula, Bose introduced an update to the popular QuietComfort 35 and introduced a slightly tweaked and better Series II of the headphones.

Bose follows an ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’ strategy with the Series II QuietComfort 35. In this Bose QuietComfort 35 II review, we will an in-depth look at the headphones. From unboxings, design and build, features and of course the sound quality. Let us get started.

The VERDICT™

Unboxing

We must hand it to Bose here. They did a fantastic job with the packaging of the headphones. The actual box is inside a white covering with the headphones front and center. It is minimal and classy looking.

Lifting that you are presented with a stealthy black box with the Bose logo in the front. You take one finger and lift the tab to reveal some documentations like the quick start guide.

Then comes the carrying case. The case itself is high-quality as well. We will take a closer look at the case a bit later. Unzipping the case, you are presented with the star of the show – the Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones.

Inside the box, you will also the ever-important warranty card, USB charging cable, a backup auxiliary cable and safety instructions. A full-featured unboxing experience.

Design and Build

The design of the Bose QuietComfort 35 II design looks the same as the previous model. This is to say it is quite muted – some might even say it is a tad bit boring. That is not a bad thing though. The understated design makes these perfect for day to day use.

While these will not certainly turn heads, the versatility of the design lets you use this in a professional environment or even out and about. They follow the signature Bose design. Audiophiles and headphone enthusiasts will certainly recognize you are rocking Bose.

The build quality is mostly plastic. The plastic build does leave the headphone feelings a bit cheap. It however has the advantage of making these very lights. That is a welcomed feature on headphones you are probably going to wear for hours.

The build quality is certainly durable though. We do not expect these to break any time soon with everyday wear and tear. It just lacks the premium feel you get with a metal build headphone.

These are extremely comfortable to wear as well, thanks to the low weight. The earcups sit securely against your ears without any discomfort.

Bose QuietComfort 35 II Wireless Headphone Sound Quality

Let us touch on the most important bit. How do these sounds? The sound of the Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones is exceptionally good indeed.

The sound won’t blow your mind, but can definitely hold its own with the top players in the class. The sound signature is very balanced and produces clean and rich sounding tunes.

These have a slight biased towards low notes. Which is great for someone who likes bass. Hardcore bass heads might not be too impressed. But these are not targeted at bass heads.

The Bose QuietComfort 35 II is meant to provide some of the best balanced and rich tones no matter the type of music you are listening too. All in all, the sound is very satisfactory, providing a great music listening experience.

The noise cancellation is one of the strong suits and a highlighting feature of these headphones. Turning the noise cancellation immediately blocks outside ambient noise and helps you get more immersed in the music.

Voices and other outside noises such as cars whizzing around are almost gone the moment you turn on the noise cancellation. If you are on a train, these do a particularly good job of drowning out the hum of a train ride. During our testing, we had a particularly good overall experience.

Features

With the Series II, the Bose QuietComfort 35 adds support for smart assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. The assistants work absolutely like a charm, as you might expect.

We tested the assistant in a busy restaurant and we are happy to report that It easily picked up our voice without any trouble. The Assistant will do a myriad of tasks for you. It can ask it a bunch of different questions and it will answer them.

Also, you have the option for the headphones to read your notifications as well through Google Assistant. There is also the Bose app. It is an intuitive app that lets you control the noise cancellation and update the firmware of the headphones.

These are of course wireless. You do not have to deal with any messy wires. Just connect them to your devices and you are all set.

Conclusion

Even though the Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones are missing some creature comfort features like automatic pausing when you take these off, for example, it delivers an incredibly good music listening experience.

The sound signature is very pleasant and produces rich and clear tones. The build quality might not be anything too over the top but is lightweight and comfortable. Also, you have exceptionally good noise cancellation capabilities to go with it all.

The addition of a smart assistant is a genuinely nice touch. Although we would advise buyers to restrain buying this just for the smart assistant though. Hopefully, this Bose QuietComfort 35 II review gave you a better understanding of the headphone’s performance. If you are looking for quality headphones with a good sound, great noise cancellation that is comfortable to wear with some added smart features, these are a perfect choice.