Bose Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds: First Impressions After Two Hours of Listening
1 day ago
Unfortunately, there were no units in stock in my city, but luckily a friend managed to get one, so I had the chance to try them out for two hours of listening. Short as it was, some characteristics of the product came through quite clearly—some good, some not so good:
In terms of fit, they're fairly secure, though different from Bose's classic StayHear tips. Comfort-wise, they're just average for me—but that varies from person to person, so I won't go into detail here.
Those used to wireless earbuds will need to adjust to the cable thump (microphonics) of wired earbuds. This is a physical issue that's generally hard to solve with wired earbuds, so anyone bothered by that sort of thing should keep it in mind.
Although the product has a built-in microphone, call quality is poor—not even what I'd call acceptable. If you're in the habit of taking calls with your earbuds, think carefully before buying this product.
In a quiet environment, turning on ANC produces noticeable hiss (to my ears). Compared with my own AirPods 4 with ANC and AirPods Pro 3, I've never heard any hiss from those. If anyone else has bought these wired noise-cancelling earbuds, please share your experience—it would help rule out a batch issue.
On these earbuds, ANC mainly reduces continuous low-frequency noise such as air conditioners, engines, and vehicles. But when it comes to voices, sudden noises, and wind noise, I'd suggest lowering your expectations.
These earbuds have no app support. The upside is you can just pick them up and use them; the downside is that if you want to adjust EQ, you'll need third-party software.
Overall, I think this product only suits people who 1) need active noise cancellation and 2) find charging wireless earbuds a hassle. If either of those two conditions isn't a hard requirement for you, you can skip this product entirely. If you're used to wireless earbuds but want to try these wired ones, be sure to use them a lot after buying, and carefully weigh the fit comfort, cable thump, and sensitivity to ANC hiss to see whether you can accept them.
Is there any way you could try a few more demo units, or wait until your friend has used theirs for a while and then compare the noise floor? Two hours in a single session might not be enough to tell whether it's a batch difference or unit-to-unit variation—that's worth confirming.