The main event, of course, is audio response, especially considering the “Sound by Bose” tuning. To be clear, it’s not exactly clear what that branding means — it could simply be an EQ curve, or it could be Bose actually having a hand in tuning the drivers. Regardless, the headphones sound great. They deliver deep, powerful bass, reasonably crisp highs, and, as a whole, an enjoyable listening experience.
Of course, they’re not the most natural-sounding, especially with the default “Sound by Bose” tuning. You’ll get exaggerated bass, and scooped mids, and I prefer something slightly flatter. Thankfully, I was able to get a decent tuning with the EQ, which helped.
The bass response in particular was impressive. The headphones were able to reproduce even deeper sub-bass frequencies — and did so better than plenty of headphones twice their price. The high-end response wasn’t quite as impressive. There was a decent amount of detail, and things like cymbals and other percussion were crisp enough, but a little more high-end extension and clarity would have been helpful. Even with the EQ, it was difficult to dial in a response with crisp, detailed highs. The soundstage was a little limiting, too. Instruments sounded slightly overly layered and cluttered, though it wasn’t over the top.
The noise cancellation on offer by the headphones was pretty good, but that’s an area where Bose didn’t have a hand. The ANC was able to block out consistent noise relatively well, making them pretty good for planes, for example. But it didn’t cut out anywhere near as much noise as the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones, which are the best-in-class right now. The transparency mode wasn’t all that great, either — it didn’t do a very good job at reproducing high frequencies, and it introduced some hiss into the mix.
The headphones also support Dolby Audio spatial audio tech — though I didn’t love using it. It sounded fine, and it can make audio sound a little more immersive, but it also sounded a little fake. That’s not uncommon for spatial audio algorithms. All that said, in context, these headphones have a lot to offer. No, the ANC is not as effective as on Sony’s headphones — but those headphones are triple the price. Frankly, the ANC and audio response was excellent for headphones in this price range.
