Optus Mobile Review ALDI Mobile Review Amaysim Mobile Review Belong Mobile Review Circles.Life Review Vodafone Mobile Review Woolworths Mobile Review Felix Mobile Review Best iPhone Plans Best Family Mobile Plans Best Budget Smartphones Best Prepaid Plans Best SIM-Only Plans Best Plans For Kids And Teens Best Cheap Mobile Plans Telstra vs Optus Mobile Optus NBN Review Belong NBN Review Vodafone NBN Review Superloop NBN Review Aussie BB NBN Review iiNet NBN Review MyRepublic NBN Review TPG NBN Review Best NBN Satellite Plans Best NBN Alternatives Best NBN Providers Best Home Wireless Plans What is a Good NBN Speed? Test NBN Speed How to speed up your internet Optus vs Telstra Broadband ExpressVPN Review CyberGhost VPN Review NordVPN Review PureVPN Review Norton Secure VPN Review IPVanish VPN Review Windscribe VPN Review Hotspot Shield VPN Review Best cheap VPN services Best VPN for streaming Best VPNs for gaming What is a VPN? VPNs for ad-blocking I’ve been a Bose fan since I first bought a pair of wired QuietComfort 25s, which I later upgraded to the original QuietComfort 35s. Going wireless quickly proved to be an excellent decision, more so because my QC 35s regularly offered more than the advertised 20 hours of battery life, and I didn’t have to worry about carrying around spare AAA batteries for the QC 25s. I ended up replacing the earcups and regifting them because they’re still fantastic. So when COVID struck and I had leftover airline points to spend on an airline that may not be around after the dust settles, I used points to fully pay off a pair of Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, figuring it would be an upgrade, but that wasn’t the case. Let’s have a closer listen to how the Bose 700 headphones stack up after extensive testing. (For other noise-cancelling headphone reviews, check out our reviews for the Sennheiser HD 450BT and Friendie AIR Duo headphones.) As for other comforts, the Bose 700s are lightweight and easy to adjust, thanks to a new headband design that extends through the outside of the earcups, rather than folding around them. The Bose Music app is a noticeable improvement over the Bose Connect app used with the QC 35 range, with intuitive updating, straightforward controls (including EQ tweaks), and handy tips to get the most of features you might otherwise not use. It’s great that the Bose 700s offer a max volume that borders on uncomfortable, which isn’t where I’d advise you leave it, but it’s there should you need it (unlike the QC 35s). In terms of the all-important sound, quality is great whether you’re listening to music or your latest banging track is interrupted by an incoming call. It’s impressive how Bose’s noise-cancelling wizardry also applies to people on the other end of a call, meaning clear call quality for whomever is on the line. There’s also easy-to-setup and straightforward voice controls if that’s your jam. This design choice also means the Bose 700s aren’t as foldable and easy to store as the QC 35s – the earcups can’t fold in on the headband to save space – even if the case itself doesn’t feel bigger. Sound quality is great, but bass doesn’t deliver those ever-so-satisfying thumping lows, even when you max it out with the EQ settings. The other big detractor is that I’ve struggled to get the “up to 20 hours” of battery life, even on default settings. While my QC 35s had just enough juice to get me from the US to Sydney (via Dallas), around 24 hours of travel time all up, I found I couldn’t rely too heavily on the estimated remaining battery life. This also means the XM4s can fold in on themselves for more compact storage. More importantly, the XM4s have better sound, most noticeably when it comes to bigger bass, and they even boast comparable noise cancelling. Add to this up to 30 hours of battery life, wear detection for intuitive pausing and resuming, and an RRP that’s $100 cheaper than the Bose 700s, and the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones are a no-brainer victor in this comparison. Couple that with the fact that I opted to pay hundreds of dollars for a competing brand that I’d never used before instead of sticking with the Bose 700 headphones I paid nothing for (thank you, airline points), and it’s particularly telling how disappointing these are. They’re not completely irredeemable, with some solid ticks in the pro column, but if you’re tossing up between the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 or the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, the latter cans are the clear winner.
