For almost five years Bose has led the way when it comes to premium quality noise cancelling headphones with their QuietComfort 15’s.
So who better to topple the current industry standard than Bose themselves?
Build Quality & Design
Bose have taken their award-winning QuietComfort 15 headphones right back to the drawing board. A fresh, modern design fashioned from higher quality materials and a lightweight around-ear fit has taken the original QuietComfort design and brought it into the modern era.
Weighing in at just short of 7oz, the QuietComfort 25’s are lighter than most popular over- ear brands, and are easily packed away into a carry case not much larger than a paperback book. The carry case also has a slot for storing your batteries.
Whilst there is still a fair amount of plastic, the ear cup dome is metal, and there are other materials used such as fabric & pseudo-suede which give the product a more luxurious feel. It’s also worth pointing out that Bose claims the headband itself is covered in an “engineered fabric found in high-end automotive applications”
The headband itself has been altered to sit closer to the head than that of the QuietComfort 15 model, and the hinge in the ear cups is made out of cast-zinc.
Another design change is the use of a single cable rather than two, which also has an in- line remote which can be used to take calls from recent Apple products as well as selected smartphones. Some of the remote features may not work with certain types of phones, but the microphone option will.
Another nice feature is the warning when your battery is getting low on power which flashes with seven hours to spare, ensuring that you know to buy a fresh one before embarking on a flight. The Bose website claims that one AAA battery will provide around 35 hours of noise cancellation.
Bose QuietComfort 25’s are also available in a multitude of colours. Ordering from their website allows you to basically design the colour of your headphones completely to your own taste.
Overall, much like Its predecessor, the Bose QuietComfort 25 model is very comfortable to wear, sturdy and a high-quality headphone when it comes to design and build.
Sound Quality
In comparison to the 15’s the sound quality on the QuietComfort 25’s is a bit more brighter and clearer with a tighter bass, offering a more sophisticated sound that will certainly please the audiophiles out there.
Something of a spike in the upper midrange may not be everyone’s tastes, with some finding it adding a bit of “excitement”, and others finding it a little biting. This will depend on the type of music you’re listening to of course, and your own personal taste in sound.
One thing for certain is that there are other headphones out there at this price that will provide you with a more natural and refined sound. The main selling point of this particular model is the noise cancelling aspect, which I’ll go into in some depth later.
Another aspect of the sound quality that is worth discussing is the effect having no battery power in the headphones has.
Whilst the 15’s couldn’t be used without power the QuietComfort 25’s can, albeit without the noise cancelling effect and the built-in amp. Without these aspects the sound quality certainly takes a bit of a nosedive as you would imagine, with the bass sounding less tight, and a bit less definition to the mids as well as the loss of the aforementioned spike in the upper midrange.
Don’t get me wrong, they don’t sound terrible, they just lose a certain something.
Noise Cancelling
We now come to the main selling point of the Bose QuietComfort 25 headphones. The noise cancelling feature.
The 15’s where widely regarded as the king of noise reduction headphones, and rightfully so. The big question is, are the 25’s any better?
Going by most reviews it would appear that they are, and the general consensus seems to be that if you’re in the market for a pair of noise cancelling headphones then these are the ones to go for.
That said, if you already own a pair of the 15’s, is it worth dropping a not inconsiderable amount of money to upgrade based entirely on the noise cancelling feature?
The views on this are mixed. There are people out there who are adamant that there is a difference between both models, and that the QuietComfort 25’s are superior when it comes to noise cancellation.
Some people simply don’t see any major difference between them.
What cannot be denied is that the new model does the job just as well, if not better than its predecessor.
When it comes to noise cancellation Bose is still the king.
Verdict
So to conclude this Bose QuietComfort 25 Headphones Review, I think you would be hard pressed to come across a better manufacturer of noise cancelling headphones than Bose. The QuietComfort 15’s have reigned supreme in this area for almost five years, and the big question was whether Bose could better their own product.
The answer is undoubtedly yes.
They’ve taken the 15’s and made improvements where necessary, but retained the aspects that have gained them the reputation as number 1 in this field.
The noise cancelling aspect is the same if not better (although it could be argued that it’s pretty hard to improve on what they had already), but with the new, sleek design, the changes to the design of the headband, and the ability to use the headphones without battery power, the Bose QuietComfort 25’s are a marked improvement over the 15’s.
Enough of an improvement to upgrade from the 15’s? That will really come down to personal choice, but for someone coming into the noise cancelling market looking to buy a pair of headphones that will get the job done? It’s a no brainer.
