The New Bose Noise-Canceling 700 Headphones: A Review of the Latest Addition to the Bose Family

I'm David Connor from CNET.com, and I'm here with the new Bose noise-canceling 700 headphones. These are Bose's next-generation noise-canceling headphones, and they're not exactly designed to replace the QuietComfort 35s but they are brand new and they do cost a little more at $400. One of the key things that sets these headphones apart is their completely new design both on the outside and the inside. The new drivers in these headphones do sound slightly better than the quiet comfort 35s, and there are also more microphones for both noise cancelling and noise reduction when you're making calls.

This means that people can hear you better when you're making calls, and your voice assistant can hear you more clearly in noisy environments. So, you'll be able to use that voice assistant more confidently. One of the key differences between this model and the QuietComfort 35 is that this has a stainless steel headband, which is all one piece with no seams. It seems to be perhaps a little bit more durable than the quiet comfort 35, and it's slightly heavier as a result. It's about half an ounce heavier than the black cover 35.

The ear cups in these headphones have a very nice padded design, just like the glide comfort 35. They also have a little play in them, so they're designed to both rock a little bit, so that the ear cup can swivel to and fro. This very comfortable design should fit fairly large heads, and they did fit my head, even though I have a smaller head. The actual gear cups here are made of plastic, which is slightly different from the QC 35's aluminum ear cups.

There are only three physical buttons on these headphones, but each one serves a specific purpose. The button on the left is for your noise canceling, and you can adjust between three levels of noise cancelling, including a low setting and a high setting. There's also a transparency mode that allows you to hear the outside world in a very natural way. This means that you can turn off the noise cancellation and still be able to hear what's going on around you.

The Bluetooth button also allows you to toggle on and off the headphone, set it to Bluetooth for pairing, and pair with two different devices at once, if you want to pair your phone and a laptop. The headphones also have multi-point pairing, which means that they can connect to two devices at the same time. Finally, there's a button for your voice assistant, which allows you to access Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa. One of the unique features of this headphone is its "always on" Alexa feature, which allows you to access Alexa without having to say a specific wake word.

One other small note worth mentioning is that when you're on a call and want to end it, there's a button that does just that. This button also controls your volume, as well as advancing tracks forward and back by swiping forward or backward. You can also pause and play music with this button. The precision of the battery life number in these headphones is impressive, lasting only about 20 hours of total usage. However, there's a quick charge feature that allows you to get some extra power in case you're running low.

These headphones are designed for communications, and Bose talks about how there are eight microphones in these headphones. Some of them are used for noise cancelling, while others are used for voice. There are multiple microphones on each side, and some of the microphones do work for both voice and noise cancelling. If you're on a plane and want to use your headphones in wired mode, there is a headphone jack that allows you to plug in your headphones. The jack goes into a 3.5mm jack, which is a tiny little headphone jack. However, the headphones come with the cable that you'll need to match up with this headphone jack.

The case for these headphones is a little different from previous Bose cases. You don't have to fold up the headphones to put them in the case; instead, you just lay them down. This is nice because it makes it easy to clean out any debris or dust that might be accumulated on the headphones.

Overall, these headphones are an improvement over the QuietComfort 35s. They offer more features and slightly better sound quality. It's clear that they're going to be one of the top noise-canceling headphones on the market. The question now is how Sony will respond with their latest addition to the noise-canceling headphone market.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey I'm David Connor from cnet.com and I'm here with the new bose noise-canceling 700 headphones these are boses next generation noise cancelling headphones they're not exactly designed to replace the quiet comfort 35s but they are brand new and they do cost a little more at $400 these do have a completely new design both on the outside and the inside there are new drivers these do sound slightly better than the quiet comfort 35s there also have more microphones for both noise cancelling and noise reduction when you're making calls that means people can hear you better when you're making calls they don't hear the background noise and also your voice assistant can hear you more clearly in noisy environments so you'll be able to use that voice assistant more confidently one of the key differences between this model and the QuietComfort 35 is that this has a stainless steel headband it's all one piece no seams and it seems to be perhaps a little bit more durable than the quiet comfort 35 it is slightly heavier as a result it's about half an ounce heavier than the black cover 35 does have a very nice padded ear cups very comfortable design just like the glide comfort 35 as you can see the headphones do have a little play in them so they're designed to both rock a little bit so that the ear cup can swivel to and fro a very comfortable design should fit fairly large heads they did fit my head and I do have a smaller head the actual gear cups here are made of plastic the QC 35 had some aluminum in their ear cups so it's again a slightly different design there are only three physical buttons on the headphones the one on the left here is for your noise canceling you can adjust between three levels of noise canceling there's a low and a high as well as a transparency mode that allows you to hear the outside the world in a very natural way this is the Bluetooth button that also allows you to toggle on and off the headphone and set it to bluetooth for pairing you can pair with two different devices if you want to pair with your phone and a laptop this has multi-point pairing finally the last button is for your voice assistant you can hit that button and have access to Siri Google assistant or Alexa on top of that there is always on Alexa available with this headphone it's one of the few headphones to have that feature and you can just say Alexa and that's the wake word to access your voice assistant one other small note when you're on a call that button allows you to Bute your line which is very convenient feature so the headphones do have touch controls they are on the right side of the right ear cup right where the Bose logo is for starters there's volume controls by simply swiping up or swiping down you can also advance tracks forward and back by swiping forward or swiping back and then to pause and play your music you just double tap and that also allows you to cancer an end calls and finally you can just hold down to get your battery life number it's very precise number and it's only about 20 hours of total battery life but there is a quick charge feature and this does charge via USB see so these are really designed for communications and bose talks about how there are eight microphones in these headphones some of them are used for noise cancelling some of them are used for voice there are multiple microphones on each side and there is some overlap some of the microphones do work for both voice and noise cancelling now if you're on a plane and you want to go into wired mode there is a headphone jack it is a smaller 2.5 millimeter headphone jack that it goes into a 3.5 millimeter jack so it's a tiny little headphone jack there the headphone does come with that cable of course but if you lose it you'll have to buy another one with that special 2.5 millimeter jack so the case is a little bit different from previous Bose cases this one you do not have to fold up the headphones you just lay them in there that's nice there's also a cord organization here that a little magnet very cool close it up you're good to go so this is definitely an improvement over the QuietComfort 35 more features that same Bose Comfort slightly better sound it is clearly going to be one of the top noise cancelling headphones the question is how Sony will respond will it come out with something as good or better we'll soon find out I'm David Carney for cnet.com thanks for watchinghey I'm David Connor from cnet.com and I'm here with the new bose noise-canceling 700 headphones these are boses next generation noise cancelling headphones they're not exactly designed to replace the quiet comfort 35s but they are brand new and they do cost a little more at $400 these do have a completely new design both on the outside and the inside there are new drivers these do sound slightly better than the quiet comfort 35s there also have more microphones for both noise cancelling and noise reduction when you're making calls that means people can hear you better when you're making calls they don't hear the background noise and also your voice assistant can hear you more clearly in noisy environments so you'll be able to use that voice assistant more confidently one of the key differences between this model and the QuietComfort 35 is that this has a stainless steel headband it's all one piece no seams and it seems to be perhaps a little bit more durable than the quiet comfort 35 it is slightly heavier as a result it's about half an ounce heavier than the black cover 35 does have a very nice padded ear cups very comfortable design just like the glide comfort 35 as you can see the headphones do have a little play in them so they're designed to both rock a little bit so that the ear cup can swivel to and fro a very comfortable design should fit fairly large heads they did fit my head and I do have a smaller head the actual gear cups here are made of plastic the QC 35 had some aluminum in their ear cups so it's again a slightly different design there are only three physical buttons on the headphones the one on the left here is for your noise canceling you can adjust between three levels of noise canceling there's a low and a high as well as a transparency mode that allows you to hear the outside the world in a very natural way this is the Bluetooth button that also allows you to toggle on and off the headphone and set it to bluetooth for pairing you can pair with two different devices if you want to pair with your phone and a laptop this has multi-point pairing finally the last button is for your voice assistant you can hit that button and have access to Siri Google assistant or Alexa on top of that there is always on Alexa available with this headphone it's one of the few headphones to have that feature and you can just say Alexa and that's the wake word to access your voice assistant one other small note when you're on a call that button allows you to Bute your line which is very convenient feature so the headphones do have touch controls they are on the right side of the right ear cup right where the Bose logo is for starters there's volume controls by simply swiping up or swiping down you can also advance tracks forward and back by swiping forward or swiping back and then to pause and play your music you just double tap and that also allows you to cancer an end calls and finally you can just hold down to get your battery life number it's very precise number and it's only about 20 hours of total battery life but there is a quick charge feature and this does charge via USB see so these are really designed for communications and bose talks about how there are eight microphones in these headphones some of them are used for noise cancelling some of them are used for voice there are multiple microphones on each side and there is some overlap some of the microphones do work for both voice and noise cancelling now if you're on a plane and you want to go into wired mode there is a headphone jack it is a smaller 2.5 millimeter headphone jack that it goes into a 3.5 millimeter jack so it's a tiny little headphone jack there the headphone does come with that cable of course but if you lose it you'll have to buy another one with that special 2.5 millimeter jack so the case is a little bit different from previous Bose cases this one you do not have to fold up the headphones you just lay them in there that's nice there's also a cord organization here that a little magnet very cool close it up you're good to go so this is definitely an improvement over the QuietComfort 35 more features that same Bose Comfort slightly better sound it is clearly going to be one of the top noise cancelling headphones the question is how Sony will respond will it come out with something as good or better we'll soon find out I'm David Carney for cnet.com thanks for watching\n"