Great Value
These are good! I am coming from some older earbuds, namely the original pixel buds pro earbuds. I felt that those earbuds hit a better price point than their successors, the pixel buds pro 2, did. They recently started to give me some trouble and the battery has been degrading quite rapidly, so I know I needed to look for a new set. These Bose buds caught my eye as the largest limitation with the OG pixel buds was their ANC performance. I use earbuds a lot when performing yard work, so drowning out various tools and traffic noise were top of my priorities. Additionally, I did not want to spend 200+ USD on something like the AZ100 or the more premium offers from Sony/Bose. These have filled those requirements nearly perfectly. I am very impressed with ANC performance, they seem very similar to my Sony WH-XM3s. This is a very impressive feat for in ear buds, but I know that the Sonys are a few generations old at this stage. I can say that they handily outperform the pixel buds. This seems especially true with higher frequency sounds. Overall, very impressed with how they handle noise suppression/ANC in busy environments as well. Voices seem to be suppressed quite well. I was also presently suprised by sounds quality. I think that these sound a little better than the OG pixel buds do. Clarity is better, especially in the mids. These also tend to get really loud, especially compared to the pixel buds. I notice I am often not using more than 50% of the volume available to achieve normal listening volumes. Bass is somewhat bloated, overall similar to the Sony WH-XM3s, but this is overall a pleasurable tune and can be adjusted with a 5 band equalizer. There are some potential downsides. While the buds themselves feel high quality, the case feels relatively cheap and oversized. The OG pixelbuds have been rock solid for me. Their case has survived numerous drops and being mistaken for a dog toy a time or two. The Bose QC case feels much lighter and the cover feels much thinner. The hinge also does not feel nearly as robust. With that said, I do appreciate that they sell a replacement charging case for 60$. While it was touched on, I do also want to mention that the case seems just a little too large. It's about 50% thicker than the pixel buds or airpods. It's still very pocketable, but I do not think I will carry them with me at all times like I did with the pixel buds. The intrusiveness of the larger case in conjunction with my concerns about durability make me hesitant. Overall, these are really nice earbuds. I have not experienced any connectivity issues using the latest update. They connect and play quickly as expected. They have had great stability in ear, even while running. I think these strike a very good value for money where spending more may have diminishing returns. I think this is especially relevant as it seems that all wireless earbuds tend to have a lifespan of a few years before they are end of life due to wear or battery degradation. It's hard for me to justify spending more on something I can only expect to last 2-4 years. Read more




















