Bose QuietComfort 25 Headphones Review
The Bose QuietComfort 25 headphones are an absolutely superb piece of audio technology that get their design, noise cancellation, and overall sound performance almost perfectly right.
They are a bit on the expensive side, but the price is worth the quality you get with these headphones.
Overview
The QuietComfort 25 Headphone set is one of the newest members in the Bose QuietComfort family of headphones and they’re a definite improvement over the previous offerings – particularly the recently released QuietComfort 15 model.
On the whole these latest headphones are a superb noise cancelling piece of audio technology. But they could also use a few minor improvements, especially in general sound quality and level of noise-cancellation.
Nonetheless an extremely comfortable design and highly dynamic clear sound, the QuietComfort 25 series of Bose headphones creates what we could safely call an outstanding set of noise-cancelling headphones.
Specs
Headphone type: Over-ears
Closed: Yes
Weight: 195 grams
Noise-cancelling: Yes
Cable length: 1.4 meters
Connections: 3.5 mm stereo
Channels: Stereo
Inline Controls: Volume, Mute, Microphone
Drivers per ear: 1
Colors: Black and white
Audio Performance
In terms of audio performance in general, the Bose QuietComfort 25 perform their job well. The headphones offer a solid balance of frequencies without ever leaning more towards one over another part of the frequency range. As a result, their capacity for low end sound may not be as good as that of certain other more bass oriented headphones. But at the same time sharper & higher sounds can be enjoyed with wonderful crispness.
Overall, detail and clarity are great with the above-mentioned level of balance and this makes the QuietComfort 25 one excellent pair of high-end multi-purpose speakers.
Piano and guitar sounds maintain an excellent level of depth and richness while sharper sounds like those produced by percussion instruments hit hard without being overly harsh. Once again, the balance of the QuietComfort 25 is strongly at work here. It’s also worth mentioning that the strongest point of the QuietComfort 25 would have to be their ability to produce a fine, crystalline treble that sounds crisp even on very high notes.
Overall the sound quality of the QuietComfort 25 is a bit less warm and low key than what was the case in the Bose QuietComfort 15, the company’s recent previous headphones in the QuietComfort family.
However the balance between low and high frequencies that’s found in the 25 edition creates some superior sound quality with a wider range of music genres, and works particularly well with more upbeat “exciting” sounds.
Noise Cancellation
The Bose QuietComfort 25 offer a level of noise cancellation that could be best described as excellent. While they could still do a better job in this one area, the headphones are particularly good at cancelling out lower background noises. Thus noises like chatter from people, the sounds of an office setting and mechanical sounds like air conditioning vents and car motors are completely hammered out of your hearing range.
On the other hand sharper, closer sounds like those of a human voice talking very close by or directly to you are only reduced. Thus it’s possible to use the 25 headphones with some great music and still keep up with a basic conversation.
The most value of this noise cancelling technology comes from the ability to reduce background noises which are consistent. This makes these headphones perform at their peak (of noise cancellation) in offices, airplanes, buses and busy open places like cafeterias.
Design
Good comfortable design is just about as crucial as solid noise cancellation and rich audio performance in a pair of headphones. In this regard the Bose QuietComfort 25 headphones really had some thought put into them.
Their overall ergonomics are just about as comfortable as they can be in a pair of headphones. They rest easily over the ears without ever becoming uncomfortable or painful to wear. The clamp force of the ear cups is perfectly balanced –they hold onto the head firmly enough to feel secure without eventually feeling like they squeeze too hard.
Furthermore, aesthetics are better than ever in the QuietComfort 25. There are fewer seams to be seen and while the majority of the headphone body is made of plastic, metal earcup domes, a fabric headband, and a suede-like interior all working together to create a more elegant and luxurious experience.
The overall construction of the QuietComfort 25 is furthermore very solid and won’t inspire fear of the headphones easily breaking just because you carry them around with you while travelling.
Finally, one of the ear cups opens up via a hidden flap and can take a single AAA battery that will give the QuietComfort 25 a manufacturer-claimed battery life of about 35 hours with heavy use.
But passive listening can still be done even after the battery dies. So if you don’t need to use the noise cancellation feature or built-in amp technology, you’re good to go for listening to music at a slightly reduced level of depth.
Price
The Bose QuietComfort aren’t cheap by any means, but they’re also not extraordinarily expensive as far as high-end headphones go. The model is currently retailing for $299.99 on most major online retailers.
Pros
- Excellent balanced audio
- Very comfortable design
- Robust construction
- Battery-free passive listening capacity
- Excellent noise cancellation technology
Cons
- Expensive at just under $300
- Less than perfect low bass levels
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