Sony WH-1000XM4 Vs Bose NC 700 Vs Bose QC35 II - Don't Get Comfortable Sony

Usually, if you are looking for a pair of premium anc headphones, people usually end up asking whether they should go with Bose or Sony. Now you really can't go wrong with either the Bose nc700s or the new Sony

1000xm4

s, but there are a few. There are very important differences to note between these two headphones, so today we will compare the

bose

nc 700 with the new

sony

1000xm4

, but I will also include the

bose

qc35

for people who might be thinking about upgrading now, first of all, let's talk From the price, the 21000 the bose

qc35

which retail for 350 but can usually be found on sale for 300 or even a little less sometimes but anyway if you want to purchase any of these headphones they will be linked below and if you want.

To learn more about any of these headphones, check out their full reviews because we'll just go over their main differences, but now let's talk here about the included carrying cases. All of these headphones come with decent hard cases that you'll have no problem protecting your headphones if you plan to travel or move around a lot with them, and both the Sony and the nc700 have storage compartments for your cables, which is a nice touch, but I want Note that Bose also sells one separately. Carrying case for the nc700 that will give you an additional 40 hours of battery life.

Now most people won't need this, but if you travel constantly you may want to keep this in mind, but now let's talk about the construction of the headphones. Quality-wise, all of these headphones are on par with each other, feeling very sturdy in your hands and don't creak or squeak when you handle them, but there are some important material differences to note. The 1000 xm4 have a mostly slate finish. for them and there is a soft touch on the caps of their earphones, while the bose qc35 have a mostly smooth body, but the unique feature of them is that they have a touch of alcantara under the headband, which feels very good, but then there are the bose nc 700 which feel very different when in your hands compared to the

sony

ones with the nc700 you have smooth plastic ear cups and then you have this exposed stainless steel headband that is mostly wrapped in very cushiony silicone but in my opinion the biggest difference in build quality between these headphones has to be their synthetic leather, the bose nc700 have an amazing feel, the red synthetics and the leatherette on the bose qc35s are a close second , while the synthetic leather on the sonys feels very synthetic, it feels good. enough to get the job done, but compared to the synthetic leather on the Bose headphones, they feel very plasticky, so overall, when they're in your hands and on your head, the Bose n6700s feel more luxurious than the from Sony, but when it comes to its design, the nc700. may be a bit polarizing personally, I don't care how they look but I just wish their headband wasn't so bulbous while the Sony headband is much lower which makes them look sleeker because the Sony headband is still more low profile than the qc35s headband now when it comes to fit all of these headphones are big head approved because none of them have much clamping force but the qc35s have noticeably less clamping force than these other two headphones and the bose qc35s They are also a little lighter than these other two headphones which weigh 240 grams, while the Sony ones weigh 254 grams and the Bose nc 700 weigh 264 grams.

However, all of these headphones are lightweight because most premium anc headphones in this category weigh between 270 and 290 grams, so thanks to their light weight, it is easy to forget that you have them on and they are not very noticeable on your head when you walk with them on, however, when it comes to their pads. There are some major differences: the ear pads on the 1000xm4 have been made a little roomier than the ear patch on the 1000xm3, so these headphones should be able to fit a little more people, but if you have larger ears large or protruding a lot, then it is definitely still better to use any of these Bose headphones.

The Sony headphones fit me very well, but I admit that having the extra breathing room on the Bose nc 700 is really nice, but another important thing to point out here is that since the ear pads on the Bose nc700 have less surface area that goes into contact with the skin than these other two headphones. The nc700 heats up a little slower than these other two headphones. Now these other two headphones don't have an overheating problem, but the nc700s do. Stay cool longer, so overall all of these headphones fit very well. You can wear them for hours without any problems and the Sony ones should be able to fit most people, but if you have larger ears or ears that stick out a lot then no.

Better to opt for the Bose NC 700s, but now let's talk about the technical specifications. Both the sonys and bose nc700s charge via a usb c port as they should, while the bose qc35 charges via a micro usb port, which is a drawback right now and when as far as the battery life, both Bose headphones will do the job, but I think they both could do better. Both Bose headphones have an advertised battery life of 20 hours, which is a little below average and we like to see at least a 25 hour battery life, while the Sony have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with the anc on and you can also extend the battery life up to 38 hours if you use them with the anc off now when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity, fortunately, all of these headphones can connect to two devices at the same time, so you can easily switch from one device to another and this can be a big problem for advanced users, now it's a big problem because it's actually a new feature for the sony 1000xm4s now in general, it's not a big deal that your headphones can do this, but it's really nice to be able to do that and when it comes to watching movies or videos on your phone, all of these headphones have zero latency across the board, whether you're using an iPhone or an Android device, which is always great, but a Very important but obvious thing I want to point out here is that you can still use a wired connection with all of these headphones because all of these headphones still have audio jacks.

I'd like to point this out because some manufacturers are starting to remove the audio jack from some of their headphones, like Apple did with their Beats Solo Pro, and unfortunately, sometimes it's still necessary to use a wired connection with headphones. Whether you're a content creator or even a casual user, but don't worry, Apple will be more than happy to charge you $35 for an audio cable to Lightning port, but now let's talk about listening to music with these headphones because when it comes to sound , Bose headphones are very different from Sony headphones. Now, both the Bose qc35s and Bose nc700s are better suited for people who like a neutral or vocal-focused EQ.

The bass from both Boze headphones won't physically shake your head as much. the bass on the bose headphones is mostly just on the audible side, it resonates a bit but it doesn't resonate as much as other headphones which can now regularly give you chills, although the bose nc700s now have an adjustable equalizer and you can turn up the bass Of these headphones, even if you turned them up to 10, they still won't physically make your head shake, for this reason many people might say that the Bose headphones sound flat, but they don't. We're targeting a different audience because where the Bose NC700s outshine the Sonys is when it comes to their soundstage and instrument separation, the Bose NC700s sound more open than the Sony 1000xm4, making you feel like you're more immersed in your music, whereas although the soundstage of the Sonys is decent, they sound a little tighter, but at the end of the day I feel that the Sonys will be able to please most people thanks to their fully customizable EQ, you can make them sound however you want. if you want a neutral or vocal focused EQ like the bose you can do that or if you like a bass heavy EQ then you can do that too and unlike the bose the bass on the sony will physically make your head ring a decent amount and I should be able to satisfy most people now personally, I just like to use these headphones while I have the stock EQ on, but I like to switch them to a bass heavy EQ when I go watch a movie with them because all that extra bass gives you an extra level of immersion in whatever you're watching, whereas with the Bose you don't get the same level of immersion when watching a movie with them due to their tamer bass, so overall the bose nc700s are great .

If you want better soundstage and better detail, while with the Sonys they should be able to please most people, but if you want to physically feel your base, this is the way to go now when it comes to the multimedia controls of these headphones. The bose qc35 use physical buttons and this could be a deal breaker for some people who just don't like using the touchpad on their headphones. Now the touch panel on both headphones is fine, but personally the touch panel on the Bose is not my favorite. because it's quite small, but I also don't like that you have to constantly move this touchpad up and down to adjust the volume because with Sony's touchpad you can swipe up or down and hold to continuously raise or lower the volume . which feels more elegant, but overall both headphones have precise and easy-to-use touch panels.

Now, something that the Sonys have that the Bose don't is that they have wear sensors, so when you take the headphones off you don't pause the music and then when you put them back on they will start playing your music again. Now I personally don't care about the wear sensors so I just turned them off but I thought about adjusting them but now let's talk about the active noise cancellation. These headphones are now the first, both the bose nc 700 and the sony 1000xm4s, to beat the bose qc35 when it comes to anc performance, specifically because these headphones have significantly lower cabin pressure than the bose qc35, which ends up giving me headaches, it may not happen to everyone, but it seems that way to me, so for me the real ANC comparison will be between these other two headphones.

Now the anc on both headphones have very little to no cabin pressure, but the Sony ones have a little less cabin pressure, making them more

comfortable

. anc on any of these headphones doesn't change how your music sounds and they also block out an impressive amount of noise, but so you can see for yourself, we're now going to run an anc test. I just saw that both headphones block out an impressive amount of noise, but ultimately the bose nc700 manages to block out a little more noise here in this controlled test where these headphones block out the same audio samples when it comes to blocking out a Road noise or constant low frequency sound, there is a high pitched tone on the Sony in the background, whereas the Bose doesn't, and when it comes to blocking chatter or random higher frequency sound, although it may It seems like the Bose and the Sony are blocking the same amount of noise, the Sonys are actually letting in a little more noise, so as of now, the Bose nc 700s running their 1.5.1 firmware block a little more noise than the sony 1000xm4 running its firmware 2.0.6. what is the latest firmware at the time of this recording, ultimately I'm splitting hairs because most people aren't going to notice these new differences and I personally prefer the anc on the sony 1000xm4 to the bose nc700 due to its reduced cap and pressure, but as I mentioned in your full review, the sony 1000x m3 running their 4.5.2 firmware block out more noise than the 1000xm4 and also block out more noise than the bose nc700, so I feel like we're going to have to review anc performance on sony 1000xm4s after receiving another firmware update.

It's still great but we know Sony can do better but now let's talk about the ambi mode on these headphones. You can set it so that these headphones let in some of the surrounding sounds. around you, which can be very useful when you're walking around town or so you can easily hear when someone says your name when you're watching the legend of korra at home, which is actually a lot better than I remember now. The ambient mode on both earbuds sounds very natural, there is no background hiss and both earbuds do a great job of blocking out wind noise whenwalk outdoors, but unfortunately the bose qc35 does not have an ambient mode, you can reduce its activity. noise cancellation, but you can't actually get them to pump sound now, ultimately I prefer the ambient mode on the Sonys because the Sonys have an active ambient mode, which means they will actively block out any spikes in loud noises, but there can.

See what I'm talking about, we're going to jump into a demo with some lightweight headphones that warn me, so as you just saw, when Sony detected that spike in the loud noise, they turned off the ambient mode and when the noise stopped, They turned off the mode. Personally, I love when headphones have an active ambient mode because it saves you from shocks and really comes in handy when you're working at home and your dog starts barking when the oops man comes, whereas with the bose they let everything in, so that if your dog starts barking on the bose, all of that will be incorporated now as well, a new feature that Sony is actually testing.

To press the sony 1000xm4 is their new talk chat feature which I like to think of as an extension of their ambient mode and it works a bit like this so basically it's talk chat, every time I start talking the headphones will automatically go down the volume. volume of your music and pump out all the ambient sound around you so you can talk to someone without even having to touch your headphones and then once you're done talking you can wait for the headphones to start playing music again. or you can double tap on the touchpad, but ultimately for me, chatting is just a trick that I'm not going to use right now.

Speakerphone chat doesn't activate when other people are talking around you, it does a very good job. I reject that, but if you decide to use talk to chat on these headphones, then you have to be completely silent. The speaker chat on these headphones will activate if you are singing your music, if you are thinking out loud even very quietly and talk on channel, these headphones will also activate when you start laughing which can be a big problem especially if you're listening to the current 2 podcast, so the days I tried to use talk to chat on these headphones they just paused my music every time I mumbled a few words, becoming more of a nuisance rather than a help, so if you're going to have a quick conversation with anyone personally, I prefer to use quick attention on these headphones, where if you completely cover their touch panel, they will lower the volume of your music and let in all the ambient sound around you this way, but the problem with quick attention is that you have to constantly keep their touch panel covered, so if you're going to try to have a conversation with someone like this, this looks and feels very un

comfortable

, all Sony has to do is change it so that when you have the touch panel of their headphones completely covered for a full second, they become locked. quick attention mode, you can have your conversation hands free like a normal human being and then when you are done all you have to do is double tap below the touchpad and then the headphones will go back to normal again and I'm There is a big problem with this because the Bose nc700s have a very similar feature called talk mode and it works a little like this, don't worry, as you just saw, once talk mode was activated on the Bose, you can let it go. of your button and your hands are free, so I feel like chatting is an overly designed solution to a very simple problem that Sony can easily fix with a small change to quick attention that they can easily add via a software update, but now here is microphone test now technically the sony 1000xm4s microphone has been improved over the sony 1000xm3s microphone but my voice still doesn't sound super clear however this microphone is doing a very good job of blocking that AC because if we were to switch If you switch to my lapel mic you will clearly hear that air conditioning unit but if we switch to the sony 1000xm4 you won't be able to see it as much now even though the bose qc35s mic doesn't work as well.

I work blocking that air conditioning unit my voice sounds clearer which I think is more important but then there is the microphone on the bose nc 700s my voice just doesn't sound very clear this microphone is also doing a great job blocking that air conditioning unit conditioning unit because again if we switch to another microphone you will clearly hear that air conditioning unit but if we switch back to the bose nc 700 you will barely be able to hear it so if you plan on taking a lot of phone calls with your headphones and the bose nc 700 are clearly the way to go because even though the microphone on the sony 1000xm4s has been improved, it still has pickups compared to the bose nc700s now, before we jump to the final verdict, the last thing I want What will be addressed here will be software updates in recent months.

Software updates on all Sony headphones have been very easy and hassle-free and have actually added features to their headphones throughout their lifespan, while with Bose on the other hand, over the last few 18 months or so, their software updates have been a bit spotty, sometimes taking a long time to install or requiring multiple attempts and sometimes there are bugs and I have encountered a few bugs with my headphones. Now Bose customer service is very quick to help you but people just want their stuff to work and I personally get nervous every time I have to update these headphones so I'm just saying you may have to Contact Bozo customer service if you get hit with a bad software update, but with all that said, both the Sony 1000 xm4 and the Bose nc 700 are a top-notch pair of anc headphones and you can't go wrong with either. both, but there are some crucial differences between them that you should keep in mind first.

If you want to physically feel your bass then you are better off with the Sony or if you want a wider soundstage you should go for the Bose now, although the Bose nc700 block out a bit more noise than the Sony, I personally still prefer the anc on the sony 1000xm4 because they have a little less cabin pressure, but we know they can work better now, although the sony should fit most people well, if you have larger ears or ears that stick out a lot you are still better off. going with the bose nc 700s and also having that extra space with the bose is very nice and finally there is the microphone on these headphones if you plan on taking a lot of phone calls then the bose and the c700s are a no-brainer here now for people who still have the bose qc35s, I say it's definitely time for an upgrade, specifically because these new anc headphones block out more noise with less cabin pressure and whether you're a commuter or not, the ambient mode on these headphones is very useful, but When it comes to choosing between one of these two headphones, one is not completely better than the other, it will all depend on your needs, but I will say that Sony does not feel comfortable if you made it this far, I guess you enjoyed it. video so hit the like button and subscribe to help someone you notice.

If you want to pick up one of the products I've mentioned in this video, they will be linked in the description below and you can also support the channel by checking out the merchandise. store but other than that I will see you next time