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Typically if you’re in the market for a pair of premium ANC headphones people usually end up asking if they should go with Bose or Sony. Now you really can’t go wrong with either the Bose NC 700 or the new Sony 1000XM4’s… but there are some very important differences between them to take into consideration. So today we’re going to be comparing the Bose NC 700’s to the Sony 1000XM4’s but im also going to be throwing in the Bose QC35’s for the people who might be thinking about upgrading.
But now lets talk about the included carrying cases here. All of these headphones come included with decent hardshell cases that are going to have no problem protecting your headphones if you do plan on traveling or commuting a lot with your headphones. And both the Sony’s and NC 700’s have storage compartments for your cables which is a nice touch. But I do want to point out that Bose also sells a separate carrying case for the NC 700’s that will give you an additional 40 hours of battery. Now most people aren’t going to need this but if you’re a constant traveler you’ll might want to take this into consideration.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves… build quality wise all of these headphones are on par with one another. They all feel sturdy in your hands and they all have zero cracking or squeaking whenever you handle them. But there are some major material differences to take into consideration. The 1000XM4’s have a mostly slate finish to them and there’s a hint of soft touch on the caps of their ear cups. Where as the Bose QC35’s have a mostly smooth body but the very unique feature about them is that they have a hint of alcantara underneath their headband which feels very nice. But then there are the Bose NC 700’s which feel very different when they’re in your hands when compared to the Sony’s. With the NC 700’s you’ve got smooth plastic ear cups, and then you’ve got this exposed stainless steel headband thats mostly wrapped in very padded silicon. But in my opinion the biggest build quality difference between these headphones has got to be their leatherette. The Bose NC 700’s have amazing feeling synthetic leatherette and the leatherette on the Bose QC35’s is a close second. Where as the leatherette on the Sony’s feels very synthetic. It feels good enough to get the job done… but when compared to the leatherette on Bose’s headphones it feels very plasticy. So over all, when they’re in your hands and on your head the Bose NC 700’s feel more luxurious than the Sony’s. But when it comes to their design… the NC 700’s can be a little polarizing… personally I don’t mind how they look but I just wish their headband wasn’t so bulbous. Where as the headband on the Sony’s is a lot more low profile making them look sleeker. Cause the headband on the Sony’s is still more low profile than the headband on the QC35’s.
Now when it comes to fit, all of these headphones are big head approved cause none of them have a lot of clamping force. But the QC35’s do have noticeably less clamping force than these other two headphones. And the Bose QC35’s are also a little more light weight than then other two headphones weighing in at 240 grams. Where as the Sony’s weigh in at 254 grams and the Bose NC 700’s weigh in at 264 grams. Nonetheless all of these headphones are light weight cause most premium ANC headphones in this category weigh in between 270 to 290 grams. So thanks to their light weight, all of these headphones are easy to forget that you have on and they aren’t super noticeable on your head when you’re walking around with them on. However when it comes to their ear pads there are some major differences. The ear pads on the 1000XM4’s have been made slightly more spacious than the ear pads on the 1000XM3’s. So these headphones should be able to fit a little more people. But if you have larger ears or ears that stick out a lot then you’re defneitly better off with going with either of these bose headphones. Now Sony’s headphones fit me just fine, but I will admit that having the extra breathing room on the Bose NC 700’s is really nice. But another important thing to point out here is that since the ear pads on the Bose NC 700’s have less surface area coming in contact with your skin than these other two headphones… the NC 700’s do heat up a little slower than these other two headphones. Now these other two headphones don’t have an over heating problem but the NC 700’s do stay cooler for longer. So over all… all of these headphones fit great, you can wear them for hours on end without any problems and the Sony’s should be able to fit most people. But if you do have larger ears or ears that stick out a lot then you are better off going with the Bose NC 700’s.
But now lets talk about tech specs… both the sony’s and Bose NC 700’s charge via a USB C port as they should. But the Bose QC35’s are still charging via a micro usb port which is an inconvenience at this point. And when it comes to their battery life, both of Bose’s headphones will get the job done but I feel they both can do better.
Both of Bose’s headphones have an advertised battery life of 20 hours, which is a little below average and we do like to see at least a 25 hour battery life. Where as the Sony’s have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on and you can even stretch them out to 38 hours if you use them with the ANC turned off.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity thankfully all of these headphones can be connected to two devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap from one device to another. And this is a rather big deal cause this is a new feature for the 1000XM4’s. Now its not a huge deal that you headphones can do this… but it is very nice to be able to.
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. And one obvious but very important thing to point out here is that you can use all of these headphones with a wired connection cause they all still have audio jacks. Now I like point this out cause some manufactures are starting to remove the audio jack on some of their headphones just like how Apple did with their Beats Solo Pro, but they’ll be more than happy to charge you $35 for an Audio to lighting port cable.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these headphones cause when it comes to sound, Bose’s headphones are very different from Sony’s headphones. Now both the Bose QC35’s and Bose NC 700’s are better suited for people who like a neutral or vocals focused eq. The bass on both of Bose’s headphones isn’t going to physically rattle your head all that much. The bass on Bose’s headphones is mostly just on the audible side… it resonates a little bit but it does resonate as much as some other headphones out there that can induce goosebumps. Now even though the Bose NC 700’s now have an adjustable EQ and you can raise the bass on these headphones… even if you were to turn them up to 10 they still aren’t going to physically rattle your head. So for this reason a lot of people will might say that Bose’s headphones sound flat. But they don’t, they’re catering to a different audience. Cause where the Bose NC 700’s do out shine the Sony’s is when it comes to their sound stage and instrument separation. The Bose NC 700’s sound more open than then Sony 1000XM4’s, making it feel like youre more engulfed in your music. Where as even though the soundstage on the Sony’s is decent… they do sound a little more narrow. But at the end of the day I do feel the Sony’s are going to 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 for vocals focused EQ like the Bose you can do that… or if you like a bass heavy EQ then you can also do that. And unlike the Bose, the bass on the Sony’s is going to physically rattle your head a decent amount and it should be able to satiate most people. Now personally I just like using these headphones while in their stock EQ but I do like switching them over to a bass heavy EQ when im going to watch a movie with them cause all of that extra bass does give you an extra level of immersivness to what ever you’re watching. Where as with the Bose you don’t get the same level of immersivness when you’re watching a movie with them cause of their more tamed bass. So over all the Bose NC 700’s are great if you want the better sound stage and better detail where as with the Sony’s they should be able to please most people but if you want to physically feel your bass then they are the way to go.
Now when it come to the media controls on these headphones… the bose QC 35’s are using physical buttons, and this might actually be a deciding factor for some people who just don’t like using touchpads on their headphones. Now the touch pad on both of these headphones are fine… but personally the touch pad on the Bose isn’t my favorite cause it is rather small but I also don’t like that you constantly have to flick this touch pad up or down to adjust your volume. Cause with the touch pad on the Sony’s you can actually swipe up or down and hold to continuously raise or lower your volume which does feel sleeker. But over all both of these headphones do have easy to use and accurate touch pads.
Now something the Sony’s have that the bose don’t are wear sensors so when you take these headphones off they’ll pause your music and when you put them back on they’ll start playing your music again. Now personally I don’t care for wear sensors so I just turn them off but I still wanted to address them.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. Now first off both the Bose NC 700’s and Sony 1000XM4’s out class the Bose QC35’s when it comes to ANC performance specifically cause these headphones have significantly less cabin pressure than the Bose QC35’s which do end up giving me headaches. It might not happen to everyone but it does to me. So for me the real ANC comparison is going to be between these other two headphones. Now the ANC on both of these headphones have very little to no cabin pressure… but the Sony’s do have a little less cabin pressure making them more comfortable. The ANC on either of these headphones doesn’t change how your music sounds and they also block out an impressive amount of noise. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
So like you may have just seen, both of these headphones block out an impressive amount of noise. But ultimately the Bose NC 700’s do manage to block out a little more noise here in this controlled test where these headphones are all blocking out the same audio samples. When it came to blocking out road noise, or the constant low frequency sound… there’s a high pitch tone to the Sony’s in the background where as the Bose don’t. And when it came to blocking out chatter or the random higher frequency sound, even though it might look like the Bose and Sony are blocking out the same amount of noise… the Sony’s are actually letting in a hair more noise in. So as of right now with the Bose NC 700’s running their 1.5.1 firmware block out a little more noise than the Sony 1000XM4’s running their 2.0.6 firmware which is the latest firmware at the time of this recording. Now ultimately I am splitting hairs here cause most people aren’t going to notice these minute differences and personally I do prefer the ANC on the Sony 1000XM4’s over the Bose NC 700’s cause of their reduced cabin pressure… but like I mentioned in their full review the Sony 1000XM3’s running their 4.5.2 firmware do block out more noise than the 1000XM4’s… and they also block out more noise than the Bose NC 700’s. So I do feel that we are going to have to revisit the ANC performance on the Sony 1000XM4’s after they get another firmware update. Its still great, but we know sony can do better.
But now lets talk about the ambient mode on these headphones. You can make it so that these headphones let in some of the surrounding sounds around you which can be very useful for when you’re walking around the city or so that you can easily hear when someone calls your name when you’re watching the legend of kora at home. Now the ambient mode on both of these headphones sounds very natural, there’s zero hissing in the background and both of these headphones do a great job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors. But unfortunately the Bose QC35’s don’t have an ambient mode. You can reduce their active noise cancellation but you can’t actually have them pump in sound. Now ultimately I do prefer the ambient mode on the Sony’s cause the Sony’s have an active ambient mode meaning that they’ll actively block out any sudden spikes in loud noises. But so that you can see what im talking about we’re going to jump into a demo. Slight head phone warning
So like you may have just seen… when the sony’s detected that spike in loud noise they turned off their ambient mode and when the noise stoped they turned their ambient mode back on. Now personally I love when headphones have an active ambient mode cause it does save you from jump scares and it really does come in handy when you’re working at home and your dog starts barking when the UPS man comes around. Where as with the Bose they let in everything. So if your dog start barking with the bose all of that is going to get pumped in as well.
Now one new feature that sony is really trying to push on the Sony 1000XM4’s is their new speak to chat feature which is an extension of their Ambient mode and it works a little like this.
But ultimately for me speak to chat is just a gimmick that im just not going to use. Now speak to chat doesn’t get activated when other people are talking around you, it does a great job of rejecting that. But if you do decide to use speak to chat than you have to be completely silent. Speak to chat on these headphones will get activated if you’re singing along to your music, if you’re thinking out loud even very quietly, and its also going to get activated if you start laughing.
So the days that I did try to use speak to chat on these headphones they just paused my music everytime I would mutter a single word becoming more of a nuances rather than helpful. So if you are going to have a quick conversation with someone personally I do prefer to use quick attention on these headphones where if you full cover their touch pad they’ll lower the volume of your music and let in all of the ambient sound around you like this
But the problem with quick attention is that you gotta constantly keep their touch pad covered. And if you’re going to try to talk to someone like this… this both looks and feel very awkward. Sony just has to change it so that when you cover their touch pad for a full second the headphones will get locked into quick attention mode, you can have your conversation with your hands free like a normal human, and then when you’re done you can just double tap on their touch pad and the headphones will go back to normal again.
And im making a big deal about this cause the Bose NC 700’s also have a similar feature which they call conversation mode which works like this.
So like you may have just seen once conversation mode on the Bose was activated you can just let go of their button and then your hands are free. So I just feel speak to chat is an over engineered solution to a very simple problem which sony can easily fix with a small change to quick attention.
But now here’s the microphone test now technically the microphone on the Sony 1000XM4’s has been improved from the 1000XM3’s but my voice still doesn’t sound super clear. However this microphone does a really good job of blocking out that AC unit, cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear that AC unit. But if we switch back over to the Sony 1000XM4’s you don’t hear it as much.
Now even though the Bose QC35’s don’t do as good of a job blocking out that AC unit… my voice does sound clearer which I feel is more important.
But then there’s the microphone on the Bose NC 700’s. My voice doesn’t just sound very clear… this microphone also does a great job of blocking out that AC unit. So if you do plan on taking lots of phone calls then the Bose NC 700’s are the way to go.
Cause even though the microphone on the Sony 1000XM4’s has been improved… it still paled in comparison to the Bose NC 700.
Now before we jump over to the final verdict the last thing I want to address here is going to be software updates. Now over the last few months, software updates on all of Sony’s headphones have been very straight forward without any issues and they’ve also added features to their headphones over the course of their lifetime.
Where as with Bose on the other hand… over the last 18 months or so Bose’s software updates have been a little spotty. Sometimes they take a long time to instal, or they take multiple attempts and sometimes there are bugs. And I have experienced some bugs in the past with my headphones. Now even though Bose’s costumer support is quick to help you… people just want their stuff to work and personally I do get nervous everytime I have to update these headphones. So im just saying, you’ll might have to reach out to Bose’s costumer support someday if you get a bad firmware update.
But with all that being said, both the Sony 1000XM4’s and Bose NC 700’s are a pair of top teir ANC Headphones and you can’t go wrong with either one. But there are some crucial differences between them to take into consideration. First off if you want to physically feel your bass than you are better off with the Sony’s or if you want that wider sound stage you should go with the Bose.
Now even though the Bose NC 700’s are blocking out a little more noise than the Sony’s… personally I still prefer the ANC on the Sony 1000XM4’s cause they have a little less cabin pressure. But we know they can do better.
Now even though the Sony’s should fit most people just fine… if you have larger ears or ears that stick out a lot you’re still better off going with the Bose NC 700’s. And besides… having that extra room with the Bose is very nice. And finally there’s the microphone on these headphones. If you do plan on taking lots of phone calls than the Bose NC 700’s are a no brainier here. Now for the people that are still holding on to the Bose QC35’s I say its defneitly time for an upgrade specifically cause these newer ANC headphones block out more noise with less cabin pressure. And whether youre a commuter or not the ambient modes on these headphones are very helpful.
But when it comes to choosing between one of these two headphones… one isn’t out right better than the other… its all going to come down to your needs. But I will say, sony don’t get comfortable.