The Bose Hearphones Wireless are unique earbuds that have a conversation-enhancing feature. They're designed to help you hear better by amplifying ambient noise. They have a decent ANC feature that blocks out ambient noise and are quite comfortable to wear for a while. Unfortunately, they have a bass-heavy sound profile, which some users may not enjoy, and lack an EQ. We couldn’t accurately test their conversation-enhancing feature on our test bench, so we tested these as normal Bluetooth headphones, but we think they do a pretty good job at enhancing ambient noise. However, the earbuds emit very loud and piercing feedback sometimes, which is painful.
Our Verdict
The Bose Hearphones are satisfactory for mixed usage. These conversation-enhancing headphones don’t have the best audio quality and won’t be great for critical listening. On the upside, they have a pretty good ANC feature suitable for commuting and at the office as they block out the deep rumbles of a bus engine and ambient chatter. Their portable, breathable, and stable design is good for sports as well. Unfortunately, like most Bluetooth headphones, their latency might be slightly too high to be used for watching video content and gaming.
- Unique conversation-enhancing feature.
- Good isolation performance.
- Comfortable design.
- Sub-par audio quality.
- Neckband design might not be for everyone.
The Bose Hearphones are passable for neutral sound. These headphones have a very overemphasized bass that sounds thumpy and boomy. Also, they can’t seem to be able to reproduce frequencies over 10kHz, which is disappointing. Like most Bose headphones, they can’t be EQ’ed to your preference. These headphones' primary use is for conversation enhancing and not neutral sound.
The Bose Hearphones are good for commuting. The Bose Hearphones have a pretty good ANC feature that blocks out a good amount of low-end noises like the rumbles of a plane or bus engine. They're easy to carry around and are quite comfortable for long rides or flights. Their eight hours of battery life should be more than enough for a daily commute, too.
The Bose Hearphones are good for sports. Their earbud tips with a stability fin design are stable for sports, and you should be able to run with these without a problem. They're very breathable and are easy to carry around your neck as well. However, not everyone will like working out with a neckband design, and like the Bose QuietControl 30/QC30 Wireless, their rubber coating may peel off after exposure to sweat.
The Bose Hearphones are decent for the office. Their ANC feature blocks a good amount of work environment noises. They do a decent job at isolating against ambient chatter and sharp noises like A/C systems. Unfortunately, the 8-hour battery life might be a bit short for some. On the upside, their conversation-enhancing feature might be useful if you need to hear better when in a meeting. Overall, these won’t be the best option to enjoy your favorite tracks at the office.
The Bose Hearphones are sub-par for gaming. On top of having very high latency for gaming, these headphones have a mediocre microphone for gaming and won’t compete against gaming headsets’ boom microphones. You shouldn't use them for this.
Changelog
- Updated Mar 24, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Jun 18, 2019: Review published.
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Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Bose Hearphones are rather unique Bluetooth headphones that are intended to be mainly used as a conversation-enhancing device. They can also be used for music, but their sound profile is very bass-heavy. They're quite similarly designed to the Bose QuietControl 30/QC30 Wireless.
See our recommendations for the best neckband headphones and the best noise cancelling earbuds.
The Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear/HD1 In-Ear Wireless are a better option over the Bose Hearphones Wireless if you're looking to listen to audio content like music or podcasts. Their companion app offers a parametric EQ and presets so you can customize their sound to your liking. However, the Sennheiser don’t have an ANC feature like the Bose, and they also don’t offer a nice conversation-enhancer mode that amplifies ambient noise. The Bose are also more comfortable and have a better wireless range.
The Jabra Elite 65e Wireless are better headphones than the Bose Hearphones Wireless. The Jabra are very well-built, have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer, and have better noise isolation performance. However, no headphones have a similar ambient noise enhancer mode like the Bose. If you need a pair of headphones to help you hear better, the Bose are a better option, thanks to their amazing talk-through.
The Bose QuietControl 30/QC30 Wireless are better Bluetooth headphones than the Bose Hearphones Wireless thanks to their more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer, but if the enhanced-conversation mode is what you’re looking for, then consider the Hearphones. On the other hand, the QC 30 has slightly better noise isolation performance, but design-wise, the QC 30 and the Hearphones are practically identical.
The Sony WI-1000X Wireless are better headphones than the Bose Hearphones Wireless when it comes to listening to audio content. The Sony have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer, and they also feel better-built. Their noise isolation performance is also better, but they don’t have the nice conversation-enhancer feature of the Bose.
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You can also discover how we produce recommendations like this one so that you can find the best headphones (or earbuds!) for your needs.
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