This one characteristic satisfied me to make use of the Bose QuietComfort Extremely Gen 2 as an alternative of Sony’s WH-1000XM6

I’ve had a busy month of journey the place I have been to a few international locations and logged over 60 hours of flying time. A very good headset is a must have, and is often one of many first issues that goes in my journey bag. I used Nothing’s Headphone 1 up to now (principally as a result of appears to be like and sound high quality), however I upgraded to Bose’s QuietComfort Extremely Gen 2 within the final month, and it has been excellent.

I used the sooner mannequin, the QuietComfort Extremely, for fairly some time now, and I just like the design and customizable sound together with terrific noise isolation. The QuietComfort Extremely Gen 2 does not change issues an excessive amount of; it appears to be like the identical and has the identical nice sound. Basically, it is an iterative replace that addresses two points: audio over USB-C and battery life. The QC Extremely Gen 2 lasts as much as 30 hours on a cost, six hours greater than its predecessor.

The rise in battery life makes all of the distinction in common use, and why I went with the QC Extremely Gen 2 over different headsets I’ve readily available. Notably, I discovered it to be higher than the Sony WH-1000XM6 for my very own use; it’s a smidgen lighter at 250g, nevertheless it matches significantly better on my head, and I discovered it to be extraordinarily snug on long-haul intercontinental flights. The headscarf has a very good vary of adjustability, and it distributes the load of the headset evenly.

One other plus level is that it does not take up as a lot room; it folds down flat (similar to the Sony), however the carrying case is not wherever as giant, and that makes the QC Extremely Gen 2 slightly simpler to fit into my admittedly-crowded tech bag. The clamping pressure is not as excessive, and the snug match and plush ear pads have a huge effect on a 20-hour flight. I had the headset on the complete time whereas touring to the U.S. from India, and more often than not, I did not even discover it was there.

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That brings me to the subsequent half: noise isolation. Each Bose and Sony do an excellent job on this space, and I discovered the QC Extremely Gen 2 to tune out the incessant whine of jet engines with none issues — it handles the low rumble of engines slightly higher than Sony. Truthfully, in the event you’re a frequent traveler, investing in a headset with good noise isolation is one of the best factor you are able to do, and the QC Extremely Gen 2 is among the many greatest — if not one of the best total — on this regard.

The angled design of the audio drivers means you get detailed sound, and Bose does a standout job with spatial audio, providing an expanded soundstage that is spectacular. Once more, this makes a distinction on an extended flight, and whereas Bose does not have in depth EQ choices, I all the time discovered the model’s tuning to be preferable to my tastes — extra so than the WH-100XM6. The bass specifically is vibrant and detailed, and it makes listening to most genres that rather more pleasing.

There are different niceties, together with the flexibility to get lossless audio over USB-C. This is not one thing that I care about whereas touring, however it’s fairly useful whereas I am dwelling, and it was enjoyable connecting the headset to my Fiio K19 DAC and listening by way of Roon. The headset will get the AptX suite as commonplace, and I did not have any points utilizing it with my Vivo X300 Professional and Discover X9 Professional. Like all different Bose headsets, it will get the flexibility to hook up with two units, and switching between the 2 is easy.

I did not see any issues with Bluetooth connectivity, with the headset simply pairing to all of the telephones I examined over the course of the final month, in addition to my iPad Professional M4. It is simple to attach the headset to a brand new machine as effectively; the main points are saved in your Google account, so when it’s in vary of a brand new machine, you mechanically get a dialog field asking if you would like to hook up with it.

Then there’s the battery life; that is the place the QC Extremely Gen 2 does significantly higher than its predecessor. The WH-1000XM6 nonetheless has the general edge, however I did not have any points getting the QC Extremely Gen 2 to final near 30 hours. Fortunately, quick charging is unbroken, so a 15-minute cost provides you an extra two hours of music playback, and that positively turns out to be useful.

Consolation performs a giant function when selecting a journey headset, and the QuietComfort Extremely Gen 2 will get all the pieces proper on this space — and that is why I take advantage of it over the WH-1000XM6. The sound high quality is among the many better of any headset, and it holds as much as the pains of long-haul journey. Whereas I will admit that the WH-1000XM6 is nice in its personal proper, I discovered the QuietComfort Extremely Gen 2 to be better-suited to my wants, and it’s now a mainstay in my journey bag.