How would you compare the Bose QC35 to the Plantronics? I know Marco Arment has fantastic things to say about the Backbeat Pro series, but I've never seen or heard those in real life, or even seen them mentioned in most reviews. I've tried the Bose a couple of times: the ANC is excellent, and I like the sound (but I'm not blown away by it).
geoelectric|8 years ago
The pros do outweigh the cons, IMO.
They sound almost exactly the same wired as wireless, which is to say very good assuming you don't mind a slightly dark and scooped profile. I listen primarily to industrial, rock, metal and heavier forms of EDM (brostep, drum'n'bass, hardstyle, etc.) and they sound wonderful for that. There isn't much hiss at all, which can be a real problem for bluetooth headphones due to the internal amp. I was impressed with the noise floor.
The bluetooth stack itself is another pro--handles multipoint seamlessly, which is actually kind of rare, and the range (with an iPhone transmitting) was at least 50 feet line of sight, and well over 30 feet with walls. At home I could roam anywhere, at the office I could get pretty far away.
While your mileage may vary according to source, I also found the BBP's latency perfectly acceptable even for light game playing (though it's not ~0, hence the Arctis). I think Crypt of the Necrodancer's calibration measured it around 150ms, which isn't bad for not being connected via a low-latency codec. I had no problem at all using them for movies.
One other point for the BBPs is the controls. One earcup has a ginormous volume dial as its inset and the other buttons are very tactile. While the dial does tend to stiffen some over time if you don't use them often enough, it's hands down the easiest set of controls to fumble to in a hurry. Plus there's a "talk through" button that pipes in exterior sound so you can answer colleague questions (or hear flight announcements) without removing them.
And, of course, the OG Backbeat Pros are around $200 cheaper street than Bose QC35s. If you have bluetooth you don't need the Pro+ with the dongle, and the Pro 2s [don't have a ton of improvements IIRC]*
In comparison, Bose doesn't sound as good. It does sound just like Bose, so if you know that sound, there you go. I find it acceptable but not phenomenal, and there's a little mud in the mid-bass I don't hear with the BBPs that unfortunately doesn't play as well with metal. EDM and industrial both sound fine. Bose does have just as good a BT stack in terms of seamless pair and switching behavior, but nowhere near the range. Latency is fine on Bose but I haven't tried them gaming.
Places where Bose clearly excels include the followup service--say what you want about the audio tech, but Bose's customer service is absolutely fantastic whereas Plantronics is average; the comfort--Bose headphones feel much lighter (without having weighed them both or checking specs) and comform to my face and ears better; and especially in the noise cancelling. Plantronics' noise cancelling just isn't great, whereas only the Sony M1000x have come near Bose in NC and they have some quality concerns.
* Edit: looking at Pro 2s, they do address the aesthetic and comfort issues, with ovular cups and plusher-looking pads, and are supposedly lighter. The really convenient controls aren't there anymore. They might be worth a shot buying from somewhere you can return them to if you don't like the audition, though if you're looking for great NC I'd skip right on to the Bose.
RyanGWU82|8 years ago