Bose NC 700 HP Review: Is It Worth It?
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 blends cutting-edge noise cancellation technology with comfort and high sound quality.
With features like 11 levels of noise cancellation, touch controls, and voice assistant support, these headphones promise an epic listening experience.
I’ve used this product for a couple of years now for work and at the gym. Today I’ll share a complete and honest review of the product.
Key Features
Before I show you my experience and how I use the product, let’s take a look at the key features.
- Advanced Noise Cancellation: 11 levels for personalized sound environments.
- Touch Controls: Intuitive operation for music and calls.
- Voice Assistant Support: Hands-free access to Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.
- Quad-Microphone System: Enhances call clarity amidst noise.
- Bluetooth 5.0 Connectivity: Pairs with two devices simultaneously; up to 33 feet range.
- Battery Life: Up to 20 hours on a single charge.
- Bose Music App: For customization and firmware updates.
My Experience
I’ve used Bose NC 700 HP for a bit over two years now and I will now show you my experiences with it as well as how to use it.
Connecting the Headset
To start using the product you need to install their official application from Appstore or Google Play.
After installing the app, it’s time to use the headset.
To turn it on, you can click the top-right button on the side of the headset.
Then open the app and connect your headset with your smartphone:
Also, don’t forget to check the useful features of the app:
For example, if you click the “Tips” button, you’re going to see a guide on how to use the product:
Thus far, straightforward.
How I Use the Headset
Now, let me share some thoughts and experiences with the product.
To turn the volume up/down on the NC 700 HP, you need to swipe up or down in the right earmuff.
I think this is convenient, but it took a while for me to learn how to use it.
To confess, I think I used the volume controls on my phone for at least 6 months before I realized you can do it from the headset directly…
To pause a song, you can just do a single tap on the right-hand side of the headset, in the same place you changed the volume. Here’s me doing that:
This is also really convenient. But one thing I don’t like about it is that once I do sports, for example, pull-ups, I might accidentally pause my track or lower the volume to zero.
To change the track, you can swipe left or right in the right ear muff:
While this is cool, I think it was hard for me to learn to do this because you don’t see the thing, so it was easy to miss. I mean I sometimes pressed the backside of the earmuff instead of the front side, and I was wondering why the track didn’t change.
So I would say that even though the touchpad is epic, it also takes a while to learn how to use it and adapt to it. And it also can mess things up if you’re doing sports, changing clothes, etc.
One thing I love about the touchpad is that you can also answer phone calls with it. Just double tap on the right side when a call comes in and you’ll answer that way!
And if you have trouble hearing your music or calls due to background noise, it’s time to block it all out. This happens by pressing the left-hand side earmuff’s button.
I think the noise cancellation is perfect. It’s as good as it gets.
The noise cancellation feature excels in minimizing ambient sounds, such as the hum of a vacuum cleaner or the noise of a bus, effectively blocking out a majority of these distractions.
There are different levels of noise cancellation too. It’s not just 0% or 100%. There are 11 levels and you can use the app to change it as you want to. Sometimes it might make sense not to block out all the noise to hear something.
Additional Tips
I love bass. When I started using this headset, I didn’t hear a lot of bass in my bass-heavy music catalog. That made me worry whether there’s a control to change that.
But of course, there is!
Just open up the Bose Music app and change the EQ settings:
This setting is awesome. I brought the bass up to 7/10 and now it’s awesome.
Sometimes, if you have issues with your connection, for example, if you’re not hearing the output from your headset, check the source. It sometimes so happens that the audio output comes from two connected devices:
Just de-activate one of them and you’re good to go.
Main Issues with the Headset
Although I love this product, there are a couple of not-so-nice issues that are pretty frustrating to deal with.
Firstly, when you’re taking the headset off, you might accidentally hit the voice control button. This will then start making calls to people in your contact book without you noticing. Super embarrassing when it happens at 2:00 AM.
For some reason, I haven’t figured out how to turn this voice control off. Even though in the settings it’s off and I have it disabled on my phone, the headset still takes it over. This must be a bug!
As I already mentioned, if you’re changing clothes, adjusting your hair, or doing a workout, you might accidentally answer a call, stop your song, or change the volume.
These are the most frustrating issues I’ve had with the product in the past couple of years. Other than that, it’s mostly awesome.
Pros
- Easy to use. It has a mobile app and a touchpad which makes the controls convenient and always accessible. You just need some practice with it at first!
- Looks cool. The grey color looks fine, but there are also other colors to choose from.
- Noise cancellation is cool. It blocks out all the ambient noises in a very effective way. Also, you can tweak the level of noise cancellation.
- Good battery life. The headset lasts at least 15 hours, sometimes even 20 hours.
Cons
- Voice control takeover. The voice control button is located so that it’s easy to trigger. This means you might make accidental phone calls to people when taking off the headset.
- Touchpad sensitivity. The touchpad gets activated easily, so you might change your track, lower your volume, or even pick up a call by accident if you’re doing a workout or fixing your hair for example.
- Air-tightness. The air-tightness of the headset makes your ears boil if you don’t take the headset off from time to time—especially if you’re doing a workout.
Pricing
At the time of writing the price is: $259.99.
To Take Home
Bose NC 700 HP is a standout noise-cancellation headset.
I’ve been an avid user for about 2–3 years now and I highly recommend it.
Although it has some drawbacks such as the voice control takeover, air-tightness, and sensitive touchpad, it’s a great product most of the time.
The noise cancellation is especially efficient at blocking out all the noises.
Thanks for reading!
