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Hey! i hope you liked that intro, im trying to up my editing skills. If so please smack that like button for me. Recently a few people have been asking me if they should get the new Sony XB950N1 or should they shell out the extra cash and get the Bose QC35? and my response to that question is usually, well what are you looking for in these ear phones? So if you’re having the same question, hopefully i can help you out.
First lets address the price. the sony XB950N1 currently retail for $248 over at amazon and come in two color ways. Black or green. The bose qc35 on the other hand retail for $349 and also come in two color ways. Black or silver. If you're not good at math… these two ear phones have a $100 price difference. Thats like 5 IMAX movie tickets to The Fate of The Furious. I’ll have links in the description below if you want to buy either one of these.
So, a quick run down of these two earphones. They're both noise canceling wireless ear phones, they're both using bluetooth 4.1, they both have a battery life of around 20 hours, they both have NFC pairing capabilities, and they both have an accompanying phone application. But but non the less, they are both very different products.
For starters the Bose QC35 are truly worth that $349 price tag. the materials are much more premium and the build quality is very solid. the majority of these ear phones is made out of metal and the head band is much more flexible than the head band on the Sony XB950N1. The Sony XB950N1 on the other hand is made mostly out of plastic. and the over all design of the Sony XB950N1 is huge. Like i mentioned in my initial review, you can actually still see the XB950N1 in your peripheral vision when you put them on. The bose QC35 on the other hand are much more compact. One very subtle design detail i appreciate from the bose qc35 are the large letters found inside of the ear cups indicating which is left and which is right. it just makes putting on these ear phones correctly the first time much easier. where as the sony just have these two little dots which don't help vey much so i always have to pause and make sure they're oriented correctly before i put them on.
Both of these ear phones also feature controls on the bottom of the ear cups, and they both took very different approaches. the Bose QC35 really just has a power button, a volume rocker and an extra button to play pause your music. double tapping the center button skips a track and triple tapping goes back a track. Its very easy to tell which button you're pressing since they're very elevated. the sony XB950N1 on the other hand has a few more buttons and allow you to take more control of your head phones. you can do things like turn on or turn off the bass effect feature, (more on this in just a second) you can turn noise cancelation on or off, and controlling your music with the dongle on the sony xb950n1 is much more intuitive and slightly more accurate. when it comes to controls, i really prefer the XB950N1 over the QC35.
When it comes to wearing either one of these earphones they're both very comfortable. but i do prefer one over the other. and that would have to be the Bose QC35. Like i mentioned earlier, both of these earphones are noise canceling ear phones. and naturally i know you're probably wondering which has the better noise cancellation. and after trying both of these headphones on in the same noisy environments, i did find the bose qc35 had the better noise cancellation. just be warned, and this is just my experience… when i wear the bose qc35 for more than a few minutes without playing music i do get a headache. this dosnt mean it will happen to you. the Sony XB950N1 on the other hand don't give me any kind of headache whether the music is playing or not or after prolonged use. just don't expect the noise cancelation to be the same as the bose qc35.
over all sound quality on both of these head phones is great as well, but they do sound very different. The bose qc35 give you very decent listening experience over all. you've got a wide sound stage, instrument separation is spot on… Lows, Mids, Highs and vocals are all very clear. What makes the Sony XB950N1 special is their bass effect feature. as the box implies, the Sony XB950N1 are made for people who absolutely love base. The base on the Bose QC35 just cant compare to the Sony headphones. And having all that bass really changes the listening experience. and even though the XB950N1 have a whole lot of base, it dosnt take away from the sound quality. One complaint i do have about the XB950N1 is that their highs can get a little painful at times, where as the highs in the Bose QC35 in the same songs didn't cause any discomfort.
Like i mentioned earlier, both of these head phones also have smart phone apps. The Sony XB950N1 smart phone app allows you to do a few things like turn the noise cancelation on and off. You can also adjust the bass effect, so you can actually turn it up or turn it down. for those wondering the bass on the bose qc35 is equivalent to having the sony XB950N1 bass set to -2. hopefully that helps give you a reference of some sort. Sony’s app also allows you to adjust the surround effect of its headphones, but like i mentioned in my initial review it really just distorts the sound for me so i just keep that feature off. Bose’s smart phone app on the other hand really doesn't let you do too much. I even wonder why we even have to bother with the app some times.
Over all, both of these head phones have their pros and cons. The bose QC35 have far superior noise cancelation than the sony XB950N1 and they also have a far better build quality. The Sony XB950N1 on the other hand are truly all about that bass. The bose QC35 give you a very balanced listening experience and their slightly smaller size and included hard case make them great for traveling. But the bass on the QC35 does leave you wanting more. and thats where the XB950N1 picks up the slack. The Sony XB950N1 are just made for bass heads, and all that bass truly elevates the listening experience without taking away from the sound quality. Traveling with the XB950N1 can be a little harder due to their larger size. and if you do plan to travel a lot with them it would be smart to invest in a hard shell case. But over all, if you're looking for something with amazing noise cancelation and sound good get the Bose QC35. If you need to have your bass then get the Sony XB950N1.
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