Bose announced a trio of new headphones today. The company used the opportunity to primarily focus on the dryly named Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, which purport to sport “the biggest leap forward in headphones since the iconic QuietComfort.” A big claim, to be sure, especially given how much that line has come to define the category.
The new headphones apparently use the QuietComfort line as a sort of stepping stone, adding voice control through Google Assistant and Alexa (plus Siri compatibility), along with some additional noise isolation. Per Bose, “Surrounded by competing conversations, rush-hour traffic, and loud subway platforms, they can share their quiet, and not the noise around them — for crystal clear calls to home and work, and unprecedented accuracy from VPAs.”
Honestly, it sounds pretty similar to what companies like Sony have offered for a while with their QC competitors. But Bose has generally done a fine job executing these sorts of products, so I’m willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt that it’s bringing a unique take on this sort of isolation technology.
In a press release, Bose’s Brian Maguire pitches the 700s as a kind of alternative to touchscreens, clearly angling for an AirPod-like always-in voice-control model. “Noise cancelling headphones have always helped us hear better — but we need to be heard better, too. And no mobile device has solved that problem,” he says in the release. “No phone, no headphone, and no combination of the two. But the Bose Noise Cancelling 700 changes that. And we can’t wait for people to experience the difference it makes.”
The 700s will be available June 30 for $399, putting them just north of the QC 35 II. There’s a lot less info about the noise canceling 500 and 700 wireless earbuds — only that they “are super-compact, versatile, and available this year.” More information on those (and images) is promised closer to launch.