Bose QuietComfort 20

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Bose QuietComfort 20 Review Facts

Whether you are a gamer, love your YouTube videos, or are into music, you no doubt understand the importance of having a good headset, especially if you have a noisy household. This review is one you will want to look into. Praised for their quality, Bose has made countless headsets over the years, ranging for inexpensive to save your money back for it styles of headphones. The QuietComfort 20 is one of the latter, but with our research, we have found that as usual, this set is worth every penny by almost everyone who has purchased them. If you prefer the kind of noise canceling headset that goes into the ear, this might be exactly what you have been looking for. They are designed to fit any ear and make it easier to hear your music, audio recording, game or video without having to worry that the noise around you could drown it all out. So, get your mouse and notes ready as we cover all the qualities that make this headset a great purchase.

Editor's Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Sets for both Apple and Samsung products
  • Built-in noise canceling
  • Has an aware mode so you can still listen to what’s going on around you
  • Rechargeable battery for aware mode
  • Built-in volume control
  • Triport design to remove loud background noise
  • Comfortable
Cons
  • Expensive
  • Rechargeable battery not replaceable

Activities

With the comfort fit, StayHear+ tips, you can do just about anything that doesn’t take you into the water while wearing these. As long as you can slip your Apple, Samsung or Android device into a pocket, the earplug will stay right where you put it. Thanks to the aware mode you can also choose to hear your surroundings if you need to and turn it off when you don’t, letting you move between without having to stop your device or remove the earbuds. This allows for a lot more mobility between activities and not have to keep pulling an ear off or putting it back on every time you need to hear something. For those on the go or who have constant business trips, you won’t ever need to look for another headset again,

Basic Features

As with any pair of headphones, the most basic features are in the materials and how they connect. In this case, the basic design is made of soft rubber-like materials for the earpieces which fit into the air, and the cord that runs to the devices themselves. You can purchase them to connect to Apple devices, Samsung or Android. Along the cord, the earphones have a built-in volume control that is separate from the device its plugged into. They are not overly fancy in appearance but actually are rather intricately designed to bounce sound away from your ears using a patented design in the rubber piece that sits in and around the ear. With just the basics, these earbud-style headphones are a great buy, but add to it that the piece that normally has to go into your ears isn’t actually being pushed far in like other styles of the same type, they sit just outside, barely in far enough it would feel like there is nothing there. Definitely worth looking into if you want a gentle pair of headphones that does its job to cancel unneeded and unwanted noise.

Advanced Features

For the Bose QuietComfort 20, your advanced features are the Triport technology which enhances the sound quality, the Aware mode which allows you to filter in the sounds around you and the rechargeable battery which doesn’t take long to charge up and be ready to go. Of course, knowing why you would even need a battery for a headset might make this a little easier to go for. The aware mode actually doesn’t turn your headset down or off, instead it filters in the noise from the outside, like flipping a microphone on that allows you to hear what’s on the other side. It is this part of the headset that is one of the more unique headsets and is what requires the battery. The only downside to this, though, is that the battery can’t be replaced if something happens and it stops working. Overall though, there haven’t been many complaints of that happening by customers so, we don’t see any more issue from that than we would with other devices where the battery is built in. Bose is such a reliable company that the features themselves have us saying it is worth it.

Sound Quality

The sound quality for this headset is so good, that it has been praised long after it was released, and even now holds marks for being one of the best headsets you can purchase. The only mark against it here is for those who prefer a lot of bass, The headset isn’t bad with bass, but doesn’t have any sort of unique enhancements to make it louder either. So, if you are looking for a well-balanced sound with excellent quality, this is the pair you want. If, however, you want to have that ultra-present bass (which may not be good for your ears) you may want to look for a different set. This set outperforms most other headsets, though, as expected from a well-known and trusted company, so don’t be surprised if finding a quality set that exceeds it proves to be more than a little difficult.

Connectivity

This is a corded set, so looking at connectivity is more like asking ‘do they have faulty wiring?’ which can seem a little on the silly side. While you run the risk with any wired object having the issue of a loose wire in it or faulty wiring altogether, Bose has a great reputation for making quality products. The chances of getting a set that has bad wiring are likely extremely low, so your connection is going to be very good if not perfect. The biggest issue comes with its aware mode which relies on an inbuilt rechargeable lithium battery. That doesn’t say your connectivity is likely to be less due to the headset itself, but rather, you have to keep a check on if your battery needs to be charged so that when you go out, you don’t end up needing it and not being able to use it. Like with most things Bose, you are almost guaranteed complete satisfaction in what you get, and connectivity is a big part of that.

Comfort

Tired of having to cover your whole ear, or press your bud in so far to stick that it causes an earache? You will have none of that with the QuietComfort 20. These earbuds sit just inside the ear and are held in place by the war holder that forms around the outside of the ear. It has the built-in sound canceling rubber design that reflects the noise back away from the ear that comes from the outside while keeping the sound from the earphones themselves in an acoustic which amplifies and gives it much better quality than the common earbud headsets. Quality and comfort come into play also with the fact that it is all made of soft rubber material that form fits rather than digging in. If you want both comfort and sound, this will definitely have you covered quite easily. Every part of our research pointed to satisfaction in this area and left us feeling positive that we wouldn’t be hurting under this set.

Style

This set is not exactly built for being flashy, but they don’t lack too much either- after all, they are Bose. There aren’t any real color choices, but the fact is, they leave you able to comfortably enjoy your music or other audio tracks without drawing attention to yourself. If what you prefer is the to not be obvious and to look professional even when you are enjoying your devices, this is exactly where you want to go on your hunt for headphones. They will not weigh on your head, and they leave you able to pay attention when needed with the flick of a button- which definitely looks better than having to yank an old-style earbud out of your ear which can look bad if it gets hooked on your ear. Another ‘good look’ about them is that since they sit without being crammed in your ear, they won’t come out discolored or worse. So as far as style is concerned, you can be both conservative and clean looking in these and feel good. Who said you needed anything but clear and black to be the best-looking music lover in the room?

Durability

The best part about Bose products is that they do tend to outlast their competitors with most of their products. This particular set is no different and, because of how they are made, it is easier to keep your cords from getting pulled on as frequently. Since the aware mode lets you not have to quickly tug at an earpiece’s cord to hear, you will end up having less wear on the product from the start. For the same reason, you don’t have to cause wear from constantly having to push to get them back in and sitting right. Everything about the headset stays in perfect order so long as you take care of them properly, the only downfall is if you get a faulty battery, or if the battery stops holding a charge since it can’t be replaced. They built this set, though, to make it easy to care for and keep stress off the cords and connections so that the chances of anything wearing down without some form of outside accident is not likely to cause an issue. Customers have even said that they continue to run just as good months into use as they did on day one- if not longer. So, if you want a long-lasting set that won’t wear out just by intended use- these are the buds you are looking for!

Ease of Use

There isn’t a lot of challenge when going to learn how to use the headset. The most you will find that is different in this model earphones is the Aware mode which allows you to cancel out more sound or lets you hear what is going on around you. This is done through a single button, and the rest is like most others you can get. Volume control on the cord, as well as the battery pack near where they connect, are all that sits on the length of the wires. The earpieces are easily secured to the ear and you are ready to go. As far as ease of use goes, this pretty much speaks for itself. Of course, these are not built for computers, but rather phones and other small devices for audio use. That being said, we can take what we see here and know they are definitely the high quality enjoyable, no hassle Bose brand we have all come to know and trust,

Power Source

With headsets, you don’t usually need a power source, you plug them into your device and voila! Sound either comes through loud and clear, or it doesn’t. With the QuietComfort 20, however, comes a new addition called ‘aware mode’ which turns on or off the high-level noise cancelation inbuilt into the set. This particular feature relies on an inbuilt rechargeable lithium battery pack. The battery recharges via a micro USB cord which only takes about two hours to get a full charge. The battery is not replaceable, but we haven’t seen any real complaints of it failing, so we feel it is an interesting and effective method to fully cancel out the noise and give us the best listening experience we could hope for with this headset. And since it is rechargeable, we aren’t left wondering what size the battery is, nor how long they last before needing to fork out even more money for it. Instead, we know we can just recharge when we need and be on our way!

Price

This is the main issue most have with this set. Despite its high quality and awesome ingenuity, many think the price is still set too high because it doesn’t have the same exact quality of sound that other sets in the same price range seem to have. Our point here, though, is that even if they aren’t quite at the same level (usually not having ear bleeding bass seems to be the main reason to this) most of the other headsets lose the quality that makes them ‘better’ after a much shorter time. Taking that into mind, we feel that, though the price is high, it is worth it if you need a reliable constant travel set that won’t give out on you when you least expect it,

Key Features

-An aware mode that turns on and off noise cancelation
-TriPort high-quality sound
-Doesn’t need to be pressed deep into the ear to hold
-Rechargeable lithium battery
-Volume control on cord
-Easy to use design
-Extremely comfortable

Bottom Line

These are truly one of the best-designed earbuds for those who have to travel a lot or who want to enjoy their music in highly populated or busy areas. They cancel out noise while remaining comfortable and not leaving you out of the loop when you need to be in it. While it might not be the best for those making music if you need to maximize every little sound to see if its mixing right, but for those of us who are just listening, Bose outdid the competition in the long run for sure- but we expected no less! These are definitely worth it for what they are intended to do, that’s for certain.