Full review of the Bose Quiet Comfort QC20i!
Today, we’ll be reviewing the Bose Quiet Comfort QC20i. While the company has successfully made and sold over-ear noise cancellation solutions in the past, the QC20i is the company’s first in-ear noise cancellation offering. The QC20i promises to deliver comfortable performance and superior noise cancellation similar to their over ear offerings. While it’s able to deliver on its promise, the QC20i compromises on audio quality to achieve this, which may be a big issue for many especially considering its price point. The device we’re reviewing today is meant to be used for Apple devices, but will work (to an extent) with other devices as well.
Unconventional design proves to be a very comfortable fit
When you first see the QC20i, you’ll probably ask yourself how it’s actually supposed to fit in your ear. The QC20i has a very unorthodox design as far as in-ear headphones are concerned. The silicone earbuds protrude further than conventional in-ear headphones, with the silicone tips designed to rest on your ear’s cartilage. The theory is that you’ll be able to comfortably use the QC20i for longer periods of time as it doesn’t go as deep as other in-ear headphones while at the same time providing an excellent seal. In practice the QC20i’s buds were pretty comfortable to use for extended periods of time, and doesn’t look as weird when actually plugged into your ear.
Noise cancellation works like a charm
There’s a reason why it took Bose this long to make an in-ear noise cancelling headphone, and that’s space. To be more specific, there’s not a lot of space in an in-ear headphone to put the noise cancelling bits into. Bose got around that by creating a separate module near the end of the four foot cable. The module adds quite a bit of bulk to the headphones because of the battery and other electronic bits, which can be a bit of a challenge to manage when you’re using the headphones with your iPhone or another portable device as it simply didn’t want to lay flat in our pockets when we were out and about with the QC20i.
With all of the trouble going into accommodating the noise cancelling tech of the QC20i, it should be worth it, right? Absolutely. All of the hassle of the additional bulk that the noise cancellation module caused simply melted away when we turned it on. Ambient noise simply went away, leaving us with only our music. Our electric fan working on full blast to combat the searing heat seemed to be as quiet as a grave, so was our humming refrigerator. Walking outside during rush hour with the ANC on is a truly disconcerting experience, as road noise simply ceased to be. Cars and even jeeps on the road had softer, gentler buzz rather than the annoying mechanical noise that we usually associate with them. In fact the ANC tech is so good on the QC20i that we don’t recommend using it while you’re biking or even running, as it removes one of your senses completely, which is never a good thing when on the road with vehicles.
Thankfully, there is a way to get some of the ANC without completely obliterating ambient noise. Aware mode, which can be turned on by pressing a button on the side of the QC20i’s inline controls, temporarily lets in ambient sound while keeping the headphone powered. Why not just use the headphones without power you ask? Well, you can, but sound quality will suffer, with the audio sounding a lot muddier with the power off. Speaking of inline controls, the one on the QC20i works as intended with iOS devices, but doesn’t play nice with Android devices, with only the play/pause button responding when we plugged it into our Galaxy S4.
Sound quality isn’t as great as comparably priced headphones in the market
While the QC20i sounds great for casual listening, it falls short of what audiophiles would expect from a device that commands an Php 18,000 pricetag. There’s a fair amount of emphasis on bass, something audio purists may not like. Because of the ANC and the to some extent Bose’s Triport Technology and Active EQ, the sound that the QC20i produced felt sanitized somewhat. That’s not saying that the sound quality is bad on the QC20i – on the contrary, the audio was smooth and relatively well detailed – it’s just that it’s probably not at the level most audiophiles expect considering the QC20i’s extremely high pricetag.
Verdict: One of the best ANC in-ear headphones in the market
At the end of the day you’ll have to consider what’s more important to you. If you value ANC performance above everything else, or want to zone out during your daily commute or fly a lot of work or personal reasons, the Bose QC20i is probably the most compact solution you can get. That’s assuming you can stand the Php 18,000 sticker price.
