Bose and Sony are two of the leaders in wireless noise-canceling headphones. Bose first introduced the QuietComfort 35 headphones in 2016 and it quickly became the standard for many consumers. However, Bose experienced a worthy challenger when Sony released the WH-1000X series headphones. Since then, the battle between noise-canceling headphones has often been seen as a battle between Bose and Sony.
In 2019, Bose introduced the Noise Canceling Headphones 700, which it considers a step-up from the QuietComfort series. The Bose 700 are minimal, but visually striking in design. The typical hinges found on headphones are replaced with a smooth slide for height adjustment. Sony recently released the WH-1000XM4, the fourth generation of its popular headphones. The WH-1000XM4 look identical to their predecessor, which is not a bad thing.
The WH-1000XM4 and Bose 700 have fabulous Active Noise Cancelation (ANC), which filters out loud and subtle noises, but each headphone specializes in specific areas. The Bose 700 can switch between 10 noise-cancelling levels within Bose's Connect app. The Noise Control button can switch between three noise-cancellation levels and users can customize the button to their preferred levels on the app. The WH-1000XM4 offers 20 levels of noise control in Sony's Headphones Connect app. However, the noise-cancelation button on the WH-1000XM4 can only switch between on or off. The Bose 700 has a total of 8 microphones while the WH-1000XM4 has 5 microphones.
A Competitive Matchup
Both headphones have features for situations where users need to interact with the outside world. The Bose 700 will go into Conversation Mode when the user holds down the Noise Control button. In this state, the music will temporarily pause, and the headphone's microphones will broadcast external noise until the user presses a button or performs a touch gesture. The WH-1000XM4 includes two features for interactions. The Quick Attention feature will lower the audio and let in ambient sound while the user places their hand over the right earcup. Speak-to-Chat is a new feature introduced with the WH-1000XM4 and automatically pauses audio when the user begins a conversation. The audio will resume 30 seconds after the conversation ends, although the timeframe can be customized through Sony's Headphones Connect app.
Overall, the WH-1000XM4 are the best noise-canceling headphones, with the Bose 700 being a very close second. The WH-1000XM4 has better sound quality, due to Sony's Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE), and offers more extra features. The Bose 700 was released last year, but includes many of the features present in the brand new WH-1000XM4. The Bose 700 also has great sound, but the headphone's strength is in call quality, due to the abundance of microphones. A significant factor between the two headphones is the price. The WH-1000XM4 retails for $350 and the Bose 700 is regularly $400, even though the price of both can and will fluctuate. As with all audio products, trying out both the Bose and Sony headphones is recommended, considering everyone has different sound preferences.