Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 review: less business, more modern design

Same Bose magic now sleeker, with better controls, calling and adaptable noise cancelling

Bose’s new top-of-the range 700 noise-cancelling headphones attempt to be the new gold standard, with a new design, new technology and a shift in focus.

Launched to sit atop the long-standing kings of noise-cancelling cans, the £300 QuietComfort 35 II, the new £350 Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 look to shift Bose’s rather staid image toward something more modern and fashionable.

There’s a strum on a double bass when you turn them on, which I found annoyingly loud in quiet environments

Occasionally it took several attempts to get the Bose Music app to connect to the headphones

You can independently adjust the volume on the headphones when using the wired connection, handy for use as a gaming headset or with a headphones splitter sharing a tablet

The case has a small pouch inside that holds the USB-C and analogue headphones cable

Bose no longer supplies an aeroplane headphones adapter in the box, but you probably don’t need one anymore

The headphones support Bose AR, the company’s audio-augmented reality platform

Pros: brilliant user-adjustable noise cancelling, best-in-class ambient sound, best-in-class voice calling, great sound, excellent controls, good battery life, multi-point connectivity, comfortable, USB-C, enhanced Google Assistant support

Cons: expensive, no aptX etc, bugs with PC connectivity, don’t fold

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