Bose Quietcomfort SC: Great Audio, Not Great Everywhere
I tested the Bose Quietcomfort SC Headphones for a few days, and compared them with my AirPods Pro 1st gen (henceforth AirPods) and Audio-Technica ATH-M40X wired headphones (henceforth Audio-Technica)1. Based on this, my conclusion is:
❌ Uncomfortable
I wouldn’t buy these headphones — they’re not as comfortable as true wireless earphones like the AirPods. Nowadays, we use earphones for hours a day — meetings, calls, podcasts, and in my case, walking around doing housework while listening to Youtube. So we need earphones that are comfortable for hours, and the Bose aren’t. In 20 minutes, I feel a bit of discomfort. They also get sweaty and gross — unlike the AirPods. Because any headphone has to clamp my ears to stay on, it can never be as comfortable as true wireless earphones. Finally, the Bose should’ve been a little bigger — my left ear flap hangs partly outside the earcup, making it uncomfortable. I have to pull the headphone away, fold my ear flap in, and then put it back on. So I’ll prefer true wireless earphones next time.
❌ Unreliable
The Bose works well with my Mac — the range is even slightly better than the AirPods. But not with my iPhone 15 or Sony A95L TV, where it keeps cutting out:
"This car is absolutely perfect" → "This car is ab — perfect".
"Don't do it" → "Don't —".
I rebooted both the TV and the phone, but it didn't fully solve the problem2.
Unfortunately, the headphone doesn’t support USB audio3. If it did, it would be an improvement over Bluetooth when I need it to be reliable, such as while recording a podcast or in a critical meeting. USB audio would also fix another flaw: the headphone doesn’t work while charging.
✅ No lock-in
The Bose comes with an app for both iPhone and Android, unlike AirPods4, which I wouldn’t buy again, because I want to be able to buy a Surface or an Android.
❌ Multi-device
The AirPods switches between my iPhone, iPad and Mac well: If I'm listening on my Mac and play something on my iPhone, the Mac pauses. The Bose can pair with two devices at once, but it doesn’t work well in practice: in the above scenario, the Mac continues playing but the audio goes nowhere — not to the Mac speakers, not to the headphones. As a result, I lose my play position in a podcast.
✅ Noise-cancellation
The Bose cancels more ambient noise than the AirPods. When listening at home5, even the subtle room noise that remains after the AirPods’ noise-cancellation disappears with the Bose, so I can hear nuances in speech or music better.
✅ Better speaker quality
The Bose clearly sound better than the AirPods. Spoken content like podcasts and ChatGPT’s voice sound more natural6. I could hear each syllable articulated clearly. I found myself thinking:
“Man, I’ve listened to 100 hours of Joe Rogan and it never sounded this good!”
I felt like I was in the room with the speaker. When I go back to the AirPods, it sounds distinctly worse.
This goes for music too. Bass is low, so tracks lack energy. But I was able to fix this — in the Bose app, set Bass to +5. This adds the missing energy back in, making the music lively but in a subtle way7, as good adjustments are8. With this adjustment:
+ The Bose has less distortion than the AirPods.
+ The Bose has higher fidelity — it’s as if it plays music, while the the AirPods produce sound that tries to be music.
+ When listening to music on the Bose, I'm caught up in it, and end up appreciating its nuances. It moves me. When I go back to the AirPods, I can hear the same notes and the same vocals but it doesn't hit me emotionally.
+ The Bose has a wider soundstage, which means the music feels spacious, rather than all crammed together and coming from one point.
✅ Better mic
A voice note recorded on the Bose:
sounds noticeably clearer than on the AirPods:
✅ Excellent battery life
… compared to the AirPods. After listening on and off for a few days, it still had 60% battery left.
User experience
❌ In ChatGPT, when I mute or unmute, the connection interrupts, and then the voice and volume change. It's likely switching between A2DP (high-quality audio, no mic) and HFP (mic supported, low-quality audio)9.
❌ The pause button is located in the middle of a 3-button cluster, so I have to feel my way down: “Not this… yes, this one.” AirPods are simpler — I just squeeze the stem.
✅ The Bose has physical volume up and down buttons, so I can adjust the volume while I'm in the kitchen without having to walk to the phone in the hall.
✅ When a call ends, the Bose beeps, which is better than other earphones, where I sometimes wonder if I’m still on the call and have to unlock my phone to check. On one occasion, I spoke to someone next to me, but the call was still connected and the other person heard it.
✅ The left earcup has a weird “Action” button that can be pressed or held. Pressing cycles through noise canceling modes. Holding it announces battery life. The button can be reconfigured — but only to open Spotify. Why not Youtube, Apple Music, or ChatGPT AVM, or any desired app? This is oddly limiting. And why are these unrelated actions grouped into one button? It’s like having a physical button on my phone that plays Daler Mehndi when pressed, and orders a pesarattu when held.
❌ The Bose app lets you group the headphone with a Bose speaker, so that both play in sync between them. I can adjust the volume of each independently10. But the headphone blocks most of the speaker audio, and what leaks in just distorts the headphone audio. It sounded better when I set the speaker volume to 0. So what’s the point of grouping? It’s a solution looking for a problem.
In summary: Great sound and noise-cancellation, but comfort and reliability problems keep me from recommending it.
Bose vs Audio-Technica:
They both sound great and very similar. The differences are noticeable only when I compare back-to-back. Either’s quality would make me happy. In detail (➕ = advantage for the Bose, ➖ = drawback):
➕ The Bose, while less comfortable than the AirPods, is far more comfortable than the Audio-Technica, which becomes uncomfortable within minutes.
➕ The Bose is wireless, so I can use with my phone or iPad (which don’t have a 3.5mm jack) or my TV (which does but is too far away).
➖ The Bose is less clear and more muddled.
➕ The Bose is slightly less sibilant. Sibilant means that the “s” sound is overemphasised, so “solar” sounds like “ssssolar”.
➕ Midrange is suppressed on the Base.
➕ Songs played on the Audio-Technica lack energy — they’re lifeless — by comparison.
For spoken content, the Audio-Technica is better than the Bose:
➕ The Audio-Technica has a bit of background noise, which isn’t noticeable except unless compared against the Bose. Since the Bose suppresses the midrange, this background noise goes away.
- Bose is known for its signature audio processing. This headphone applies it, too, so voices sound processed and less natural. By contrast, the Audio-Technica relies on better hardware and so needs less digital trickery — no amount of which is a substitute for better hardware.
Interesting, this doesn’t happen during calls.
It does have a 2.5mm jack and comes with a 2.5mm - 3.5mm cable, but phones and tablets no longer have 3.5mm jacks, so it’s not useful. Bose itself says the headphone works best with Bluetooth. USB-C would've been better — compatible with phones, and it would allow charging while in use.
AirPods do pair with Android and Windows, but they’re not fully functional, and don’t receive firmware updates — not even from a Mac, only an iPhone. Since I want my earphones fully functional on all devices, I’ll buy from a different vendor.
A better test would’ve been be in a flight or car, which I didn’t get to do in the few days I had the headphones.
Plosives sound overpowering and uncomfortable on the Bose, like the ending of “report” in
Don’t use the Bass Boost preset — it sets bass to +8, at which point the bass dominates and makes the sound muddy. This means instead of hearing each instrument distinctly — which gives the music depth and layering — everything blends into an amorphous mass. Like putting a pizza in a mixie and then eating it.
When I listen to vocals, I revert the bass to 0 — it sounds best this way.
If I’ve edited a photo and showed it to someone and they immediately say, “Wow, that’s so contrasty”, it means I’ve overdone it.
Bluetooth has multiple profiles, and headphones can switch between them. This likely requires resetting the audio connection, which causing those glitches. I can’t say I disagree with Bose’s design decision —I want the best audio quality when I’m not using the mic.
Volume levels are normalised — if I set both volume sliders to 60%, they sound equally loud.
To group the headphone with a speaker, open the Bose app, navigate to the speaker and then pair the headphone to it. Navigating to the headphone and then trying to pair the speaker to it doesn't work. Bose says this can be done without using the app, but that didn't work.