Review on 🎧 Bose Black SoundLink Wireless On-Ear Bluetooth Headphones by Howie Broyles

This is the third set of Bluetooth headphones I have owned and by far the best. I believe that when evaluating Bluetooth headphones, one should consider battery life, Bluetooth range, and ease of pairing, as well as the criteria of traditional wired phones (i.e., sound quality, comfort, and build quality). So I'm going to focus a bit on those aspects. My first pair was from Sony - DRBT50 - and everything was fine. They're well built and comfortable, and the over-ear design is my preference for headphones. They paired easily and the battery life was decent, but not great. They charge via a separate power adapter, which some people find more convenient, while I prefer phones that charge via USB cables and computers. Finding a power adapter for the USB cable is easy, but thinking about carrying a proprietary charger isn't easy. The sound of this kit was mediocre but it was one of the first available so I found the sound acceptable as there weren't many options without spending a fortune. The range was only average, the cut started about 15 meters from the sound source. My second kit was Parrot Ziks. To be honest I hated them even though they were the audiophile class favorites when I bought them. The design is pretty unusual IMHO. They're bulky and the earbuds don't reach far enough for me to be comfortable. They don't come with a case, although for the price they certainly should. Pairing was a nightmare with every device I've tried, although I eventually got them to work with everything (phone, iPad, computer). There was no tech support, although it may have improved; I do not know. One of the features I liked was the removable battery, which allows you to buy a spare battery and take it with you. The other was a "Press to Control" feature to adjust the volume. The sound was outstanding, but for me that was the only strength of these overpriced phones. Range was good, but not great; about 20 feet maximum without obstruction. That brings me to Bose. I would have preferred over-ear headphones, but for over-ear headphones they are at least very good. They fit well and are extremely comfortable, they just don't block out as much ambient noise as we'd like. I also wish they were noise canceling. Charging the battery is easy with the included USB cable (and since I have a ton of these cables and always keep one in my briefcase to charge other things, it means I'll never get a chance to charge them). The battery life is fantastic, I regularly get the advertised 15 hours. I also like having the controls on the back of the right earcup. They work flawlessly for volume control, song skipping, etc. Early wired phones didn't have the ability to control all of that; While newer wired devices usually do this via an integrated cable, in my experience they are rather iffy and will work with some devices (often just Apple devices) but not others. It kept me tied to my iPod when I'd rather just use my phone (an iPhone 6 currently, but I've had every other generation of iPhone as well as a Galaxy S4 and Note 2). With these phones, I could finally cut the cable to my iPod. Now I only use my iPhone and can easily adjust the volume or skip songs just by using the earbud controls. Finally, they have excellent range, about 25 feet without walls and about 15 with them. Now for the sound. This is very good, comparable to Zix. If you are a Bose QC user you will love this. If you prefer beats, the bass will be softer than you're used to. One final note: if the battery is low you can listen to it using the included cable, however the sound gets comparatively harsh so this is only useful as a last resort. If these phones were overhead and had noise cancellation they'd be perfect, but even without those features they're still a great pair of Bluetooth phones.