QuietComfort® 20i Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones is the first in-ear noise cancelling headphones from Bose. There are 2 different models: QC20i has remote with 4 buttons for iPhone/iPad; QC20 has remote with 2 buttons for Android and Windows devices. Microphone, Play/pause button and aware button are available in both models. QC20i model for iPhone/iPad has 2 additional buttons for volume up and down.
The shape of its ear-tips is a bit unique with a small wing that fit inside the cup of the outer ear. This small wing helps to keep the earphone firm in our ears without forcing the tip into the ear canal. There is almost no pressure to our ear canals, but we can pull the earphone cable and QC20i will not fall out. Bose calls their tip design StayHear+ technology. I was sceptical at first, but surprisingly this tip is very comfortable. I can easily wear it for more than 4 hours non stop without feeling any discomfort.
Just like other headphones with active noise cancellation, QC20i requires additional power to work. These earphones come with a rechargeable battery module for 16 hours of music playing every single charge. This block provides power, audio processing, on/off switch and LED indicator. The charging port uses standard micro-USB. Its size is too big for an inline module, and since it’s located near the end that goes to our music source, Bose designs this block to stay inside our pocket, together with our phones. Unfortunately, this battery block is not detachable, so it will stay there even when we don’t need noise cancellation.
There is no single product that can actually eliminate all sound from outside. The technology is not there yet. Most of active module of headphones with noise cancellation work by listening to constant, ambient noise (such as air conditioning units, jet engines, etc) and use algorithm to calculate the negation of those sounds. Sound with sudden changes like crying baby, shouting person or a door slamming are difficult to adjust for. Having said that, the quality of noise cancellation is probably the best we can buy in the market today. Bose uses TriPort technology and Active EQ to produce processed great quality sound while nullifying most of external noises.
Bose QC20i is bloody expensive. The sound quality is decent, but certainly not the best. Especially when we compare it against some high-end products without active noise cancellation. QC20i compares well to other mid-end headphones at $150-$249 price range. The bass is there and we can clearly hear it, but it doesn’t give the extra punch that some bass lovers might expect. Vocal and high frequencies are crisp and detail. I would categorize the sound character as “almost natural”.
We can still use QC20i as a normal earphones when the battery runs out. In my test, using QC20i without battery power drops the sound quality noticeably to the level of headphones in $100-$149 price range. It’s not the end of the world as it will sound ok for most ordinary people.
QuietComfort 20i comes with Aware mode. When we press Aware button in the remote, it turns off the noise cancellation, but the Active EQ still works, so the sound quality is still there. When I use it inside flight to listen to an announcement, I had to turn down the music volume manually because it doesn’t do it automatically. By common sense, most people would press this button when they need to hear something immediately, so I think this feature is not well executed by Bose. Having to press Aware button, then volume down several times made me miss some announcements.
I tested QC20i during a very long flight from Melbourne to Stockholm with two transits in Singapore and Dubai. The total flight duration is somewhere near 20 hours. In most parts of the flight I had this headphones on and enjoying my music comfortably. Or, sometimes I just turned on the active noise cancellation to enjoy some quiet moment. I can still hear people talking and baby crying very faintly, but it’s more than enough for me, very tolerable. I can charge the battery while using the headphones to listen to music. So 16 hours of music became almost unlimited in a cabin with USB port for charging.
QC20i comes with soft carrying pouch. It makes it easier to carry this headphones around. I feel the pouch is a bit too small though.
Another important issue to note is the absence of airline adapter. Yes, despite being a product targeted for frequent flyers, Bose expects us to purchase the airline adapter separately. A very stupid marketing move, in my opinion. Luckily I managed to negotiate with the manager of my local Bose Store. Initially I tried to ask for a discount, but he ended up offering free airline adapter (with short audio cable extension) as a bonus. Still no discount though.
Back to the fact that the carrying pouch is too small, it gets even worse when I tried to squeeze in the airline adapter inside hoping I can carry everything in one pouch.
In conclusion, Bose QC20i is a good product, but definitely not for everyone. If you have local Bose Store nearby, you might want to ask if they have the 21 days return policy so you have enough time to use the product in actual environment (such as long flight or noisy work environment) and see whether it helps making our days a lot more enjoyable.
Other than its primary function for commuting (airplane, bus, train etc.), is the QC20i good for office environment? Or its features will make you miss important calls from your boss/superior?
I would recommend QC20i for office environment only if there is constant noise nearby such as noisy air conditioning unit. Phone calls can still be heard, but it will become a LOT softer and you might miss them. So it depends on your alert level.