Hello, I've recently picked up a pair of the Bose NC700 headphones. When I first saw these headphones, I was mesmerized by their design which has in fact, unexaggeratedly, turned into a truly strenuous experience which I will point out later. I will go through the most of pinpoints that you could possibly find in literally any review out there:

Design and comfort

I would like to stress that the headphones themselves (designwise) are really comfortable, the clamping force is basically inexistent and the earpads' comfort reminds me of Natuzzi sofas which immerse you into their comfort and make you want to fall asleep in a mere instant; yes, there is overenthusiasm present, but, still, you get the point.Now, for the unenthusiastic part of the design: the clicking/bumping noise of the hinges. Even when I'm simply walking around in my appartment (especially with ANC turned to max) I can hear the clicking noise upon every step I make (perhaps my steps are too tough so I consequentially hear it even more because my girlfriend does not notice it that much since her steps are lighter than mine) - I have tried walking drastically lighter but I still noticed the same problem. I also found this issue to be a huge nuisance while traveling by public transport (buses) where you can hear the hinges bumping into the surface; you can also occasionally hear the headphones literally jumping on your head when there's a bump on the road or something which is even more apparent in transports of older build.This noise annoyed me so much that I was willing to return them but then realised these offer so many great things and are, de facto, truly underrated headphones.One more thing I could mention is that these headphones don't have too good a grip when it comes to moving your head around, that includes even just bending over which makes it feel like they could slip off of your head at any given moment (that of course depends on your head size but that's what I experienced). But for plain sitting and walking, you should be fine.

Sound

I find it appropriate to reference my music genres here first before talking about the actual sound so you can at least try to imagine what I might be talking about: mostly classical music, hip-hop and occasional pop.The sound on these, at least to me, feels quite close to the natural profile. People mostly complain regarding the bass as they feel it isn't as present as it should be, but then, again, everything I talk about in this post is truly subjective so what works for me might not be the case in point for you. I feel like the bass spreads nicely across the soundscape. The only exception in sound are the mids and the highs which tend to be really sharp and accurate which is a great thing if you like your music detailed (like me, a long-time Sennheiser user), but this also tends to be one of the blind spots of this pair as they often times turn out really harsh, especially if you tend to listen to your music at higher volumes like I do.Now, to make another truly important case in point healthwise, these headphones actually forced me to listen to my music at lower volumes which was a tad morbid at first since I liked my music really loud so I could basically drown myself in the ubiquity of all frequencies but then realised I actually don't even feel comfortable listening to music at such high volumes. So I guess you could say Bose really has a strange way of caring for your health, lol.

Battery life

It's fine, but slightly disappointing as I feel I can never achieve the advertised "up to 20 hours". I always feel it's more like around 14-16 but can not confirm this as of the moment.

ANC and Transparency mode

These headphones are mainly advertised for their class-leading noise-cancelling technology. While they do not only do a good job at what they are meant to excel in, they also have really good transparency mode that is incredibly useful in a variety of situations. I really don't have any complaints here. Sure, nowadays you can find "better" products with far more options regarding literally anything you can come up with (e. g. Sony WH-1000XM4's or the newly released XM5's), but, in short, these do a really good job at blocking most of the sounds from your perception. More so, they have improved my focus while working and studying and are especially useful if you live in a musical environment like me (constant violin and piano noises throughout the day). They basically allow me to forget about my surroundings which is what these are intended to do.The only downside I could possibly think of is in regards to the transparency mode. The high-frequencies come out ever so slightly overemphasized, e. g. keys jangling tends to sound too sparkly when the noice-cancellation level is set to 0 or transparency mode.

Mic and call quality

All I'm going to say is that I haven't had any difficulties using these headphones in terms of this topic. Noice.

Who is it for and what represents the perfect use scenario?

Well, these headphones definitely aren't tailored to the needs of everyone. First of all, I think these are made for people that just like to get lost in the world of sound and quiet. Second of all, the audio profile can be slightly fatiguing at times so consider adjusting the EQ to your taste (by the way, it works fine, but in general I still gladly recommend users to lower their volume - especially because of the mids and highs - and create a sort of a more unique and intimate relationship with the cords of sound :3) (also, I recommend using this preset: bass -> +3, mids -> -1, highs -> -1 as seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q15ZzwzN2-w).Bose's headphones have always been known for use on travel, especially planes, and this pair is no exception to their tradition. I feel like these are great in that sense, but even more so in an office environment.So, the perfect environment for these headphones is, in my opinion, an office setting where you would also leave them there upon departure as that way they provide you with utmost comfort, great call quality, great anc and transparency mode without the potential threat of boggling your mind with the clicking noise as you most likely wouldn't have to move too much in a desk-filled space.

Is it worth the price Bose asks you to spend?

I think it is fairly reasonably priced, considering the actual features it offers its users, even though the more popular opinion is that they are overpriced. The only problem I have with these headphones is the design hingewise (clicking noise). I feel like if you have the option to get them, you should. If not, you can always resort to the QC series (especially to the QC 35 ii from 2017) but the new QC 45 (2021) has a set of its own considerations pre-buying which I will not go through here in detail, but will state a few differences:

- the Bose 700NCH have adjustable noise cancellation (11 different levels) whereas the QC 45 don't; additionally, the anc on Bose 700 NCH can be turned off completely while the headphones are powered on, but that is not the case of QC 45,
- they have superior transparency mode,
- they also have superior call quality and noise-blocking,
- the QC 45 are slightly more comfortable (subjective, duh) and have wider and deeper earpads which is great for big-eared people even though people shouldn't struggle with either headphones,
- the QC 45 got a firmware update a few months ago which actually improved the anc performance and added an EQ option; the anc is actually slightly better in the high- (chatter; café) and low-frequencies (constant sounds; bus, train, airplane) AND
- the QC 45's battery has an advertised time of 24 hours per usage which exceeds that of the Bose NCH 700's by 4 hours.

Conclusion

I will be keeping these headphones despite its issues because they have really grown on me and the reason why I decided to write this review is because I felt like these headphones are missing out on their praise despite their obvious morbid flaws.

If anything I presented deemed unclear, feel free to ask me anything in the comments below. Cheers!

It’s been 5 years since I’ve bought this NC 700 after a friend suggested this model to me in 2020 during the pandemic. Let me tell you straight off - It’s the best investment I’ve made. Since it’s purchase, I’ve been using it everyday for work and about 8 months as my daily driver for music listening sessions before getting the AirPods Pro (for it convenient size).

I been working over the phone with clients countless number of times in unusual locations (bus, construction sites and many more) each time the nose cancelling of this headset left them no clue. The sound quality during a call is amazing and listening to music is a pleasure. After five years, i’m getting 16 hours of battery life compared to 20 when it was new and had to replaced the ear cushion only once so far (replacing again next month).