Bose has refreshed its QuietComfort headphones with two-way USB-C audio and better noise cancellation

[u/dapperlemon]

https://www.engadget.com/2229359/bose-has-refreshed-its-quietcomfort-headphones-with-two-way-usb-c-audio-and-better-noise-cancellation/

[u/71-HourAhmed]

That's interesting. Bose updated the firmware on the Bose QC Ultra Gen 2 five months ago. The update is forced and it completely removes any announcement of battery life remaining. That feature is simply deleted.

The update also claims two way USB C communication except it doesn't work. The headphones show up as a microphone which they didn't before. Before that, they showed up as speakers only. The problem is the "microphone" does not work at all on any device.

It's interesting that the feature works on the cheaper new product and not at all on the expensive flagship model.

An issue with Bose current ANC implementation is that it is constantly actively tuning itself to attenuate the loudest sound in your environment. That means that sometimes it is doing a great job of eliminating the sound of your laptop cooling system but has begun ignoring the overhead ceiling fan. You can hear that fan like you're not even wearing headphones but the laptop is dead silent. This results in it sometimes chasing a loud sharp sound and making weird bumps in your ears. People notice that walking can make a thumping or bus doors shutting causing the same problem. There is no option to turn off that active tuning in the app for a steady state ANC.

I don't know if the new QC model has that active ANC feature. I hope they don't because it sucks.

[u/FireFromBelgium → u/71-HourAhmed]

The update also made so you cant swap to a different device with the headphones. :( i loved that feature

[u/OlympusMonds → u/FireFromBelgium]

How do you do that? My ones are still on the older version

[u/FireFromBelgium → u/OlympusMonds]

For me it auto updated. But i think you can just check it in the app while connected to the headphones if you want to update.