Is Bose's QC35 4.5.2 Firmware Update Causing ANC Degradation?
Is Bose's QC35 4.5.2 Firmware Update Causing ANC Degradation?
2019-07-18
There’s a lot of excitement around the new
Bose NC 700’s… but unfortunately Bose’s
newest product launch hasn’t been all that
smooth.
For starters, when I got my first pair of
NC 700’s no matter what I did they wouldn’t
connect to Bose’s Music center app on iOS…
which you can actually see in my first impressions
video.
But since I did have to get a review out in
a timely manner I decided to return my first
pair of NC 700’s and got a second pair.
Now I didn’t mention it in my full review
cause it probably only affecting a small amount
of people.
So if you’re having the same issue I say
don’t bother and just swap them out for
another pair.
But a lot of Bose QC35 owners are now claiming
that the Active noise cancelation on their
headphones is blocking out less noise after
upgrading to firmware 4.5.2.
This problem apparently is affecting a good
amount of people cause a single post on Bose’s
Forum has already garnered over 20 thousand
views.
Now Bose has come out and has said that this
shouldn’t be happening but there are some
people that are starting to accuse Bose that
they’ve down graded their QC35’s to make
the NC 700’s look good.
So to get to the bottom of this I’ve decided
to put together a new ANC test.
The Bose NC 700’s are running firmware 1.1.4.
The Black Bose QC35 series 2 are running firmware
4.5.2 which is the problematic firmware right
now.
And the Sliver Bose QC35 series 2 are running
Firmware 4.1.3 which was released back in
September of 2018.
Way before there was any mention on the Bose
NC 700’s and they don’t even have Bose
AR installed yet.
But before I show you my findings I do think
its important I tell you where I’m coming
from.
Personally I think the NC 700’s are a decent
pair of ANC headphones, but personally I still
prefer and recommend the Sony 1000XM3’s.
Now Im not here to make either of these companies
look good or bad.
I’m not sponsored by either one of these
and I’ve never received a free product from
either of them.
I’m just trying to make content that has
been heavily requested and it is rather easy
for me to make.
So without further a do, lets get into the
ANC test.
So after looking over my findings, personally
I do think the Sliver Bose QC35’s are out
preforming the NC 700’s.
During the road noise portion even though
the Sliver QC35’s sound a little more high
pitched, if you look at the audio levels they
are a little lower than on the NC 700’s.
But when it comes to the coffee shop portion,
its not even close.
The silver QC35’s are clearly blocking out
more noise than the NC 700’s.
But something else I also noticed was that
even though the Silver QC35’s blocked the
most amount of noise here they also had slightly
more cabin pressure than the Black Bose QC35’s
running the newer 4.5.2 firmware update.
Now like I’ve mentioned in the past, one
of the reasons why I don’t use the Bose
QC35’s is because to me they have a lot
of cabin pressure.
That my not be the case for everyone but it
is the case for me and a good chunk of other
people.
So personally if I still had to choose between
the Bose QC35’s and NC 700’s I would still
choose the NC 700’s cause of their reduced
cabin pressure and extra features.
But like I’ve mentioned in my past videos
all I want from bose right now is the QC35’s
body with the NC 700’s tech specs.
But personally I do think there is something
going on with the Bose QC35’s newest firmware
update, I’m not trying to stir up drama
I’m just trying to shine a lite on it so
Bose can put out a fix soon.
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