Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 UC User Review 2021

“The best headphones, I have ever used !”

I recently was sent a pair of Bose 700 UC Headphones to test and review. This is my own unbiased opinion. This review is not sponsored and I was not given any products or endorsements.

I have used and sold numerous headphones over the years for various audio applications. In the last year UC (Unified Communication) Headphones have become very popular due to the work at home, social distancing enforcements and increased implementation of UC Software like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Personally, I use headphones for Video Conferencing, Audio system installations and Console/PC Gaming. My collection consists of Wired and Wireless models with brands like Yealink, Plantronics, Shure, Sennheiser and Bose.

Out the box you can see the Bose 700UC headphones have been manufactured with high quality materials with a very sleek design. They are extremely comfortable, and for the 3 hours I used them, I never felt any discomfort from the headphones or head band. I used the supplied USB Bluetooth dongle to connect the headphones to my notebook. This connection was seamless and really quick, with voice prompts indicating the Headphones had connected to the USB Link Module. Although the Bose 700 UC is Microsoft Teams Certified it can be used with any of the other UC Software platforms. I tested it on Teams, Zoom and Google Meet.

I noticed straight away that there are no visible microphones, and I have used this type of design headphones before, but normally the microphone pickup is not as good as models with external boom microphones. On testing via Microsoft Teams, microphone pick up is excellent and worked as expected from a premium quality product like this.

I also noticed only a few buttons on the headphones, this is quite unusual as UC headphones normally have numerous functions available like Volume, Call, Mute, Bluetooth and other controls. Studying the manual, I found that the Bose 700 UC has touch controls on the right headphone. It initially takes a bit of getting used to, but once you learnt the commands, its really easy. You can now control volume; Teams calls and even music.

Next function I tested is the active noise cancellation……WOW….WOW. This is the best noise cancellation I have experienced. The level of noise cancellation is activated via a button on the headphones. I work in an open office environment, and at its highest level, I was totally isolated from the rest of the office’s ambient noise. It can be quite disturbing at first, as you cannot even hear your own voice. When noise cancellation is de-activated the headphones are completely transparent.  You can hear and talk normally without removing the headphones.

As these are UC headphones, majority of my testing was done in Teams and Zoom calls. The audio reproduction is extremely good and far out performed my studio quality wired Shure headphones. I now had to try out some music. Music re-production is truly spectacular. The amount of bass these headphones can give you is astonishing. The headphones were connected to my phone, and were able to control the Spotify app no problem. EQ setup for the Bose 700 UC is done via the Bose Music App, but the out of box neutral/factory setting is right on the money for me.

Although the price point of these headphones is quite high, this premium product has been made for users that wear headphones all day. I would also say this product is aimed at company executives where quality cannot be comprised.

I can’t believe anyone would be disappointed with this product. It ticks all the boxes for a UC Headphone product and some more.

If you an all-day headphone user or want premium quality audio, the Bose 700 UC Headphones have to be on your Wishlist.

  Specifications :

• Battery life: Up to 20 hours
• Battery charging time: Up to 2.5 hours
• 8 total microphones
• Bluetooth range: Up to 9 m 
• USB-C input
• Availble in Black or silver
• Touch Controls: Volume, skip track, phone calls, customizable shortcut
• Buttons Controls: VPA (Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa), Bluetooth, Controllable Noise Cancelling
• Voice-enabled VPA: Amazon Alexa
• Bose Music app
• Siri

Warren Tree

Warren is AVC’s Technical Director and has been in the AV Industry since 1993.