Estimated date for Bose to address all of these issues?

[anfvsnvf]

Background

• This post:

  • was initially created on Sunday, 7/7/2019,

  • was last updated on Saturday, 7/13/19 at 9:25 EDT,

  • I started off by occasionally updating the body of my post to incorporate summarized versions of other people's issues. However, this quickly became time consuming. So going forward, I will be updating the body of this post based on my updated findings ONLY. Please don't let this stop you from commenting on this post with your issues and feature requests; in the hope someone from Bose is reading this.

• These h.phones:

  • Using since 6/30/19,

  • Using with:

    • late-2018 MacBook Pro (macOS Mojave version: 10.14.5),

    • latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro (iOS version: 12.3.1),

    • iPhone XS (iOS version: 12.3.1).

  • Firmware version (according to the Bose Music iOS app.): 1.1.4 - 1144+be3bf4b,

  • Date of manufacture (according to the Bose Music iOS app.): 6/2/19,

• Bose Music iOS app. version: 2.1.2,

Issues:

• Software/firmware related

  • White noise while only ANC is in use,

  • Charge light blinks white (indicates charging), even when voice prompts state that the battery is fully charged (why are they charging when the battery is "full"?)

  • Unstable Bose Music iOS app.:

    • opening this app. on the iPhone while listening to Spotify on the MacBook Pro leads to crackling in the music being played on the h.phones from Spotify from the MacBook Pro,

    • shows h.phones not connected when they actually are,

    • flickering/unstable UI components,

    • many error banners in red.

  • Bluetooth connection:

    • Unstable when simultaneously paired to more than one device,

    • iPhone XS bluetooth devices list - under "MY DEVICES", "H.phonesName" AND "LE-H.phones Name" are BOTH listed. Why are there two devices of the same 700 NC H.phones listed? Also, which should we select?

    • turning bluetooth off (to use the h.phones in ANC mode only) using the power/bluetooth physical button then cycling through the ANC levels using the physical button leads to the bluetooth/searching-for-a-device functionality to turn back on.

• Hardware related

  • Underside rubber of headband slowly detaching from main headband metal frame (closer to the ear cups),

  • Scuffing/scratching of coating where the ear cups meet the headband metal frame due to adjustment.

Common sense changes and potential solutions Bose should implement:

• Battery light

  • no need for it to stay on after unplugging the h.phones from charge as:

    • it is easier to keep the h.phones on and use the touch gestures to know how many hours of charge we have left than taking off the h.phones just to look at the light to merely ESTIMATE the hours of charge left,

    • it uses energy.

    • Solution: release an update to have the battery light on ONLY when the h.phones are charging.

  • should be solid white ONLY when the h.phones are FULLY charged (currently, according to the online manual, it is solid white when "medium to full charge").

    • Solution: release an update to have the battery light solid white ONLY when the h.phones are fully charged.

• Bose Music applications

  • iOS variant- addition of:

    • the option to toggle between hours left and battery charge percentage left for the voice prompts/Bose Music iOS app. battery charge indicator. (currently, we are only told how many hours of charge are left in voice prompts and in the Bose Music iOS app.),

    • a simplified numerical designation of the firmware version (1.1.4 instead of 1.1.4 - 1144+be3bf4b),

    • the option to turn Voice Assistant off (currently, I can just select which of the 3 Voice Assistants I would like to use),

    • a table listing the firmware versions and their release dates.

  • Creation of a macOS variant that contains:

    • features of the iOS variant - to decrease the reliance on the iOS variant, especially when using a phone is not mandatory,

    • the Bose Updater functionality within,

    • a table listing the firmware versions and their release dates.

  • Option to toggle/turn off the musical instrument notification that plays when the headphones are turned off/on

• Implementation of a physical method to switch from one paired bluetooth device to another. This can be achieved by:

  • adding the ability (in the Bose Music app.) to re-map the "voice assistant" physical button,

  • incorporating this in the "power/bluetooth" button.

• Converting the current 2.5 mm (audio cable) female housing in the left ear cup to a 3.5 mm female housing

• Including (in the box) a(n):

  • USB-C to USB-C charging cable (instead of the current USB-A to USB-C cable), and

  • 3.5 mm to 3.5 mm audio cable

• Bose website - creation of a link/website to inform/keep us in the loop about:

  • issues/feature requests Bose is:

    • aware of,

    • plans to address,

    • working on,

  • exact date Bose is planning to release software/firmware updates to address said issues/feature requests.

Issues others have reported:

• Hardware related

  • Clunking from headband metal hitting surrounding ear cup when walking,

  • Headband pressure too strong, has to keep readjusting on my head due to sore spots,

  • Disappointed in style and thinks it was made a priority over performance,

  • Wants a successor to the QC35 II where a Halo headband like that of the 700's does not exist (make it flush with the head shape as everyone else is doing these days).

• Software/firmware related

  • Bose Music app:

    • keeps signing them off every day,

    • keeps forgetting their login info,

    • keeps saying that it can’t connect to headset, until they do a fresh re-pair,

    • "Voice Assistant" and "Shortcut" selections: selecting "Alexa" under "Voice Assistant" leads to changing the "Shortcut" from "Hear Battery Level" to "Enable/Disable Wake Word". Changing it back to "Hear Battery Level" then turning the h.phones off then back on resets "Shortcut" back to "Enable/Disable Wake Word". "An" iPhone (iOS version: 12.3.), Firmware version: 1.1.4-1144+be3bf4b,

  • Listening to audio from a YouTube video while watching/listening to a lecture's video at the same time: when the lecture's video is paused, the YouTube video's audio cuts out. Person plays YouTube music in background while watching video lectures for school. Any time they pause the video to write down something, the YouTube music also stops.

  • Auto-off not working as expected:

    • set auto-off to 1 hr, forgot to turn them off (but were at 100% at the time), battery completely drained by the morning,

    • "an issue about headphone turning off after 10 minutes if no motion detected: https://community.bose.com/t5/Around-On-Ear-Headphones/NCH-700-Ability-to-disable-auto-off-when-no-m..."

[Donnation]

Great post. Unfotunately outside of the software issues (which who knows when they will be corrected) they can’t fix a lot of these issues. 

These arent worth what what they are charging and the usability of them is an absolute mess. So disappointed and mine are going back. 

Shame on you Bose for releasing such a garbage update to the wonderful QC 35 IIs. 

[anfvsnvf]

Thank you, however, it has been a very unfruitful post (haha) as Bose has not fixed any of the software/firmware updates since these were released 13 days ago. All of these software/firmware issues and feature requests should have been addressed PRIOR to release date (they had 2 years...). I see no reason for them to not address all of the software/firmware issues with the next update. If not, I will do the same as you and return mine on the last day of the 30-day trial period.

I agree with you that:

• they are not worth the $400+ they are charging for them,
• their usability is an absolute mess,
• these are so disappointing, and that
• it is shame on Bose for releasing such a garbage product.

I do not know if these are a replacement to the QC 35 IIs (as Bose refuses to answer such a question on Twitter)

[moonsurfer]

Bravo! You’ve successfully summed up all the issues/headaches I’ve had with these headphones.

- Bose Music app is amateur hour. It feels like an unfinished product that was cut short due to deadlines. Outside of aggravations in the app itself, having to sign in at least once a day to use the app is ridiculous! Then, once logged in, you have to do the one-two tap for the app to recognize the headphones EVERY time... This is not the experience I’ve come to know and expect from Bose.

- Multi-device support is a joke. So much so I find it annoying when every Youtuber/Blog pushing this product highlights the feature without saying it works like crap.

- I would love a native MacOS app! If for nothing, it would allow me to uninstall the useless Bose Music app.

Ive been following the forums like a hawk hoping for an actual response from Bose devs. Even though I really want/need NC microphone capabilities, I too will return my headphones before my 30 days are up if I don’t feel some of these major issues aren’t addressed...

[rcpost]

I just wanted to add additional info regarding charging indicator and paired devices:

-- Strange thing with that charging indicator - when initially turned on, the voice indicated 2 hours remaining but within an hour the 700s went dead and, of course, can't see the indicator cuz it's on my head.  Plugged into a type-c cable connected to a wall charger and indicator flashes red/white. According to manual, this is an error and should contact customer support (not doing that at 1:00am). Instead, thought it might not like a non-Bose cable so swapped it with the Bose supplied cable. It did the same thing but, as I was about to give up, it started blinking white so let it be. Next morning it was steady white, indicating a full charge. However, when first powered on, the voice indicated batter low and should be charged immediately. Powered off, plugged it back into charger and white blinked for about 30 minutes...maybe less and turned to steady white. Disconnected from charger and powered on. Voice indicated 20+ hours. 

-- I'm pairing the 700s with an iPad pro, same IOS version and an Android, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, latest update. From an ease of pairing perspective, it was much less difficult to pair to the Android than the IOS device. It still took some trial and error with the Galaxy but it wasn't until trying every suggestion from the Bose Community that I finally got it to work with my iPad. And, it's still "flaky" - meaning it doesn't work all of the time, loses connection, Bose Music sees the 700 but won't connect, etc. 

-- Like most of the contributors to this post, I'm very frustrated with my new headphones. I love the sound and they feel great but feel that Bose really screwed up by releasing this product before it was ready. I'm not usually an early adopter; preferring, instead, to wait to see how it goes with others before spending my hard earned cash. Therefore, I'm giving Bose about 2 more weeks to see if they can fix the connectivity and reliability issues. If not, they're going back.

[Serj]

---

@Donnation wrote:

Great post. Unfotunately outside of the software issues (which who knows when they will be corrected) they can’t fix a lot of these issues. 

These arent worth what what they are charging and the usability of them is an absolute mess. So disappointed and mine are going back. 

Shame on you Bose for releasing such a garbage update to the wonderful QC 35 IIs. 

---

Same for the QC 35 I - unfortunately can't ask for a refund since they were working perfectly for the last 2.5 years (out of warranty).

[joelirwin]

@anfvsnvf 

Great effort and I am sure everyone appreciates the work you have done on this.  I am guessing you are addressing issues with the 700 based on the firmware version you are mentioning.  Is that correct - if so you may want to add it to your post (or event to the post title) to differentiate yourself from the many QC35i and QC35ii users here with lots of issues as well.

[mechs85]

Has anyone else noticed when charging, the light blinks at random paces?

its almost like Morse code or something. The blinking can be for one second or rapidly flashing. 

Also if using different music music sources from one device pausing and resuming sometimes does nothing. 

+1 on the Bose Connect app. Straight garbage. I still can’t connect after a perfect first few hours with it 

Other then that I’d also +1 on disbling the Voice Assistant or even changing to long press as I hit it so many times by accident. Also +1 on device switching button. Especially when the app doesn’t connect to the phone 

[Charlotte_G]

Hello anfvsnvf, 

Thank you very much for taking the time to produce this post. 

I'm sorry to hear of your frustrations and will do my best to answer your questions and queries in the best way possible. 

Regarding the white noise that you hear whilst using ANC only, you may naturally hear some slight audio being produced as the result of the ANC process. However, if you believe that this noise is unusual or too loud we can certainly discuss this. Are paired with a Bluetooth device when you are hearing this?

Lithium batteries have a built-in auto-off feature when a full charge is reached to prevent the battery from being overcharged. Even while still plugged in, the battery level will have to drop below a certain point to trigger the charging again.

For any issues with the iOS Bose Music app, we have issued a statement that you can find here: Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 - App setup and connection issue on iOS

There are two Bluetooth profiles listed which both need to be connected to. The 'LE-' connection is for the Bluetooth Low Energy feature.

It is certainly unusual that your headband is coming detached and therefore I would ask that you contact our customer support for this matter. 

Global Contact Us > Select your country > Scroll to the bottom of the page > Click 'Contact Us'

We thank you for all of your suggestions and feedback and this will all be passed along to the relevant team.

I appreciate you pointing out concerns that other people have reported, however, we will continue to reply to these problems on their own posts specifically. This will avoid confusion and keep information and troubleshooting in the appropriate places.  

Let me know if you have any questions to add.

Warm regards,

Charlotte G - Community Support

[anfvsnvf]

no worries ill just return these crappy overly priced headphones as you guys had over 2 years now to released a finished product but you didnt. says a lot about your company.