Bose QC35 II - so. many. issues

[Natzilla]

I got them last night and I'm appalled at how many problems a $400 famous device can have when compared to the $40 ones I had (Parasom A1S) that don't even have noise reduction/cancelling. This is the list:

- Noise cancelling is a bad joke. I hear everything. People talking across the room at the office. Street level noise. There is a *slight reduction* but, cancelling? No way. The old ones, being in-ear, blocked sound much better.

- Bluetooth connection is as disgrace: it loses connection when I go about 10 meters away, when the parasom was able to keep connection when I was two rooms distant, at the office bathroom.

- Playback "clicks" every time my network connection changes. I don't get why - I am playing from my downloaded playlist and this never happened before. Internet connection should not affect playback. What is it trying to do?

- More bluetooth: I cannot pair it to my Mac. It's paired to my Android (and I needed to install the Bose app to do that). I followed some advice and removed the Parasom (which is ridiculous, but anyway), and yet the Mac doesn't find it and it keeps saying "Connecting to Phone" when I press the Bluetooth button. I disabled bluetooth on my phone to try to force pairing, and then it doesn't find my phone and does the same thing. It's like it can only pair to one device? What the hell?

It looks like it's an extremely proprietary and poorly written piece of software that the dev team has no interest in fixing because they released a new version and that's now their focus.

I am returning it and whenever someone asks me for headphone advice, suggest them Parasom.

[Vicky_W]

Hello Natzilla, 

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the Bose Community. 

I am sorry that you are having some issues with your headphones and would love to assist you. To start with we can try and resolve the noise-canceling and Bluetooth issues. Could you please try the following steps and let me know how you get on?

1. Go to btu.bose.com on a computer and update your headphones software.
2. Perform a product reset, to do this, turn off the headset and wait 30 seconds and then plug the headset into a wall outlet using a USB charger, then wait 5 seconds. After that unplug the USB cord from the headset and wait 1 minute once you have completed this turn the headset back on.
3. Clear the Bluetooth device list. You can do this by pressing and holding the Bluetooth button until you hear 'Bluetooth device list cleared'.

Please do let me know how you get on. If your issues persist, we can look at trying alternative steps. 

I look forward to hearing from you!

Kind Regards, 

Vicky W - Community Support 

[Morlock]

I don't have answers to all of those, but here are some notes:

BT connection - BT is generally stated in all BT devices as up to 10m.  Some devices seem to have longer distances, but the further you go above 10m (and walls cut down this distance) the more prone to interference and disconnection.  Bose (and most manufacturers)  have state that the BT will work up to 10m.

You don't need the app on any device to connect it by BT.  The app helps with settings changes, setting up new devices and updating software but it's not essential.  To connect to a new device, just hold the on button slider across to the BT position until you hear the voice prompts say, ready to pair.  If an error occurred previously make sure you forget the device in you phone before attempting to reconnect.

[Natzilla]

I did the software update and reset. I was able to connect from my computer, but absolutely no change on ANC. 

For instance, my cats are playing on the other side of the room and I am hearing every single jump. The ANC doesn't work. I can also hear my partner's steps in the kitchen. Like I said, I hear everything. ANC is set to "High". 

The phones ANC is non-existent. It relies solely on blocking outside noise by using the ear pads. There is nothing happening. I feel duped. 

[nikkorman]

Absolutely no issue with Mac. However, I do have to push the button the headphones sometimes and pair the Macbook to my QC35II. Once connected, it works seamlessly.

[Natzilla]

I will be closing the thread. I returned the QC35s yesterday - it does pair with the Mac after some extra steps, but the noise cancelling is abysmal, extremely disappointing.