Great Hardware - Awful Software (what were they thinking?)

[johnsmith]

First of all, they do work well and are fairly comfortable. Bought them since the wife will somedays start snoring a few hours after we go to bed. Although her snoring can be quite loud, I can barely hear her with the earbuds in and the volume cranked up about 25% or so.

Now for the bad. It's not the snoring that keeps me up anymore, it's the crazy frustration getting the things started! Here is how it usually goes: Fall asleep watching tv with the tv in sleep mode. 3am, crap - here comes the snoring. Reach for the earbuds case, open up the top, fish out an earbud and drop it under the bed. Spend a few minutes fishing it out from under the bed in the dark and insert in ear... Nothing! What??? Go get phone from office across house where it is charging in the dock, step on Lego block on way back to bed. Have phone in bed now (no longer charging for the next day I might add), turn on - can't recognize my face from glasses/darkness/pain on face from Lego/lack of sleep/who knows??? Try to enter pin code. Too tired to get it right, enter again - Yes, I'm in!!! Dings from messages. Read messages. Bright light from phone fully waking me up and coming close to waking up wife. Find Bose app on phone and start it up. Can't play because "Earbuds are Disconnected". Put earbuds back in case, pull out, still disconnected. Put back in, take out - Yes! Third time's a charm!!! Put in ear, push play on app, sound plays!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now completely awake, put earbuds back into case. Turn on tv and put it in sleep mode... Finally fall asleep dreaming of earbuds that would just work right out of the case.

[Greg_B]

Hello johnsmith! Thanks for posting and welcome to the Community.

Very sorry to hear about your experience (especially the Lego part)! The Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) connection is how you are able to interact with the controls in the app. It might help to prepare the earbuds in advance, so the connection is established and ready for use when you need them, especially since you indicated that you do not use them all night. I have sent your comments to our development team. We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback.

Best Regards,

Greg - Community Support

[johnsmith]

Hi Greg. Thanks for the replay. You can't prepare them in advance. When you put them in the storage case/charger they reset. That is the whole problem. Yes, I could start them every night before bed in the off hand chance I might need them that night and leave them out of the case but I would be putting on a ton of charging cycles running them all night for no reason since I only use them on snoring nights (all batteries have limited charging cycles no matter the technology) . Also, just keeping them out sitting on the nightstand outside their case is asking for loss/misplace trouble not to mention losing the right/left polarity position the case provides.

[Greg_B]

Hi johnsmith,

Admittedly, that isn't an ideal solution. You would definitely trade battery life in that scenario. Your feedback is helpful though, so thanks again. Defining your use case will help us improve them going forward.  

Best Regards,

Greg

[dandrewk]

While we all can relate to this type of frustration (and your post was a bit tongue in cheek), I don't think Bose can held responsible for dropping the buds and then having to root around for them.  Yes, they are small, but that's a -good- thing.

Like  you, I don't wear the Buds when I go to bed.  But when I get up during the night, and I usually do, I use them.  There is a 15 second preperation before I turn out the lights:  Remove buds from case and (if necessary) choose sound, volume, alarm.  I then place the Buds on the nightstand (but not in the case) where I can easily find them in the dark.  In the morning, I just remove the Buds and place them in the case.  This, for me, is easy and automatic, and WELL worth the minimul effort.

I'm not worried about putting the Bud through excessive cycles.  The little Lithium batteries they use are good for thousands of cycles, and by then (probably, hopefully) Bose Sleepbuds 2 will be out.

[jimh12345]

I've arrived at a start-up sequence that seems to get them connected on the first attempt every night.  I start the app first, then remove both buds from the case - it seems to work as long as I don't change the order.   If I happen to have Bluetooth shut off, or have been previously connected to another Bluetooth device, all bets are off and it may take multiple tries - restarting the app, replacing the buds in the case - until they connect.

And I don't like having the phone near my bed; sometimes it lights up due to pointless 'notifications' or automatic updates.   And I live in fear of robocalls if I forget to turn the ringer and vibrator off.

All this could be avoided, at least in my case.   There's only one sound I can use (Warm Static) because all the others are annoyingly obvious loops.   And I have the volume where I want it.  So, if the buds, when removed from the case, would just start playing the most recently used sound at the previous volume - all on their own, without being commanded by the app - I wouldn't need the phone at all.    

[Mrosenfield]

So I am on my second set. Love ‘em. My iPad connects fine but my iPhone will not. Tried reinstalling , airplane mode on off, Bluetooth on off ... Drives me crazy. Same app.

[johnsmith]

Hi Dan. Thanks for you feedback. You are right, many of the comments I posted were tongue in cheek. Of course, Bose is not responsible for dropping/losing the buds. My point is that is what the case is for. The magnetic contact keeps them polarized (so that left and right is easily determined in the dark) firmly planted in a secure location and pressed against the charging contacts. That is a good thing/design. But if you can't use it, reaching for them when they sitting on a nightstand in the dark is indeed an unnecessary hassle and problem. You may have a 15 sec prep every night (which is still completely unnecessary) but that is only because you keep your phone or BT host next to your bed. Many people don't like having the phone near the bed or even in the room at night.

As an electrical engineer, I can assure you that there are no batteries based on current Lithium-ion technology that "are good for thousands of cycles". Current Li-ion technology degrades every charge cycle and after 250 charges cycles, average capacity is already reduced to around 75% of max. This would mean that a user may not be able to make it all the way through the night after a little more than a year of nightly use. That being said, the batteries used in the Bose headphones are, more-than-likely, AgZn (Silver-Zinc) button cells which have a greater energy density but even worse than Li-Ion charge cycle degradation.

You may not be worried about the excessive cycles and popping for new Sleepbud 2s next year but for the price of the Sleepbud 1s, I can guarantee you that most customers would not share your understanding.

[jimh12345]

Yes, battery lifespan is a real concern and my assumption is that we'll be very lucky to get 2 years out of this product.

[richardm]

for the Bose Tech..... monitoring....   First.... it would be nice if this site had "spell check"...

 as for batteries......who is correct?  I have only had them a couple of weeks... I have severe hearing loss, but hear the low motor noise of our heater fan. I put them in when I go to sleep and use them all night. The steady white noise sounds don't work for me, but either rain or stream have enough variation, that they cover the heater when it comes on.  I don't seem to notice the loop, but now that it has been mentioned, I wonder about tonight.......BUT at what point will the constant daily discharge, recharge limit using them all night.?  And can the batteries be replaced...?

      For me, I set things up so all I have to do is put them in.  They are on the night stand in sound mode as I write... That way I don't wake my wife fiddling with the phone..... another bother is having to open my phone to cange volume.... I have iPhone 8 and the volume isn't controlled by the phone contrrols..... is there an update in the mill for this?

      BTW -- as for the phone lighting up.... turn it over...   in anotehr thread, it was suggested and confirmed by the tech monitor, that having the phone in airplane mode with blue tooth enabled, will prevent calls and texts and vibrations.....   I know I can't turn the phone off, as the sound stops....  but I haven't tried different combinations.  

   My first visit to the community and I have learned several things.... I'll be back.... as someone once said.