For those of you who have been following my site, you may remember this post from October 2013. I decided to repost this again now that I am at Boarding Area. The reason for this is that many people had let me know just how helpful this review was for them and I thought to share this with my new readers at Boarding Area. Hopefully this helps if you are trying to decide between the two.
If you spend a lot of time at 35,000 feet, chances are good that you either own a set of noise-canceling headsets or have thought about getting a pair.
For years, I have been a fan of Bose and specifically their QC15 model, the one that completely covers your ears. They are remarkable and work as advertised drowning out about 70-80% of background noise and virtually eliminating the roar of jet engines.
But they have met their match —- and lost……
Prior to my trip to Dubai, I had contemplated swapping out the QC15 set for Bose’s latest invention, the QC20, which is an in-ear bud model that has built in noise-canceling technology through an attached amplifier. The QC20 model was released in June and since I had no long-haul travel planned until late September, it slipped off my radar soon after it’s release and I had forgotten about them until strolling through the Duty Free Shopping area in Dubai’s airport last week.
After seeing them initially, I still wasn’t sure if dropping another $300 for another set of headphones/buds was really necessary, but the box kept calling me back and finally convinced me to bring it to the cashier. Having 600 Dirhams (about $163) to burn before leaving Dubai had made the decision easier, it felt like I was getting them at a 50% discount. Call it advanced rationalization.
Anyway, after leaving the Duty Free Shop, I headed over to the Lufthansa Senator Lounge where I was able to set them up and begin the comparison.
Aside from the obvious difference (headset vs. ear buds), the QC-20 has a couple of unique features that are lacking in the QC15 model. First, the QC20 has a small in-line amplifier (about 1 inch wide/3 inches long/ and thinner than an iPhone) that contains an internal rechargeable (via USB cable) battery that provides up to 16 hours of life on a single charge. Thats enough to last from Chicago to Hong Kong with an hour or 2 to spare. The second unique feature is the presence of a button on the amplifier that lets you suspend the noise cancelation so that you can hear someone talking to you or listen to cabin announcements. With the QC15, you had to carry ‘AAA’ batteries in reserve and you had to either unplug or pull your headset off to hear anything around you. Big Advantage to the QC20.
Once I had charged the ear bud’s battery and started to use them in the lounge, I noticed an amazing difference when the noise canceling was turned on. The impact was incredible and nearly drowned out every sound around me. The only sound that I heard was a low volume white noise that indicates that the noise canceling is functioning. The lounge was not very busy and noise was at a minimum so the buds had yet to win me over at that point. The big test would be during the flight and having my QC15s with me, it would be a perfect laboratory in which to compare the 2 models.
During the flight, I took both models out and for about 30 minutes kept switching between headset and buds every 5-10 minutes to get a sense of the differences. This is where I was completely surprised. I thought for sure that the QC15 set would outperform the QC20. After all they were bigger, covered the entire ear and had already proven themselves as a great headset. However, I have to admit that the QC20 won the competition by a large margin. The QC20 noise canceling was actually far superior to the QC15, and the sound quality was much better with the QC20 as well.
After thinking about it for a minute, it dawned on me that an ear bud actually inserts into your ear helping drown out more noise than a headphone, and buds in an ear generally seem to give better sound quality as well. Combine that with noise canceling technology and it would not be difficult for the ear bud to outperform.
Once the QC20 proved itself, I packed away the QC15 into its case and put it away in my carry-on and I would use the QC20 for balance of my flight from Dubai to Washington which amounted to approximately 12 hours. Short of going to the Lav a couple of times, the buds were in my ears the entire time and were very comfortable to wear. I was even able to sleep on my side with the ear buds not creating any discomfort. Try that with a headset!
The QC20: Superior noise canceling in a tiny package.
To wrap this up, I couldn’t be happier with the QC20 ear buds. As much as I loved the QC15 and hesitated to change, I’m glad that I decided to give them a chance. Not only do I gain superior sound quality and better noise cancelation, I no longer have to pack the large headsets and their LARGE case when I travel. Actually the QC20s fit into a nice padded case about the size of a cellphone and can easily be carried in a pocket. The QC20 is also available in 2 models, one dedicated for iPhones/iPads and one dedicated for Blackberry Phones.
If you currently have a headset style noise canceling model, I strongly recommend you compare them to the QC20, I think you’ll wind up putting your old pair on e-Bay and have someone pay you $175 for them, which then makes the QC20 only $125! 🙂 That’s exactly what I did tonight – the QC20 ear buds are that good.
NOTE: Bose in no way/shape/form provided any consideration for this review.
I bought the QC20 as I didn’t want bulky over ear type headphones, they are brilliant for noise cancelling and fit into a nice small, good looking pouch. If you travel a lot they are essential and worth the money. Another good thing is the cable never ends up in a bunch of knots.
Amazing earbuds. Really effective in blocking out noise. Love ’em! I bought my QC20i in June 2014 – about the time this article was written – and my battery now fails to hold a charge. When I contacted Bose about this, they offered to sell me another pair at the discounted price of $189 or $110 off the price I paid for them. Too much to pay for poor battery life.
I see they are out of stock at Amazon. Does this mean they are being discontinued? I see Amazon has the similar model at $249.
looks like they’re back in stock.
Thanks for the review.
The battery, though, still is a thing that makes me think about not buying them.
Now that some years passed and you seem to fly quite often: what are your impressions on the battery life? Is it way worse than before? How long does a full charge keep the noise canceling amplifier staying alive?
Thanks in advance,
Kind regards!
The battery life seems to be pretty good. They get used a lot. I use them even when not flying and I think I’m regularly getting well over 12 hours. My last trip to Europe I ran them for a large chunk of the 9-10 hour flight from ORD to WAW and the power light started blinking showing a weak battery about 2-3 hours into my flight home from WAW to ORD at which point I plugged them to recharge. I probably had another 30-60 minutes left when they started blinking. The nice part is that you can plug them into the USB port on the seat and keep them powered or recharge them. I’m as happy with them now as I was when I first bought them. I suspect my battery life is in the 13-14 hour range at this point.
Plugging in will recharge the battery, yes. But once the battery goes, plugging in will not help at all. Mine just died. Been there, tried that
My battery just died. Got about 5 years life out of it. I am not happy at all about the “battery replacement programme” from Bose. They are expecting me to pay another 239 Euro (half the price of a new unit) for a replacement unit, which is effectively replacing the battery. That is A LOT for the function of a battery. Bad design using a sealed battery and no decent replacement programme in place!
One downside to the QC20 (I’ve been using them for a few weeks at work now), is that they only come with small, medium, and large earbuds… The small looks like it’s for children, medium is for humans, and large is for giants.
However, I would argue that earbud fit is very important for long-wear comfort, and the small/medium/large earbuds just don’t include a size that actually fits my ears.
I would gladly pay an extra $30 above the price of the QC20’s to get 5 silicone earbud sizes.
The QC20’s are so effective at noise cancelling that I want to wear them all day at work – I just wish they had the right size.
Thanks for all the input.
I’m a little worried about the size of the battery compartment and where it should go. Pockets these days arn’t very big and i should imagine it’s not too good for the lead either. just flapping around..
and what about the tiny bit of lead that goes into your device… is that an issue?
any suggestions?
The size of the battery/main unit makes it very easy to carry in a pant pocket or even a shirt pocket. The short lead sometimes forces the unit to hang unsupported so it is a good idea to get a small extension of wire (a foot or third of a metre is a good length). This way there is a bit of slack.
I Just bought QC20 a week ago. It’s very light, the battery lasts a week for a couple of hours use every day. I guess I expected too much from it; the noise cancellation is nowhere near perfection. Even the constant background noise can still be heard albeit at very low decibels. I haven’t got the chance to try it on a plane, but now I know what to expect. To appreciate the noise cancellation, put the earplugs first, then turn on the unit, the difference is quite clear.
Thank you for the review. Very much appreciated.
I just performed the same comparison but on a low renr Ryanair flight from London to Shannon. I was seated near a 737 engine and I’ve got to admit the qc15 did a very good job of noise suppression even when switched off. I was disappointed to get a little high pitched noise while wearing the qc20s compared to the 15s. I’m going to stick with the 15s for now they are much more comfortable (except when sleeping on a side) and its very easy carry a few spare batteries. The size of the 20s are an obvious plus as is the ‘aware’ mode but its not enough to swing it for me.
Thanks for the helpful review. I’ll order them right now.
One other note on the QC20s: They now qualify for the Bose trade-in program, so you can trade in an older pair of Bose headphones for a credit on your new purchase. I traded my QC15s for a $100 credit on the QC20s.
Actually, I traded in my wife’s QC15s, which used to be mine until she decided she liked them, and I had to buy another pair for me (!!). Then, she stopped using them on flights since you can’t move your head much while sleeping. And she is convinced that sticking something in her ear will hurt, so she is not interested in trying the QC20s. Last flight (MUC to ORD) we sat near two little kids who found various ways to cry or make noise off and on throughout the flight. Wife was exchanging exasperated looks with others nearby, while I enjoyed music on my QC20s. Hitting the bypass switch to talk to the flight attendant was a rude awakening on just how much noise there was in the cabin. I’d say that’s a pretty strong testimonial to how well they work.
Bose’s anti-kid noise technology is definitely impressive. I found out first hand on an LX flight where a toddler was sitting across the cabin and was crying a bit….flip the switch and …… what baby???
For some reasons my qc20 keep felt off my ear buds especially when laying down. I’ve tried all 3 different sizes that come with the earphone. qc15 never has this issue at least.
Thats too bad, I had to experiment between medium and large, but finally figured out the right way to put them in so they would stay. I wish I had the magic answer for you.
20i blows everything else out of the water. Not only is the canceling quality top notch, they also fit in my pocket for when I’m not using them and I can sleep with them on a plane and such.
Thanks for the great review! I don’t have any noise cancelling headphones but I travel constantly for work and have been seriously considering investing in a quality pair. I tested out the Bose over-ear varieties and loved the quality but couldn’t get past how bulky they were. I was worried the ear buds would not have the same quality and hesitated on the price tag. After this review, I’ll be picking a pair up ASAP.
You won’t regret it – I think you’ll like ’em!
Thanks for the review! I’m in the same spot as you. Been looking at them for ages, but don’t have a need right now. Upcoming flight in may from LAX to AMS might warrant a purchase, though.
My only hesitation is that since the battery is built in, once it wears down you have to get another pair…that kind of sucks. I like having the extra batteries in the QC15 case and just swapping them out when they run out of juice. Did you leave the power on for the whole flight? Everything was good? How long did they for a full charge.
Thanks! 🙂
In my experience the charging takes 90-120 minutes and they last for 16+ hours.
Thats a good point re: the battery. I don’t know how many charge cycles it can survive. I have been leaving them on for the whole flight, but about 80% of my flights since getting them have had seats with power so I actually just plug in the power cord and use the seat power for the earbuds. Not sure if that bypasses battery drain, but I hope it helps extend their life.
Thanks for the responses! I went on the Bose website yesterday and asked them about it. They said that there will be some kind of replacement program whereby someone with a crap-battery pair can get some kind of discount on a new set. othermike27 mentioned getting a $100 credit for trading in a pair of QC15’s (below), but I would hope they would do a LITTLE better than that.
Based on all these follow ups I’m definitely going to get a set closer to my next flight.
Thanks again!
For those of you looking at the trade-in program, you may want to consider selling them on something like Ebay. I’m sure you can do much better than giving it to bose to refurbish and resell…..
I just thought that I should let you know that to keep a battery healthy, one should let the battery die completely then charge completely. You don’t necessarily have to let them die every time but it is better than keeping them fully charged throughout. This is the same for phones, laptops, and just about everything with this type of battery.
Sorry but that’s not true, particularly for modern Lithium batteries. What you talked about only applies to older NiMH batteries. Lithium batteries that are used in most modern smart phones and I’m sure in QC20 would benefit from less full discharges , because they only have limited number of charge cycles. Each full discharge count as one charge cycle. IIRC they normally have 500 or so cycles. By maintaining almost full charge most of the time, it actually helps preserve the battery.
Forgot to mention, the battery lasted about 5 years.
I know it is LOOOONG after the review, but I have an update. The battery in my QC20 has just died. Bose is charging me 239 Euro for a replacement unit (half the price of a new unit), as the unit is sealed and the battery cannot be replaced. That is A LOT OF MONEY for essentially a battery (the rest of the unit is fine, but needs the battery), considering that it was not cheap to start off with. The unit can also not be powered from externally (as when charging) to restore functionality of the noise cancelling circuitry, as the battery is in-line with the circuitry. The application of power JUST charges the battery, it does not power the circuitry. I have however seen that there are replacement batteries available on the internet, so it MUST be possible to replace it. It might just not look so good afterwards. But I am NOT going to pay another 239 Euros after having to pay a lot initially for buying this unit. What were they thinking?!? Weird for a company with such good quality products to slip up on this issue, not even catering for a decent battery replacement programme.
Forgot to mention that the battery lasted about 5 years…
Your review had helped push me to the QC20i over the 15s – and I am really happy with them! The noise canceling is actually a lot better in the sense that it is not as annoyingly noticeable as I found it to be with the QC15, plus the size is a huge bonus!
Very glad to hear that it helped you! 🙂