Today Bose is announcing two new products to its lineup, with the introduction of the SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker and the QuietComfort 20 In-Ear headphones.
Both offer the same high-quality audio Bose prides itself on, and the company claims that the in-ear headphones in particular required more patents than any headphone in history.
Let’s just get down to brass tacks, then, yes?
SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker
The idea here is that Bose is finally ready to compete in the ultra-portable Bluetooth speaker space. The company already offers larger Bluetooth-connected speaker systems, but the Mini is looking to compete with the Jambox and other counterparts to meet consumers’ increasingly on-the-go lifestyles.
The SoundLink Mini is small enough to fit across the palm of your hand at just over seven inches wide, and about two inches long and thick. It weighs 1.5 lbs and is slightly smaller than the Jawbone Jambox. The SoundLink Mini has been engineered specifically to offer all-around sound. Bose added new passive radiators that are spaced apart, letting them move more air and create better low notes.
They also built custom transducers to cover the mids and highs, with speaker grills for both the front and back of the device. It runs Bluetooth A2DP and can remember up to six devices once they’ve been paired. Plus, the SoundLink Mini offers wireless charging via the included charging pad, and Bose expects it to last seven hours on a single charge.
Bose is selling a handful of accessories with this speaker, including blue, orange and green covers and a travel bag. It’s available for pre-order now for $199, with availability starting on July 11.
QuietComfort 20 In-Ear Headphones
The Bose QuietComfort 20 headphones are meant to offer the same security, comfort, and noise-canceling awesomeness as their over-ear counterparts, but they go so much further than that.
The dual-microphone system detects volume levels inside the headphone, as well as approaching noises, to ensure that you can ignore the outside world and dive into the music. We tested this out in the presentation, as Bose pumped 85 decibels of New York City streets and subways into the room where we were using the QuietComfort 20 headphones. It worked, to say the least, as none of us could hear a thing, even when we could feel the noise inside the room under our feet.
The headphones also do a little extra noise-canceling thanks to a new ear insert, what Bose is calling StayHear+ technology. It uses an extra seal in the ear to keep outside noises where they belong, and adds extra stability with a little fin that hooks under the ridge of your ear.
But this is the best part: The new QuietComfort in-ears from Bose offer a new listening mode called “Aware Mode.” A small white button on the Y-remote of the headphones will switch the listening experience to a totally noise-canceled environment to one where Bose pushes only the lower frequencies of your music so you’re still able to have a conversation, listen to a subway announcement or any of your other surroundings.
The QuietComfort 20 headphones come with a lithium ion battery station and are said to offer 16 hours of continuous use before the owner will no longer be able to enjoy noise-canceling technology. The new headphones aren’t available until “later this summer” and will retail for $299.
Whether you think that Bose is an overrated brand or not is a matter of opinion and preference, but if you have enjoyed the company’s previous headphones offerings such as the QC15 and the QC3, Bose has announced the new AE2w Bluetooth headphones, which considering it is Bose-branded, isn’t overly expensive at $250. Essentially for those who have experienced Bose’s AE2 headphones, it’s almost the same thing with the main and obvious difference being that the AE2w will feature Bluetooth connectivity for a wireless listening experience.
