Ask Paul: September 9 (Premium)

Happy Friday! There’s something about short weeks that make them seem longer, but we can finally relax with some great reader questions.
Bose vs. AirPods Pro
ggolcher asks:

At the same time Apple was announcing their new AirPods Pro, Bose announced their new ANC earbuds: their QuietComfort Earbuds II. I know you had purchased their predecessors, as did I. For me, the QCI has had incredible sound, build quality, and noise-canceling, but they're bulky and heavy (which leads me to get ear canal soreness after prolonged use), and switching between devices is an exercise in pain.

Yeah, I saw that, and yes, the QC Earbuds are big and bulky, which is maybe my one major complaint.

This new release seems to address the first issue, but not the latter one. I'm debating whether to pre-order these new earbuds or not, as they are expensive, but I use them so often it may be worth it just for the pain factor. I'd love to hear about your experiences with the QuietComfort I, and any impressions and thoughts you may have towards the QCII. Your perspective has usually been very helpful in deciding whether to purchase or not.

When I first read this, I thought, surely I’ve reviewed these earbuds. But I have not. So, the short version is, I’ve had great success over the years with Bose headphones and now earbuds, and I bought these about 18 months ago ahead of our first trip to Mexico City to replace the aging Bose QuietComfort 20 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones I was using previously; those headphones were wired and came in Apple and Android versions, and I was always having issues with static and dongles and whatever else. So the earbuds were a step up.

In addition to the size/weight, however, I have two other issues. One, the battery life isn’t quite what I want: if I don’t take them out at least once during a flight to Mexico to charge them briefly (which I’ll do when I get up to go the bathroom or grab a drink), they will die right before we arrive. Just an hour more life would make a big difference for that flight, but they wouldn’t make it to Europe for sure. And two, they’re earbuds, so they’re easy to knock out by mistake. I’ve only done that once on a flight but I assume it’s obvious how bad it is to lose a small black thing on a plane. It could fall anywhere and because of its awkward shape, there’s no way to know which way it bounced.

In the good news department, the noise cancelation is fantastic and the best I’ve experienced with earbuds. (Granted, I don't have a lot to compare it to, and I’ve not used AirPods Pro.) When you put them on during a flight, the noise of the plane disappears instantly and it’s wonderful. And earbuds, even big ones like the Bose, are so much better for traveling light than are over-the-ear headphones: they disappear in a bag.

Ideally, I’d have one set of earbuds/headphones for everything but I’ve typically used different products for different use cases. Thi...