Meet the Bose QC20i!

Bose has been making excellent noise-cancellation headphones for a while now, but they haven’t really made anything with the technology for the in-ear market. That changed when they released the Quiet Comfort QC20i. While the leap from over-ear to in-ear may not seem that big, it’s a pretty large technical challenge, as in-ear headphones don’t have a lot of places to stuff noise cancellation hardware into. Bose has managed to solve this particular conundrum with a simple yet elegant solution while at the same time delivering a great experience using its noise isolation technology.

Packaging and Contents

The Bose QC20i comes in a white box with, a cardboard shell protecting the black package. A picture of the QC20i is printed on the outside. The back of the box lists the different features of the QC20i.

Once you open the box, you’re treated to the actual in-ear headphones, as well as the small, rectangular module that houses most of the noise cancellation bits (and the accompanying rechargeable battery) of the QC20i.

The package includes the in-ear headphones itself, a manual, several warranty cards, a nice soft carrying case, two extra silicone tips for the earbuds. The retail packaging also has a USB cable to charge the headphones (not pictured).

Initial Impressions: Literally drowns the world in silence

Bose is known for its noise cancellation tech, so we were eager to see how exactly the company would implement it in their in-ear offering. Like we mentioned earlier, the QC20i has a small, rectangular module near the end of the nearly 4 feet cable. This houses all the electronic bits that make the noise cancellation technology work. There’s a switch on the side that switches the ANC (active noise cancellation) on and off, while two LEDs tell you the headphones’ battery status and if the ANC is turned off or on.

The earbuds on the in-ear headphones have an unusual design. To put it simply, the extended silicone on the buds are designed to rest on the cartilage of your ear, giving you a better fit without having to press the earbuds deep in your ear. On the whole, the design works really well, though only extended listening will show if the design really does deliver on its promise.

As far as the ANC goes, the QC20i delivers, and then some. Turning that little switch on the base of the headphones was like stepping through a different world where most of the ambient noise is non-existent. The incessant whir of our old refrigerator and our personal fan simply disappeared after we flicked that little switch. We even walked over to a bakery 3 blocks away from our house, and found that even the annoying hustle and bustle of rush hour traffic magically disappeared with the ANC on. Even those nasty underbone motorcycles with obnoxiously loud mufflers were not spared, replaced by a more soothing purr than their trademark hollow sound.

Sound quality is great, though it’s not as awesome as what you’d expect from a pair of headphones as expensive as this. Speaking of price, the QC20i retails for around Php 18,000 (we’ll put the exact pricing as soon as we get it), which makes it pretty pricey, but judging from how good the ANC is, it might just be worth the price.