Bose - Sennheiser: The duel of the new noise reduction headphones

With their new noise-canceling Bluetooth headsets, Bose and Sennheiser are meeting the public's growing expectations for perfect sound and sound isolation from outside noise.Sold for 399 euros but very powerful, the NCH 700 and Momentum Wireless thus offer a unique experience that 20 Minutes was able to share. But Sony and its helmet WH-1000M3 and Jabra and Elite 85h released before the summer are very serious competitors.

Wearing the helmet mandatory! Bose and his NC 700 and Sennheiser and Momentum Wireless get on the ring this fall with two noise reduction headsets that we tried to decide. Not without difficulty ...

Design: elegance in the face of neo-vintage

The Bose NC 700 reviews its copy compared to its predecessors, such as QuietComfort 35 II (now 349 euros instead of 379 euros). With its more fluid design and less "plastic", it is a beautiful object, sober and elegant. Only three discrete buttons on the hulls of the auricles are visible, Bose having made the choice of commands mainly tactile.

Sennheiser's Momentum Wireless is more massive, with a neo-vintage look combining plastics, leather and metal. More masculine, no doubt. The right hull sports five physical buttons.

Our preference: Tastes and colors ... The Bose headset is displayed with better integration. The Sennheiser headphones have a more roots look ...

Ergonomics: the Bose headset more intuitive

Discreet, comfortable to wear, the Bose NC 700 only folds flat. Its aluminum arch slides along the atria. Use of the Bose Music app is required to customize its settings. The touch controls on the right atrium are simple and effective.

For its part, the Momentum Wireless Sennheiser folds like DJ headphones. It is thicker when stowed. His many physical buttons remain simple to access, but we were several times surprised to slide our index shyly from top to bottom of the headset to find the one we were looking for, such as to get a call.

Both headphones have a dedicated button to summon personal assistants: Google Assistant, Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri.

Our preference: Bose takes control of ergonomics with a headset for more intuitive use. Sennheiser has made the choice of exclusively physical buttons, but their use remains perfectible.

Comfort: the Momentum Wireless as soft as a caress

Weighing 262 grams, the Bose NC 700 is lightweight. Its grip on the head is quite firm, and its ear cups are good for the ears, but just enough.

With its 305 grams, the Momentum Wireless may weigh more during long journeys. But its pads are very thick (2 cm, against 1.5 cm in Bose) and it feels: the comfort of this helmet is almost cottony. The ears are better encompassed.

Our preference: Probably sacrificing some of its compactness on the altar of comfort, the Sennheiser helmet is particularly comfortable to wear. Warning: the days of big heat, it is a little hot under!

Noise reduction: Bose innovates on voice

It can be set to 10 steps on the Bose NC 700 headset, which is a lot. Too much, no doubt: what is the real difference in level 7 and level 8? It remains possible to select 3 in the Bose Music application and enter them in the favorites accessible by pressing the button on the left atrium. The quality of the noise reduction is almost perfect, even though the previously tested Sony WH-1000XM headset will further obscure the voices.

Bose innovates on the side of telephone conversations. Including 8 microphones, our headphones devote 4 to the rejection of ambient noise around the voice. During a telephone conversation, the NC 700 manages to very well isolate the voice of its user ...

With three levels of noise reduction, Sennheiser's Momentum Wireless does an excellent job of isolating. We tested it by plane, by train, but also at the writing of 20 Minutes sometimes noisy the afternoons of the match: the Momentum dezingue a large part of the noises even if the people talking a few meters remain quite audible.

Our preference: Bose makes the difference with its finer noise reduction and a new system that isolates the voice of its user during a telephone conversation.

Musical listening: Sennheiser goes further, stronger

The Bose signature sound remains identifiable on the NC 700 headphones with bass well present but mastered, balanced midrange and treble that achieve a good level of accuracy. The manufacturer promises for an upcoming update to incorporate an equalizer into his application. For now, the brand imposes its own settings, which is frustrating.

The musical listening of Sennheiser's Momentum Wireless surprises. Powerful (we feel that it is unbridled!), The headset restores a massive sound that can be heard at high volume, with very strong bass. Beware of the eardrums anyway ... Present in the Sennheiser Connect application, a nice equalizer leaves all the freedom to refine its settings.

Our favorite:  Despite a little less fine treble, Momentum Wireless wins with its powerful, warm (close to vinyl) and customizable listening. If the sound of the NC 700 is excellent, it is still impossible to adapt to his tastes, or even a particular musical register.

Autonomy: from 17h to 20h ... according to the uses

20 hours of autonomy at Bose, 17 hours at Sennheiser: here are two times that can fluctuate depending on the use or not of noise reduction, listening to more or less loud music, etc. Note that the Sony WH-1000M3 does better with a range of up to 30 hours. For its part, the Jabra Elite 85h helmet has a record autonomy: 36 hours with noise reduction; 41 hours without ...

Impossible to decide between the two rivals to use. The Bose and Sennheiser helmets have a comfortable range that means you do not have to worry about reloading them. But some competitors do a lot better.

Storage: Bose more discreet in a bag

The NCH 700 rigid carrying case is very thin (6 cm all), which allows it to be placed in any bag. Momentum Wireless fabric is very thick when the helmet is stored (up to 9 cm), imposing a little gymnastics to lodge in a backpack, for example.

Our preference: The Bose headphone case is more functional for frequent use in transport.

Accessories: The Momentum Wireless more generous
Bose has a USB-C charging cable and a mini-jack 3.5 to microjack 2.5 cable for wired use.

At Sennheiser, there is a USB-C to USB-A adapter, a mini-jack 3.5 to microjack 2.5 cable and a USB-C cable. The manufacturer has equipped his headset with a Bluetooth tag Tile brand . This is used to locate the device in a close environment from his smartphone: at the office or at home.

Our preference: the German brand is more generous and its partnership with Tile offers a little more. But this one can not condition a purchase.

Our verdict: Bose for noise reduction and ergonomics, Sennheiser for music and comfort
It's hard to decide between Sennheiser Bose NC 700 and Momentum Wireless headsets. A tariff, equal (399 euros), they meet the same need: that of a closed Bluetooth audio headset with a very good active noise reduction system. Ergonomics could tip the scales in the Bose camp. More powerful and customizable musical listening in that of Sennheiser. But in the face of technology, the choice of this or that design will remain a very personal and decisive purchase criterion.

While sales of True Wireless (wireless) headsets are blazing and, according to the Gfk, account for 50% of all headset sales, noise-canceling headphones are taking off. In a year, these models saw their sales jump by 40%. Yesterday alone in his realm, Bose and noise reduction headphones QuietComfort had to contend with the arrival of Sony and its WH-1000M series for 2 years. Before the summer, it was the Danish brand Jabra who was a challenger with his Elite 85h.