I’ve been on the market for some wireless headphones for a while. I already have the amazing noise canceling headphones (Bose QuietComfort) which are reserved only for air travel. So I determined to find a great set of wireless headphones to acquire. It’s important to know something about wireless headphones and noise cancellation. Each technology brings with it a set of tradeoffs. You should be aware of this. A reason I don’t combine both wireless and noise cancellation is you are making the worst set of tradeoffs by taking both at once in the same headphone.

So, I have a pair of headphones that I only use for flying. They have the best noise cancellation technology available (and are pretty much renowned for this). But noise cancellation comes at the cost of audio quality.

And guess what? Wireless headphones comes at the cost of audio quality. But not for the same reasons as noise cancellation, for different reasons. Wireless headphones generally use Bluetooth, which can be a mixed bag.

I got a pair of wireless headphones to mainly to keep by my bedside. I wanted a headphone I could use to do some lightweight video and music listening while my wife was sleeping (or while she wasn’t, but to avoid disturbing her). I was looking for a head phone that:

Was “on ear” - in ear headphones are uncomfortable and fall out
Small - don’t want some huge thing
Great battery life
Good controls and usability
Can be used with more than one device
Portable - I can take with me on vacations or use around the house

I settled on the Bose SoundLink On-Ear Bluetooth Headphones based on a number of reviews and factors.

They look great

They travel light, are super compact with a great case

They:

Are really light, which is important
Have 15 hours battery life - and can be used with a regular cable if the battery is dead
Have Great controls for volume and pause/playback
Can be paired with 8 devices and used simultaneously with 2 devices at once (Phone and iPad).

I’ve had them for 2 weeks now and am super happy. I can grab them from my nightstand and by the time I’ve put them on my head, they have automatically paired with my phone and iPad. I can see the battery status in the iPad notification bar which is neat.

It’s a wonder that I can just put them on my head and they work. No fumbling in bed for a cable, no need to plug in. No need to decide which device I want to use! It works with 2 at the same time.

It’s honestly hard for me to explain what it’s like using wireless headphones. It’s weirdly awesome. It reminds me of the first time I used WiFi on my laptop. It was so freeing.

Like anything, this technology will just continue to improve. So what I recommend today will probably not be the same in 2 years. But for now, the compromise you have to make to have freedom from a wire for audio is almost none.

Welcome to the future.

Bose SoundLink On-Ear Bluetooth Headphones - 5 stars

★★★★★ Exceptional. A spectacular product.