Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

For purposes of full disclosure please note I received these headphones in exchange for an honest review, and I do mean honest review. As an audio-nut I own lots of headphones including several sets of wired, conventional wireless, and Bluetooth headphones and I’ll say right up front that I’m surprised just how much I like these headphones. As a pretty hardcore audio-nut I’ve been disappointed by every set of Bluetooth headphones up to this point, including some with some pretty good ratings, and as a typical audio-nut I’m usually skeptical of anything labeled Bose. However, these Bose SoundLink II headphones came as a very pleasant surprise. I spent several hours listening to a mix of music that included vocals, bass leads, intricate guitar, and a new age album that reliably trips up poor speakers and headphones alike – a test that every other Bluetooth headphone in my collection had failed miserably. But let’s start with the design. The SoundLink II headphones are conventional looking closed back headphones with all of the controls and a flush fitting microphone for use with a phone on the right side. For those new to headphones, closed headphones provide excellent isolation and privacy at the expense of sound quality. Generally speaking open headphones sound better, but at the cost of you hearing everything around you and everyone in the room hearing very clearly what you are listening to. The Soundlink II also functions as a Bluetooth headset for phone calls, and reports from friends are that the microphone sounds outstanding (better than any of my Plantronics headsets) in phone calls, however I did not test the microphone’s noise cancelling ability. Comfort was quite good even for my large head. I began my listening test with Diana Krall’s The Girl In The Other Room and was pleased to note that these Bose headphones captured the sultry smokiness of her vocals perfectly. Next I moved on to Chris Rea’s Hofner Blue Notes. In this rare jazz album an electric bass takes the role of the lead instrument and is accompanied by beautiful piano and drum work. Frankly I was afraid that the bass might be more than a set of Bluetooth headphones could reproduce cleanly, but I need not have worried because the Bose did a marvelous job of digging deep and reproducing those deep soulful bass riffs for a closed back headphone - when played at reasonable volumes. Crank up the volume too high and the bass starts getting muddy but that’s understandable. As a reality check I listened to of bass master Marcus Miller’s Nikki’s Groove and found the same to be the case, keep the volume reasonable on the bass heavy tunes. At normal safe listening levels they do a credible job for a closed headphone. Finally I spent some quality time with Manheim Steamroller’s Fresh Aire III. Whether or not this album is your cup of tea its deep powerful bass and airy mids and detailed highs do a great job of tripping up poor speakers. The SoundLink II passed the Fresh Air III test with flying colors. In conclusion, don’t expect these (or any other closed-back headphones) to compete with top of the line wired open-back headphones, but the SoundLinks are head and shoulders the best (and most expensive) Bluetooth headphones that I’ve listened to and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a set if I were in the market.